Be The GM: Building Your Big Board

The draft is less than one week away!  For the first time in a long time, the Canucks head into the draft holding a top 10 pick which means that we should be able to add a great piece for our future.  This will be a good indication as to what the Linden/Benning brain trust believes to be important for the organization in the long term based on the first name we call to the podium.  

There are a lot of balls in the air this year and many questions that could change how this year's draft ultimately plays out: will we keep #6; will we move up; are we able to move down and still get our guy; are we going to make a trade to acquire a second top 10 pick.  These things are all outside of our control but will make the week more interesting without a doubt.

So where am I going with this?  A few of the regulars (myself included) have our own opinions about what's best for the Canucks with the sixth pick and would like to be on record with their choices.  So what we're going to do on this thread is have willing participants make a draft board of their own.  This game will be a long term one, and many participants will likely disappear before any sort of determination can be made... But it's on the internets and can be referenced for many years for those dedicated souls! 

Because of the unpredictability factor I discussed a couple of paragraphs ago, each person is going to build a draft board that contains 6 players ranked 1 through 6.  That way we have our rears covered if the team moves up while making sure that at least ONE player is still on the draft board if the team keeps the #6 pick.  Here's an example using my 2013 big board for the #6 pick:

1. Nathan McKinnon
2. Seth Jones
3. Jonathan Drouin
4. Valeri Nichushkin 
5. Aleksander Barkov
6. Sean Monahan

As You can see, I had Nichushkin as my fourth rated prospect and would therefore be my 'best available player' for the Calgary Flames with their sixth selection in last year's draft.  If we were using this draft, I would be comparing Nichushkin to Monahan to determine how good my scouting eyes are... After one season, it's pretty even in my opinion (let's not debate that though, it's merely an example). 

When the time comes to look back at this exercise, we will be looking for statistical success as well as longevity.  This won't be an easy analysis, but it will certainly be an eventful debate!  As to the 'prize', bragging rights on the internet... The greatest prize of all!

Here's the gmonk33 Big Board:

1. Sam Reinhart
2. Sam Bennett
3. Michael Dal Colle 
4. Jake Virtanen 
5. Nick Ritchie
6. Nikolaj Ehlers

I've omitted the players I don't foresee as a likely selection, and left the 6 players who I feel have the best future's ahead of them.  Hopefully one of them gets the call to don the colours on Friday!

Your turn, who are your expert picks?