Once a year, the entire SB Nation NHL network comes together for a mock draft. Each team brand, of course, chooses for their team. That means the Pensburgh folks pick for the Penguins, the Arctic Ice Hockey people pick for Winnipeg, and so on. Last season, the Minnesota Wild traded the first round pick away in the Martin Hanzal trade, as Chuck Fletcher took the top center available off the market to improve the overall depth of his team that finished second in the Western Conference.
We all know what happened. The Wild imploded due to shoddy goaltending in the month of March, even though the team’s possession numbers improved.