Pens hold 30th pick in Friday's draft

On Friday night, the NHL Entry Draft will take place in Montreal, Quebec. Ray Shero and the Penguins hold the 30th pick as a result of their Stanley Cup victory. Odds are the best player available at that juncture will be a winger, but names like Dylan Olsen, Tim Erixon, and Stefan Elliott have been rumored to potentially fall to them.

Here's PTF's mock draft, from rounds one to three.

Penguins Projected Selections-

30. LW Carl Klingberg (Sweden)
61. LW Erik Haula (Finland)
63. RW Anton Rodin (Sweden)

Round 1-

1. Islanders- John Tavares
Tavares proves too good for Garth Snow to pass up, and the Islanders get a franchise center who immediately becomes the face of the franchise

2. Lightning- Victor Hedman
Hedman is the easy pick for the Bolts. He'll provide disaster relief for the most abysmal defense in the NHL.

3. Avalanche- Matt Duchene
A selection purely based on value, Duchene will nicely compliment Stastny, Wolski, and Smyth in what could be a lethal top six.

4. Thrashers- Brayden Schenn
-Barring another epic failure by Don Waddell, Kovalchuk finally gets his center in the form of the younger Schenn brother.

5. Kings- Evander Kane
-The Kings pick up a future second line center who could form a nice one-two punch down the middle with Kopitar.

6. Coyotes- Magnus Paajarvi Svensson
-An electrifying talent, MSP would look fantastic along with young talented forwards like Mueller, Boedker, Lisin, and Tikhonov.

7. Leafs- Jordan Schroeder
-Even though Burke missed out on Tavares, he can get a poor man's JT in Schroeder, whose playmaking and scoring prowess more than makes up for his small stature.

8. Stars- Jared Cowen
-Another pure value pick. Cowen has had injury problems, but his Pronger-esque tenacity and size will do wonders for whoever takes him.

9. Senators- Oliver Ekman-Larsson
-Bryan Murray took a similar Swedish defenseman last year in Erik Karlsson, and OEL could pair with his countryman on an elite young puck-moving blue line.

10. Oilers- Dmitri Kulikov
-Kulikov, who has moved quickly up draft charts, impressed a lot of people at the Memorial Cup and helps the Oilers get younger on the back end.

11. Predators- Scott Glennie
-Not only can Glennie fly, but he's also got a nice package of grit, toughness, and goal scoring. He can play all three forward positions in whatever style Randy Carlyle likes, and he'd be excellent along with Andrew Ebbett in the future.

12. Wild- Nazem Kadri
-Kadri's stock has fallen a bit, but the Wild take him on shear talent alone. With Todd Richards likely to implement a more aggressive offensive system, Kadri should fit right in.

13. Sabres- John Moore
-Moore might be the best all around defenseman in this draft after Hedman. He's big, strong, mobile, and most importantly, smart.

14. Panthers- Ryan Ellis
-Ellis' stock has probably gone down a bit just because of his 5'9'' frame, but his excellent offensive capabilities should keep him in the top 15.

15. Ducks- Zack Kassian
-Another chart climber, Kassian fits a power forward mold perfectly. His emotion, grit, and skill will do wonders for a somewhat anemic Predator offense.

16. Jackets- Carter Ashton
-Ashton is another prototypical power forward, and the Jackets really don't have any of those in their prospect pool. Adding him in with Filatov, Voracek, and Brassard sets the Jackets up for a top-of-the-line forward group in a few years.

17. Blues- Simon Despres
-Despres is another mean defender in the Pronger/Stevens mold, obviously on a smaller scale. He'd add another dimension to a young defense that already boasts the likes of Erik Johnson and Alex Pietrangelo.

18. Canadiens- Jacob Josefson
-The Habs need help, well, everywhere, and Josefson can give it to them. He's a bit too soft for my liking, but Montreal has never had any problem with that. He's a versatile playmaker who fills one of their many needs.

19. Rangers- Chris Kreider
-The Rangers have a fair forward pipeline as is, and Kreider would only strengthen it...literally. He's a tough kid who can score goals. From a Pens fan perspective, it would be scary to see the Rangers with Kreider, Grachev, and Anisimov together if they all hittheir potential.

20. Flames- Louis Leblanc
-By all accounts, Leblanc plays larger than his size and skates exceptionally well. Together with Mikael Backlund, he would give the Flames a few very respectable future pivots at center.

21. Flyers- David Rundblad
-The Flyers almost have to take a defenseman here just to balance out their disproportionate talent pool and give themselves some chance to stop the big guns in their division. Rundblad would do that for them.

22. Canucks- Stefan Elliott
-Elliott is a two-way defenseman who always takes care of business in his defensive zone. Mike Gillis is familiar with him from his days in the WHL, and he could fill in fairly well for Mathias Ohlund down the line.

23. Devils- Ryan O'Reilly
-The Devils don't have a system loaded with talent really at any position, and O'Reilly should help them out. He's a playmaker first, and that's quite helpful when you have an organization with Parise, Bergfors, Elias, and Tedenby in it.

24. Capitals- Landon Ferraro
-The Capitals are rather well-stocked organizationally all over the lot, but their biggest deficiency is a lack of a second line center. They'll hope Ferraro can end those woes.

25. Bruins- Kyle Palmieri
-Palmieri is a sensible value pick at this slot. With question marks surrounding Marc Savard and Patrice Bergeron, the Bruins would do well to add Palmieri to their pipeline.

26. Islanders- Peter Holland
- The Islanders should load up on as much talent as they can get their hands on and take the best player available with all of their picks. That player is Holland at this point in the draft.

27. Hurricanes- Jordan Caron
-Caron is very versatile and can help a team in a lot ways. The Canes have a ton of offensive talent on their team and in their system. Caron can compliment any foward nicely.

28. Blackhawks- Zach Budish
Budish is a big, mean winger who can play in a similar mold to the Hawks' Dustin Byfuglien.

29. Red Wings- Tim Erixon
-The Red Wings always find their gems in Sweden, and Erixon is just another one of them. Carl Klingberg, also of Sweden, is another option.

30. Penguins- Carl Klingberg
-The aforementioned Klingberg is a big winger with a right handed shot. He's mobile for his 6'3'' size and can shoot very well. He's a great pick for the Penguins if he's there.


Round 2-

31. Islanders- Ethan Werek
32. Lightning- Calvin de Haan
33. Avalanche- Drew Shore
34. Thrashers- Dylan Olsen
35. Kings- Richard Panik
36. Coyotes- Toni Rajala
37. Islanders- Olivier Roy
38. Stars- Jeremy Morin
39. Senators- Nick Leddy
40. Oilers- Jakob Silfverberg
41. Predators- Tomas Tatar
42. Predators- Joonas Nattinen
43. Sharks Charles Olivier-Roussel
44. Panthers- Zach Button
45. Thrashers-Marcus Johansson
46. Senators-Dmitri Orlov
47. Rangers- Matt Hackett
48. Blues- Matt Clark (compensatory)
49. Avalanche- Brayden McNabb
50. Leafs- Taylor Doherty
51. Hurricanes-Cody Eakin
52. Lightning- Anton Lander
53. Canucks- Phillipe Paradis
54. Devils- Mike Lee
55. Capitals- Ben Hanowski
56. Islanders- Alex Chiasson
57. Sharks- Michael Latta
58. Leafs- Alex Hutchings
59. Blackhawks- Mikko Koskinen
60. Red Wings- Jesse Blacker
61. Penguins- Erik Haula


Round 3-

62. Islanders- Edward Pasquale
63. Penguins- Anton Rodin
64. Avalanche- Ryan Howse
65. Canadiens- Gleason Fournier
66. Sabres- Eric Gelinas
67. Flames-Seth Helgeson
68. Leafs- Josh Birkholz
69. Stars- Taylor Beck
70. Predators- Chris Brown
71. Oilers- William Wrenn
72. Predators- Jimmy Bubnick
73. Devils- Brian Dumoulin
74. Kings- Tyson Barrie
75. Lightning- Gabriel Lemieux
76. Ducks- Marcus Foligno
77. Jackets- Mac Bennett
78. Blues- Tomas Vincour
79. Canadiens- Kevin Lynch
80. Rangers- Curtis McKenzie
81. Flyers- Kenny Ryan
82. Oilers- Jordan Swarz
83. Canucks- Corban Knight
84. Devils- Jerry D'Amigo
85. Capitals- Ryan Borque
86. Bruins- Collin Bowman
87. Flyers- Burke Gallimore
88. Hurricanes- Jeff Costello
89. Blackhawks- Simon Bertilsson
90. Red Wings- Alex Velischek
91. Islanders- Danny Mattson

The Penguins have built through the draft like no other team in the league. Let's hope Shero keeps that trend alive on Friday night. The draft is at 7:30 on Versus in the United States and TSN in Canada. Versus will probably just carry the TSN feed.