Most years there is a unique talent that rises to the top of the NHL Draft rankings to become the no-doubt No. 1 overall selection. This season is no different even if everything else about this draft might be different when it finally ends up happening, remotely or live and in-person.
Big Rimouski left winger Alexis Lafreniere combines size (6-foot-1, 193 pounds), speed, skating and offensive ability, along with a physical edge into the kind of dominant hockey package that teams are looking for in their top-line, game-breaking forwards. He and he’s been dominating at the World Junior stage since he was 17.
Lafreniere would be the first Quebec-born No. 1 overall pick since Marc-Andre Fleury back in 2003. So, it will be a historical pick for a number of reasons.
NHL Central Scouting tapped him as the top player available and Lafreniere will be the first name called, presumably by the Detroit Red Wings, whenever the draft is held.
"He makes plays that you don't even think those plays are possible, and he still makes them," said NHL Central Scouting regional scout J.F. Damphousse. "What separates him from the pack is his compete level. He's willing to play physical. He battles every game, and any time the game is on the line, you want him on the ice."
Below is our first crack at a 2020 NHL mock draft with no clear certainty about the draft order, where some of the conditional picks will be and when the draft might even take place if it gets pushed back from its original weekend of June 26-27: