I’m betting most of you NHL fans knew who rounded out my top five before I posted, as Brayden Schenn is a consensus pick to go No. 5 on almost every mock draft board.

The comparison i’ve seen most is Bryan Trottier — pretty lofty. Scouts say Brayden is a power forward/playmaker hybrid, reportedly driving to the net hard, getting physical with defenders, and extremely tough to move from the front of the net. He also is said to have a quick release and great passing skills. Sounds to me like he projects to have a Mike Richards-like impact on daily sports picks in the NHL.

The front-runner to get Brayden is, naturally, the Los Angeles Kings, who hold the No. 5 pick. However, the Toronto Maple Leafs may consider making a play to acquire the No. 5 pick and pair Brayden with brother Luke on the same team. Will he be worth the price per head (speaking of which — how much are UFC 100 fight card tickets?) ? Only time will tell.

Like GSP in the UFC odds, our next prospect on the NHL draft board may offer the best power/speed combination of any forward on the list. Evander Kane, compared by scouts to Jarome Iginla (and, in my opinion, Jeff Carter), has a chance to be the NHL’s next great power foward.

He’s big enough to make an impact on the forecheck and he reportedly plays even bigger than his size, as he drives to the net fearlessly and is very hard to knock off the puck. He has sniper skills but is also defensively responsible, wanting to kill penalties play in all situations. He’s the kind of player who wants to be on the ice when the game’s on the line, and I’m betting management in Atlanta would relish the chance to draft him.

He’s not an absolute can’t miss prospect — big wingers rarely are — but he’s a promising youngster. It remains to be seen if he can make an impact at the sportsbook next season or if he needs to fill out more. If you make daily sports picks and follow the draft, Kane should be in your top five.

We’re not as murky as the UFC odds heavyweight division, but the NHL Draft certainly gets tougher to pick after the No. 3 slot. Center Matt Duchene seems to be the consensus choice to go third (just as Novak Djokovic is locked in with the third-best Wimbledon odds).

Not the biggest guy out there by any means at 5′11″, Duchene compares favorably to Steve Yzerman and, interestingly enough, Joe Sakic. The latter name deserves mention as Colorado looks like the frontrunner to land Duchene.

Even though he could theoretically pushed around, he has a ton to offer NHL teams. He has great speed and is a natural goal-scoring shooter (great shot from pretty much anywhere). He has playmaking skills and he’s hard-nosed, not afraid to go into high-traffic areas. He also can contribute to many different situations that help influence sports predictions — the penalty kill, the power play….he can even play the point with the man advantage.

I haven’t heard whispers of anyone trading up to third in the draft (unless you count rumors of Brian Burke acquiring every pick), so I’m betting management in Colorado goes with Duchene. He’s considered the most complete, NHL-ready player in the draft, so I can’t fault the pick.

While the pansies cry over US Open odds getting rained out (OK, I’m included — I like golf), it’s time to get reflective…as in, reflective on the future…as in, reflective on the NHL draft, which is just a week away.

Let’s go over some of the top prospects with scouting reports. They will be layman scouting reports re: I’m lazy and it’s Friday, but we’ll see what we can do. We’ll start with John Tavares, of course.

What’s the report on him? Well, we know what we can’t do: skate. He’s like Nikolai Valuev in boxing betting; OK, he’s not that slow, but Tavares’ stride isn’t exactly breathtaking. We also know he does almost everything else well — really well. He’s a solid playmaker, he uses his body to protect the puck in a way that reminds me of Jaromir Jagr and Joe Thornton, he has good hands, and he has the weird, inherent nose for the net. He just seems to know where to go and always ends up with the puck on his stick in the blue ice, you know?

Don’t misquote me here, but he sometimes reminds me a TINY bit of Wayne Gretzky; he’s not a gifted skater yet he still finds a way to score. He’s just always…there. It’s a sixth sense.

I think Tavares will be a perennial 90-point plus guy and Garth Snow would be dumb to pass on him…but crazier things have happened in sports predictions, agreed? I’m betting management cans him from Long Island if he messes up the draft for a second straight year.