18. Dallas Stars – Ryan Suzuki (C, Barrie Colts, OHL)
The Stars made one of their true statement picks back in 2017 when they selected Finnish defenseman Miro Heiskanen at third overall, and their 2018 first rounder in Ty Dellandrea isn’t looking like much of a slouch either. The Stars had a solid playoff run, beating the Nashville Predators in six games before getting eliminated in seven games to the eventual Cup-winning St. Louis Blues to land them a pick at 18th overall. After taking a skilled centre in Dellandrea last year, I have the Stars taking another forward in Ryan Suzuki.
Ryan’s older brother Nick has been receiving most of the attention in the Suzuki family lately as the top prospect for the Montreal Canadiens, but Ryan is no slouch either. The first overall pick in the 2017 OHL Draft broke into the OHL last year and had a solid debut season with 44 points in 64 games. This year, he improved at a significant pace and put up 75 points in 65 games for the Colts.
The Stars have a skilled and still relatively young group of forwards on the team, so adding Suzuki into a mix that already includes Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn, and Alex Radulov among others would be a great move for the Stars.