The 2016 draft will be held at First Niagara Center in Buffalo from June 24-25.
Unchanged at the top of each draft is the belief that the Toronto Maple Leafs will select Zurich center Auston Matthews with the No. 1 pick, the Winnipeg Jets will select Tappara right wing Patrik Laine at No. 2, and Karpat right wing Jesse Puljujarvi will go No. 3 to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
But at No. 4, Kimelman now has the Edmonton Oilers selecting Sarnia defenseman Jakob Chychrun; he felt they would take London defenseman Olli Juolevi prior to the combine. He has Juolevi going No. 8 to the Buffalo Sabres.
Morreale still believes the Oilers will take London left wing Matthew Tkachuk at No. 4, but now sees the Vancouver Canucks picking Cape Breton left wing Pierre-Luc Dubois at No. 5. Before the combine he felt they would select Juolevi. He has Juolevi going to the Arizona Coyotes at No. 7.
The order for the first 28 picks of the first round is set, with the outcome of the Stanley Cup Final between the Pittsburgh Penguins and San Jose Sharks determining the final two slots. The winning team gets pick No. 30, while the losing team gets No. 29.
The Penguins and Sharks will play Game 4 of the best-of-7 series at SAP Center in San Jose on Monday (8 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, TVA Sports). Pittsburgh leads the series 2-1.
However, the Sharks and Penguins are two of the five teams that don't have first-round picks. The Boston Bruins own the Sharks' pick from the trade for goaltender Martin Jones, and the Maple Leafs have the Penguins' pick from the Phil Kessel trade, each made last summer.
Also, the Arizona Coyotes have the New York Rangers' pick from the Keith Yandle trade in 2015; the Carolina Hurricanes own the Los Angeles Kings' selection from the trade for defenseman Andrej Sekera in 2015; and the Jets acquired the Chicago Blackhawks' pick for Andrew Ladd in February.
