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Leon Draisaitl should be a first-round pick
Rightfully overshadowed by C Connor McDavid, C Leon Draisaitl truly emerged as the Edmonton Oilers second-best player in 2016-17. While it was McDavid taking home the Art Ross Trophy, Draisaitl scored 29 goals with 48 assists in a full 82 games. He shot an inflated 16.9 percent, up from 14.3 percent in 2015-16.
Draisaitl's shooting percentage rose to an otherworldly 27.3 percent in the first two rounds, as he scored six goals on 22 shots. The Oilers departed the playoffs with Draisaitl ranked second in playoff points and fifth in goals. Playing with McDavid will allow for a sustainable inflated shooting percentage. He averaged 3.13 individual scoring chances per 60 minutes of 5v5.
Draisaitl should continue to build on a breakout season in which he finished eighth in league scoring. Quality power-play production stabilizes his roto and head-to-head contributions.
View Jake Allen as a top-tier goaltender
St. Louis Blues G Jake Allen's save percentage by month during the regular season displays what was a tumultuous year during a season with the largest workload he has ever faced.
| MONTH | SV% |
|---|---|
| October | .923 |
| November | .903 |
| December | .892 |
| January | .841 |
| February | .933 |
| March | .953 |
| April | .913 |
A late-season surge allowed him to finish with a .915 save percentage, matching his career rate.
The playoffs were a different story for Allen, even though he went just 6-5 en route to a second-round exit at the hands of the Nashville Predators. He posted a goals against average of 1.96 and a save percentage of .935. He twice made at least 40 saves in Round 1 victories and he allowed three or more goals on just three of 11 occasions.
Allen led the postseason in high-difficulty save percentage at a rate of 88.89. His Fenwick save percentage of 96.29 percent ranked second among all goalies to make the second round, and measures his save percentage against all unblocked shot attempts. The Blues will again be competitive - if not formidable - in 2017/18, preserving Allen's defensive protection.
Jake Guentzel will be overdrafted
The Pittsburgh Penguins received a mid-season spark in 2016-17 when they fired head coach Dan Bylsma and replaced him with Mike Sullivan en route to a Stanley Cup victory. Their 2017-18 mid-year push was provided by C Jake Guentzel, who scored 16 goals with 17 assists in 40 regular-season games. He averaged more than two shots on goal per game and scored on nearly 20 percent of his shots, while mostly playing on the left side of C Sidney Crosby.
While the same logic applies for Guentzel as it did for Draisaitl in regard to a high shooting percentage being sustainable while playing alongside an elite center, he is scoring on 34.6 percent of his 26 shots on goal in the playoffs. He has nine goals but just five assists through 12 games. His contributions are limited, even while playing with Crosby at 5v5, as he isn't a high-volume shooter and remains on just the second power-play unit.
He should be selected only in the later middle rounds.
Jakob Silfverberg is set to be a star in Las Vegas
The Anaheim Ducks are viewed by many as one of the teams which will be hit hardest by the upcoming Vegas Golden Knights expansion draft. LW Jakob Silfverberg is among the top names they risk having to expose to Vegas, and he represents one of the best soon-to-be-available players from the current 30-team league.
Silfverberg had a career year in the regular season, scoring 23 goals and finishing with 49 points in 79 games. He registered more than 200 SOG for the second consecutive season, finishing with 227 for a reasonable 10.1 shooting percentage. Just nine of his 49 points came via the power play. His five game-winning goals signal the trust the Ducks' coaching staff had in him late in games.
He's tied for third in playoff scoring with seven goals in 11 games, adding four assists and 46 SOG. Three of his 11 points came on the power play, and he has an additional two GWGs. He is averaging 4.25 individual scoring chances per 60 minutes of 5v5.
If he is made available in the expansion draft, he'll almost surely be the top talent. He could approach the 30-goal barrier in a No. 1 role for the Golden Knights.
(Photos courtesy: Action Images)
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