2009 Mock Draft

It may be a bit early to start talking about this but Allan Muir has the 2009 mock draft over at SI.com, our favorite hockey media source besides ESPN. Muir has the Caps picking Swedish center Jacob Josefson (don't we have a couple of those already?). Josefon is a 2-way forward with an offensive upside, reminding me a bit of Brooks Laich. Anything can happen between now and summer though.

Or so I thought, until I looked at the standings and realized that the Lightning and Thrashers are the leagues two worst teams. And I really do not see either of those teams getting better this season, especially since they are likely to dump their best players at the trade deadline (the Ilya Kovalchuk rumors have already begun). So, assume that the bottom half of the NHL standings finish roughly the same, with the Thrashers in the cellar and the Lightning second to last. That would mean the John Tavares is essentially guarenteed a spot in the Southeast Division. If he's with the Lightning, then thats Stamkos and Tavares together. If he ends up with the Thrashers, and they end up keeping Kovie, then thats Ilya and Tavares together.

Both prospects are, I will admit, a bit unnerving. But neither team has much in the way of goaltending, so I'm not too worried.