NHL mock draft: Final projections for every first-round pick

24. Minnesota Wild – RW Serron Noel

The Minnesota Wild have been a middle-of-the-pack playoff team. Rarely have they entered the playoffs as a serious threat to win it all. As the Wild move forward, they need to keep adding talent to compliment the older core of players. The Wild will not be able to full enter a rebuild phase with the contracts of Zach Parise and Ryan Sutter on the books. With so much money locked up to these core players the Wild will always be pushing for the playoffs and a Stanley Cup. The next wave of forwards is here for Minnesota. Jordan Greenway and Luke Kunin will help carry the team going forward. Adding Serron Noel to the mix will be a big boost.

Serron Noel’s most intriguing attributes is his size. With his big frame comes a lot of speed and skill. He can move really well on the ice and is hard to stop in front of the net. He is a raw talent with a lot of areas to work on while he finishes his junior hockey career but the Minnesota Wild are not afraid to take things slow with their prospects. Pairing him with a player like Jordan Greenway will give teams nightmares on trying to figure out how to stop them both. They play such a similar style game.

One area that he needs to grow his game is what to do when he doesn’t have the puck. On occasion he can get caught coasting around or seeming disengaged if the puck is not on his stick. That will be a major issue at the next level and he will need to improve. That is a teachable skill so the Wild or any team late in the first round should not be scared off by that. Noel is not a game beaker that changes a team’s future but he is a solid complimentary piece to a good team that helps them win night in and night out.