With just four picks to work with heading into the NHL Draft the Minnesota Wild did plenty of waiting around over the weekend, but after two days of picks and prospects general manager Chuck Fletcher has a handful of intriguing new players to work with.
The Wild filled a significant hole in their pipeline with the 15th overall pick, nabbing Wisconsin center Luke Kunin in the first round, before adding another two-way forward in the fourth and rolling the dice on an intriguing Russian goal-scorer in the seventh round.
Read on for our analysis of the Wild's four newest players:
Luke Kunin
Position: C
Stats: 6-0, 193
Team: Wisconsin Badgers (NCAA)
Draft: Round 1, pick 15
Grade: B+
A contingent of Wild fans are likely to protest Fletcher's decision to draft Kunin at No. 15 with former Edina winger Kieffer Bellows still on the board, but it's hard to argue with his logic here. Scoring centers are a hot commodity in the NHL, and Kunin should eventually slot into the Wild's top six based on his stellar career with the U.S. National Team Development Program and his standout freshman season at Wisconsin.
Kunin scored 19 goals and 32 points in his first season with the Badgers after leading the U.S. to a gold medal at the 2015 U18 World Championships. Kunin brings a great shot, good hands and a high-level hockey mind to the table, but his leadership qualities are another significant plus. Head coach Tony Granato named Kunin the captain of that U18 over No. 1 overall pick Auston Matthews and No. 6 overall pick Matthew Tkachuk.
Brandon Duhaime
Position: RW
Stats: 6-0, 198
Team: Tri-City Storm (USHL)
Draft: Round 4, pick 106
Grade: B
A two-way forward with a solid combination of defensive smarts and offensive acumen, Duhaime isn't likely to crack the Wild's top six for a while, but his play in the USHL over the last year did a lot to elevate the Florida native's draft stock.
Traded from the Chicago Steel to the Tri-City Storm after 39 games last season, Duhaime helped his new team to a league title, picking up five goals and five assists in 18 games down the stretch and adding four goals and four assists in the playoffs.
Duhaime is set to attend Providence College in the fall, where Nate Leaman has managed to turn plenty of late-bloomers into NHL-caliber prospects in recent years.
Dmitry Sokolov
Position: RW
Team: Sudbury (OHL)
Stats: 5-11, 229
Draft: Round 7, pick 196
Grade: A
Finding worthwhile prospects in the seventh round is more gamble than science, but despite his draft-day tumble Sokolov may be the draft's most intriguing prospect. Considered a potential first-round pick as recently as last summer, scouts touted Sokolov as a pure goal-scorer when he joined the Sudbury Wolves as the third overall pick in the OHL Import Draft.
Buried on a lackluster Wolves squad while dealing with injuries and accusations of poor conditioning, Sokolov still managed to lead all OHL rookies with 30 goals. Sokolov was a point-per-game player for Russian in international competition.
Braydyn Chizen
Position: D
Stats: 6-8, 191
Team: Kelowna Rockets (WHL)
Draft: Round 7, pick 204
Grade: C
The scouting report on Chizen is fairly simple.
The 6-foot-8 defenseman scored two points in 45 games for the Rockets last season, while racking up 40 penalty minutes and earning four entries on HockeyFights.com.
The Wild view Chizen as a project at this stage, but the lanky defenseman's size and skating ability give him a certain amount of upside. Kelowna has produced a number of talented NHL defensemen in recent years -- including All-Stars Duncan Keith and Shea Weber -- and while Chizen is a longshot to even reach the NHL, a skater of that size is always going to generate interest.
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