After Bedard, take your pick

It is highly likely that Adam Fantilli or Leo Carlsson, both centers, will go No. 2 to Anaheim, or No. 3 to Columbus. For anyone thinking the Ducks are locked into Fantilli, GM Pat Verbeek has been sending mixed signals in his external discussions. If that’s intentional on his part, it would be common this time of year.

Fantilli, the Hobey Baker winner at Michigan, Carlsson, the top-rated European skater according to NHL Central Scouting, and Lexington’s Will Smith are likely to be in the top four, according to chatter from a smattering of agents, scouts, and team executives.

San Jose GM Mike Grier, who picks fourth, is a Holliston native who coached on our local prep scene on his way back to the NHL and is well aware of Smith.

He might even forgive him for having pledged to play at what Boston University Terriers would call the wrong end of Comm. Ave.

The draft should be buzzing at No. 5, when Montreal steps up. The Canadiens stunned a home crowd last year when they made Juraj Slafkovský a surprise No. 1. They could solve the Matvei Michkov riddle in Nashville.

Depending on which evaluator’s opinion you hear, Michkov is either a young Alex Ovechkin or a young Vladimir Tarasenko, in a smaller frame (listed at 6 feet, 159 pounds). He is under contract for three more years in his home country of Russia, but is noncommittal about his future beyond that, KHL or NHL.

Who would take him amid a precarious political situation there? Will they go with a safer pick?

One prominent agent said this past week that Washington (No. 8) and Detroit (No. 9), teams with prominent Russian connections, wouldn’t be automatic landing spots for Michkov if available, and that he could slide into the early teens.