Raising Arizona: Matthews goes from desert to top of draft

In his mock draft, Cox predicts the Red Wings will use the 16th overall pick to select freshman defenseman Charlie McAvoy of Boston University.

Later still, when the top prospects for the National Hockey League draft surfaced in San Jose before the start of Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final, Laine made the case for being drafted first over all, noting that while the presumptive first pick Auston Matthews had the edge in some areas of play, he (Laine) was better in others.

Monaghan said the fact a number of NTDP players could don NHL jerseys and caps over the weekend is evidence of how much hockey is growing in the United States.

On the global stage, the American-born Matthews earned a bronze medal during the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championships and three gold medals with the United States during the 2015 IIHF U18 World Championships, the 2014 IIHF U18 World Championships and the 2014 IIHF U17 World Championships.

After that it will be up to the 30 scouting departments to figure out which players will be a first round success like Logan Couture rather than a Zach Hamill cautionary tale just a few years from now.

If there is one thing about the 2016 NHL Entry Draft that we know, it is that the top is loaded with talent.

“Finland is sort of the Canada of Europe, where hockey is the biggest passion”, explained the Columbus Blue Jackets’ Finnish-born general manager Jarmo Kekalainen.

Tkachuk retired in 2010 as the fifth-highest scoring player in National Hockey League history among American-born players. “The more goals that went in, the more confidence I got”.

Of course, if the Boston Bruins actually had the #1 overall draft pick, it would be enticing to trade down and acquire another first round draft pick while also acquiring a top defenseman. The son of former NHLer Jeff Chychrun was projected to go as high as the second overall pick in early season predictions for the NHL Draft. Matthew Tkachuk, son of Keith, is fourth in the rankings and could be a top-five pick in this year’s Draft. “They did pretty well with the last one they drafted”.

Just like “The Great One.”. “I try to make their defense want to quit”.

The group of NCAA players includes those who were drafted out of the USHL, U.S. high schools and prep schools, and other junior teams who went on to play at an NCAA school. Players like Patrick Kane, Zach Parise, Phil Kessel, and Buffalo Sabres forward, Jack Eichel.

“It’s what you think about since you were a little kid”, said Matthews, a 6-foot-2, 210-pound center who joined the USA national team development program three years ago and spent the past season as an 18-year-old with Zurich in Switzerland’s top professional league.

“When I’m at my best my feet are always moving, I’m winning puck battles down low, and playing very physical”, explained Allison.

His American counterpart, Auston Matthews, also happens to be a well-rounded phenom who would have been in the Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel discussion previous year if it wasn’t for his birth date placing him just out of reach for the 2015 NHL Entry Draft.