Matching Up Mock Drafts Thus Far

We're now only waiting for TSN's mock draft to hit the airwaves tonight, but we now have Sportsnet's mock draft and a new contender from Sports Illustrated. It should prove to be an interesting match-up when it comes down to the first round of the Draft. So, we'll have a quick look at how it's shaping up before we see what TSN is thinking.

Pick	Team	OpiatedSherpa	ESPN	Forecaster	Sports Illustrated	Sportsnet	Result
1st	TAM	Steven Stamkos	Steven Stamkos	Steven Stamkos	Steven Stamkos	Steven Stamkos
2nd	LOS	Nikita Filatov	Drew Doughty	Drew Doughty	Nikita Filatov	Drew Doughty
3rd	ATL	Zach Bogosian	Zach Bogosian	Zach Bogosian	Drew Doughty	Zach Bogosian
4th	STL	Tyler Myers	Nikita Filatov	Nikita Filatov	Zach Bogosian	Nikita Filatov
5th	NYI	Drew Doughty	Alex Pietrangelo	Alex Pietrangelo	Luke Schenn	Alex Pietrangelo
6th	CBJ	Luke Schenn	Luke Schenn	Luke Schenn	Alex Pietrangelo	Luke Schenn
7th	TOR	Colin Wilson	Cody Hodgson	Colin Wilson	Mikkel Boedker	Mikkel Boedker
8th	PHO	Kyle Beach	Tyler Myers	Mikkel Boedker	Tyler Myers	Tyler Myers
9th	NAS	Alex Pietrangelo	Colin Wilson	Cody Hodgson	Colin Wilson	Cody Hodgson
10th	VAN	Zach Boychuk	Kyle Beach	Kyle Beach	Cody Hodgson	Zach Boychuk
11th	CHI	Thomas McCollum	Mikkel Boedker	Tyler Myers	Erik Karlsson	Kyle Beach
12th	ANA	Mikkel Boedker	Michael Del Zotto	Joe Colborne	Colton Teubert	Colin Wilson
13th	BUF	Josh Bailey	Josh Bailey	Colton Teubert	Mattias Tedenby	Luca Sbisa
14th	CAR	Colby Robak	Colton Teubert	Zach Boychuk	Josh Bailey	Josh Bailey
15th	NAS	Cody Hodgson	Zach Boychuk	Josh Bailey	Chet Pickard	Michael Del Zotto
16th	BOS	Kiril Petrov	Kiril Petrov	Luca Sbisa	Kyle Beach	Joe Colborne
17th	CAL	Colton Teubert	Jordan Eberle	Mattias Tedenby	Zach Boychuk	Colton Teubert
18th	OTT	Luca Sbisa	Thomas McCollum	Tyler Cuma	Luca Sbisa	Mattias Tedenby
19th	CBJ	Jamie Arniel	Colby Robak	Zac Dulpe	Michael Del Zotto	Thomas McCollum
20th	NYR	Mattias Tedenby	Mattias Tedenby	Colby Robak	John Carlson	Jered Staal
21st	NJD	Jered Staal	Joe Colborne	John Carlson	Jake Allen	Jacob Markstrom
22nd	EDM	Joe Colborne	Jacob Markstrom	Jordan Eberle	Joe Colborne	Daultan Leveille
23rd	WAS	Chet Pickard	Evgeny Grachev	Anton Gustafsson	Tyler Cuma	Kiril Petrov
24th	MIN	Greg Nemisz	Harri Sateri	Jake Gardiner	Greg Nemisz	Aaron Ness
25th	MTL	Michael Del Zotto	Corey Trivino	Nicolas Deschamps	Aaron Ness	Nicolas Deschamps
26th	BUF	John Carlson	Luca Sbisa	Michael Del Zotto	Jake Gardiner	Tyler Cuma
27th	PHI	Jacob Markstrom	Greg Nemisz	Erik Karlsson	Jacob Markstrom	John Carlson
28th	LOS	Tyler Cuma	Viktor Tikhonov	Yann Sauve	Colby Robak	BrandonBurlon
29th	ATL	Anton Gustafsson	Jared Staal	Jiri Niemi	Nicolas Deschamps	Chet Pickard
30th	DET	Zac Dulpe	Chet Pickard	Kirill Petrov	Thomas McCollum	Anton Gustafsson*

There is no doubt in anyone's mind that it will be Steven Stamkos going number one and there is much doubt that the Lightning will see a good enough package from another team to move the pick that would give them the franchise player. The real questions start at the number two spot through the tenth spot.

There are some reasonable majorities when it comes to the selections in the mock drafts. Drew Doughty outdoes Nikita Filatov for the second pick, while Zach Bogosian is almost a unanimous third pick. Filatov is a popular fourth pick, while Alex Pietrangelo owns the fifth. Luke Schenn looks to be headed to Columbus and then the seventh pick is all over the map. The hulking defenseman, Tyler Myers, could be desert-bound in the eighth pick. The ninth pick is just as cloudy as the seventh, as is the tenth.

There is an asterisk beside Detroit's pick by the Sportsnet writer, Jim Kelley. He has seemingly confused Detroit's latter-round picks being gems as their first round pick. In that place, I made a guess for him, as he mentioned a European player, putting Anton Gustafsson in that place.

Another interesting story is whether or not the last Staal brother will be a first rounder or not. Jared Staal is not ranked to be a first rounder by the scouting services, but he does rank on a few mock drafts as a first rounder. The last name will have to be worth something to a team that wouldn't want to gamble on him being in the second round.

Goaltending in the first round is also a big question mark. Since none of the touted prospects are goalkeepers, they will be an even bigger wild card than other seasons. The highest ranked goaltender in these mock drafts is Thomas McCollum, ranked 11th by the Sherpa, picked by Chicago. The next highest ranked keeper on the lists is Chet Pickard, heading to Nashville in 15th by SI.com.

No matter which way you cut it, a small competition (although not endorsed by the other outlets) is very interesting. It sure helps the dog days of summer in the NHL go by a little faster.