This season, SB Nation ran a mock draft with the writers of each blog selecting for their respective teams. The piece, which is updated with new teams daily, can be found here.
Although there were multiple players that we could have chose with this pick, Plank and I channeled our inner Doug Wilson and selected the best available Ottawa 67. OHL forward Tyler Toffoli is our pick with the 28th selection in the NHL Entry Draft, but it wasn’t an easy decision.
With Riley Sheahan off the board (he went to Detroit at 21), we were forced to choose between Toffoli and BCHL star Beau Bennett. It was a tough call, but Toffoli is the safer pick; with little to no depth at the wing position in the system, San Jose can’t afford to take a risk with their first round selection.
Toffoli has all the tools to become an elite scorer in the NHL, the only concern is his size. He’s not necessarily small, but he needs to better fill out his 6’0″ frame to become an effective NHL player. He’s been compared often to current Sharks star Dany Heatley; although these expectations may be a bit lofty, it’s exciting to think that a late first round pick is met with such potential. It’s likely due to the fact that he’s a polished scorer; Toffoli trailed only Taylor Hall, Tyler Seguin and Nazim Kadri in AHL scoring. That’s pretty elite company.
We’re happy with our selection, but who knows how the actual draft shakes out tomorrow. For more on Toffoli, and the other prospects we’ve focused on, visit our 2010 NHL Draft Section.
Go Sharks.
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