2013 NHL Mock Draft - Seth Jones Goes To Columbus

Derek Zona
March 05 2013 10:42AM

Will Kekalainen add Seth Jones to Ryan Murray on the blueline, or will he go with Drouin or MacKinnon?
Photo by: Fanny Schertzer, via Wikimedia Commons

Seth Jones has seperated himself from the pack and has become a strong be to be the first overall pick at the NHL Draft in June. There's just one problem - the Blue Jackets drafted defender Ryan Murray last season at #2 overall after losing the draft lottery to the Edmonton Oilers. Will Columbus take another blueliner or will Jarmo Kekalainen go with Nathan MacKinnon or the fast-rising Jonathan Drouin at #1 and leave Jones for the Buffalo Sabres?

Poor Columbus. Just a month ago, they had three picks in the top 12 at #5, #8, and #12. As the Rangers and Kings move up in the standings, those picks are falling through the first round. Our Predictive Model shows the Jackets drafting #1, #19 and #21 now.

The mock draft uses the NHLNumbers Predictive Model and the NHL Numbers Consensus Top 100 List for the picks. The sources for the consensus list are Bob McKenzie, Future Considerations, ISS, Ryan Kennedy, Craig Button, Corey Pronman of Hockey Prospectus, and The Scouting Report. Their rankings are weight by their accuracy in ranking previous drafts: Bob McKenzie's rankings carry the most weight as he's the most accurate prognosticator in the group.

Pick	Team	Selection	Pos	Current Team	Ht, Wt
1	Columbus Blue Jackets	Seth Jones	D	Portland Winterhawks	6'3, 205
2	Buffalo Sabres	Nathan MacKinnon	F	Halifax Moosehead	5'11, 180
3	Florida Panthers	Jonathan Drouin	F	Halifax Moosehead	5'11, 180
4	Tampa Bay Lightning	Aleksander Barkov	F	Tappara	6'2, 205
5	Washington Capitals	Elias Lindholm	F	Brynas	6, 183
6	Nashville Predators	Sean Monahan	F	Ottawa 67s	6'2, 180
7	New York Islanders	Valeri Nichushkin	F	Chelyabinsk	6'3, 180
8	Colorado Avalanche	Darnell Nurse	D	SSM Greyhounds	6'4, 185
9	Calgary Flames	Rasmus Ristolainen	D	TPS Turku	6'3, 210
10	Winnipeg Jets	Hunter Shinkaruk	F	Medicine Hat Tigers	5'10, 170
11	Edmonton Oilers	Ryan Pulock	D	Brandon Wheat Kings	6, 195
12	Minnesota Wild	Nikita Zadorov	D	London Knights	6'4, 205
13	Philadelphia Flyers	Adam Erne	F	Quebec Remparts	6, 200
14	Dallas Stars	Josh Morrissey	D	Prince Albert Raiders	6, 185
15	Phoenix Coyotes	Frederik Gauthier	F	Rimouski Oceanic	6'1, 210
16	Toronto Maple Leafs	Max Domi	F	London Knights	5'9, 185
17	Carolina Hurricanes	Curtis Lazar	F	Edmonton Oil Kings	6, 190
18	Detroit Red Wings	Anthony Mantha	F	Val - D'or	6'4, 180
19	Columbus Blue Jackets	Robert Hagg	D	MODO	6'2, 201
20	New Jersey Devils	Artturi Lehkonen	F	TPS Turku	5'10, 163
21	Columbus Blue Jackets	Alexander Wennberg	F	Djurgarden	6'1, 174
22	Anaheim Ducks	Kerby Rychel	F	Windsor Spitfires	6'1, 185
23	Ottawa Senators	Jason Dickinson	F	Guelph Storm	6'2, 179
24	San Jose Sharks	Morgan Klimchuk	F	Regina Pats	5'11, 174
25	Vancouver Canucks	Valentin Zykov	F	Baie Comeau	6', 210
26	Pittsburgh Penguins	Andre Burakovsky	F	Malmo	6'1, 175
27	Montreal Canadiens	Bo Horvat	F	London Knights	6, 195
28	St. Louis Blues	J.T. Compher	F	USNT	6, 170
29	Boston Bruins	Ryan Hartman	F	Plymouth Whalers	5'11, 185
30	Chicago Blackhawks	Keaton Thompson	D	USNT	6'1, 170

Sort comments by props

Reply #1 Passive Voice March 05 2013, 11:36AM

+1 0 props

Barkov to the Bolts would be nuts.

Reply #2 Baalzamon March 05 2013, 11:45AM

+1 0 props

Isn't Frederick Gauthier like 6'5", not 6'1"?

Reply #3 Shaun March 05 2013, 04:07PM

+1 0 props

I'd love to see the winner (or second) of the draft lottery be ballsy and make a trade to nab both Jonathan Drouin and Nathan MacKinnon with consecutive picks. The two have fantastic chemistry, and could make a top line after a year or two of development.