Although the top two picks in this draft are a given, the rest of the top-10 is a different story. There is little difference in the talent level from the third best prospect in the draft, to the 15th.  Teams who do not have the top two picks will have a variety of prospects with different skill sets to choose from.

1) Edmonton Oilers- Connor McDavid C

McDavid is the automatic choice for the first pick. His offensive skillset is outstanding, scoring 44 goals and 120 points last year. He won the CHL Player of the Year Award, and is constantly called the best prospect of his generation. Even though Edmonton has plenty of good young forwards, you cannot pass on a once in a generation type talent like McDavid. McDavid, along with Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Nail Yakupov will be the core of the team moving forward.

2) Buffalo Sabres- Jack Eichel C

Buffalo has more of a variety of prospects, including centers Sam Reinhart and Mikhail Grigorenko, wingers Justin Bailey and Nick Baptiste, defenders Rasmus Ristolainen, Nikita Zadorov and Jake McCabe, and goalie Andrey Makarov among others. This makes the choice of drafting Center Eichel even easier for them, since they do not have a weak spot in their prospect pool. Eichel along with McDavid are two franchise centers whose success seems almost certain.

3) Arizona Coyotes- Dylan Strome C

The Coyotes top scorer last year was defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson with 43 points, so there is a need for offense. They already have center Max Domi at center, who is a elite prospect in his own right. The team is weak at Right Wing, both on their NHL team and in their prospect pool. They have good defenders in the NHL, but their prospect pool is weak after elite prospect Brandon Gormley. In other words, the team can go a lot of ways and there is a ton of choices for them. Therefore, I believe they will go after the leading scorer of the OHL last year Strome. He was a teammate of McDavid’s last year at Lake Erie, and has proven he can share the spotlight with Domi. His size, 6’3’’, and his hands, 84 assists last year, are reminiscent of Joe Thornton. The Coyotes need a star like a Thornton in order to survive their rough economic times, and Strome could be that guy.

4) Toronto Maple Leafs- Noah Hanifin D

The Toronto Maple Leafs already have a good group of forwards. Phil Kessel, James Van Riemsdyk, Tyler Bozak, Nazem Kadri and Joffrey Lupul are all stars in the NHL. They also have elite center prospect William Nylander in the prospect pool. Where the team really needs help is a puck moving defenseman.  They traded away their only defenseman that had more than 30 points last year, and also gave up more than three goals a game despite the continued strong play of goalie Jonathan Bernier. They will be more than happy if the best defensive prospect in this year’s draft, Hanifin, is waiting for them at the fourth pick. He got 23 points last year in 37 games with Boston College, showing he can contribute offensively. He also had 52 blocked shots and can help the struggling Maple Leafs defense who could have top line defender Dion Phaneuf on the trade deadline.

5) Carolina Hurricanes- Mitchell Marner C

When your team scores 2.2 goals a game like they did last year, you should expect a top-5 pick in your immediate future. Eric Staal is a star, notching 23 goals and 54 points last year. However, no other Hurricane forward reached the 40-point mark. They also have no elite forward prospects, but do have a talented crop of defenders ready to get picked by Hurricanes. Marner was productive last year in the OHL, scoring 82 assists and 126 points in 63 games. That production could really come in handy for the Hurricanes. While it may seem odd that four centers are in the top-5, McDavid, Eichel, Strome and Marner could all go first overall in any other draft.