After going through two weeks’ worth of voting through the draft’s supposed best of the best, we finally have a finished product of the top 16 players that you, the people, voted for, from the 3rd spot down to the 16th.
We closed out the poll on Wednesday night with Oliver Kylington, who collected 32 percent of the vote in a crowded field full of guys who could go anywhere from the early-to-mid-teens to out of the first round entirely. Kylington is the fourth defenseman to make it onto our list, and the first one since Zach Werenski at No. 9.
He’s a guy who came into this season with a pretty high pedigree, and some saw him as someone who could be a lottery pick if things went right. But he had an up-and-down year, playing just 18 games at Sweden’s highest level and missing time due to injuries. He’s a guy on whom opinions vary very widely — you’ll see some who think he’s still worthy of a lottery pick, and others who don’t think he’s worth a first-rounder. Much like Robert Hagg — another young, smooth-skating Swedish defenseman two years earlier — he may end up falling a bit farther than most expect.
In any case, the skill that he flashes offensively leaves a lot of folks very excited about what he can do. His defense still needs some work, but the way he can skate and maneuver across the ice with and without the puck isn’t something you’ll be able to find in most defensive prospects outside of the lottery. It’s unlikely he falls to No. 29, but if he does — and especially if the Flyers go with a forward at No. 7 overall — it would be tough to see the Flyers pass him up.
And with that, we have our top 16 prospects for tonight’s draft. Barring something highly, highly unforeseen, one of them will be a Flyer. Enjoy.
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The 2015 BSH Community NHL Draft Board
- Connor McDavid, C, Erie (OHL)
- Jack Eichel, C, Boston University (NCAA)
- Dylan Strome, C, Erie (OHL) (45% of the vote)
- Mitch Marner, C/RW, London (OHL) (54%)
- Noah Hanifin, D, Boston College (NCAA) (77%)
- Ivan Provorov, D, Brandon (WHL) (45%)
- Mathew Barzal, C, Seattle (WHL) (39%)
- Mikko Rantanen, RW, TPS (Liiga) (41%)
- Zach Werenski, D, Michigan (NCAA) (35%)
- Lawson Crouse, LW, Kingston (OHL) (31%)
- Kyle Connor, C/LW, Youngstown (USHL) (37%)
- Pavel Zacha, C/LW, Sarnia (OHL) (52%)
- Timo Meier, RW, Halifax (QMJHL) (50%)
- Travis Konecny, C, Ottawa (OHL) (54%)
- Evgeny Svechnikov, LW/C, Cape Breton (QMJHL) (32%)
- Oliver Kylington, D, Farjestad (SHL) (32%)
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