NHL Draft Winners and Losers – Players Edition

I looked at the winners and losers team-wise yesterday, and today I’ll be looking at which players won and lost at this NHL draft.

What constitutes a “winner”? A number of things: it could be player x was drafted much earlier than he was expected. It could also be that he went to a good team that will maximize his skills. Or it could be that he went to a bad team but will get a chance to play earlier.

Winners

Riley Sheahan – Detroit (Notre Dame – CCHA) – Sheahan got picked roughly where he was expected, but goes to a veteran Detroit team who will be able to use him fairly soon, and Detroit is the type of team that maximizes the abilities of players like Sheahan. Sheahan isn’t the flashiest of players, but he always does the right thing on the ice and that will mesh well with Detroit.

Tyler Seguin – Boston (Plymouth -OHL) – By not getting picked 1st, Seguin gets to step into a Boston team that went to the conference finals this past season and gets to play winning hockey instead of playing for the Oilers.

Jaden Schwartz – St. Louis (Tri-City – USHL) – He was projected to go much lower, but the Blues traded up to take him 14th overall. Schwartz was likely rated low because of his size, but I think the future Colorado College Tiger will put up some nice numbers in the WCHA and justify this lofty pick.

Tyler Pitlick – Edmonton (Minnesota State – WCHA) – Pitlick probably should have gone in the mid first as a centre who can do everything, but he slid to the Oilers who took him with the first pick of the 2nd round. Pitlick was going to go to the WHL next year, but might be able to play in the NHL in 2011.

Beau Bennett – Pittsburgh (Penticton – BCHL) – I didn’t like this pick by the Penguins, but if Bennett fulfills his promise, there aren’t many better situations in the NHL than being centered by Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin.

Losers

Cam Fowler – Anaheim (Windsor – OHL) – Fowler looked like a slam dunk top 5 pick, but ended up going 12th to Anaheim. Not a huge deal, and I don’t think it will matter in the end, but it had to hurt a little.

Jack Campbell – Dallas (USNTDP) – Campbell was the best goalie in the draft, but by being picked 12th – too early for any goalie – he will carry even greater expectations throughout his NHL career.

Jon Merrill – New Jersey (USNTDP) – Merrill looked like a solid bet to be an end of the 1st round pick, but some poor interviews at the combine pushed him down some boards. As Chris Dilks from Western College Hockey Blog said, hockey isn’t played with your mouth.