Draft Report Card: NHL Entry Draft 2014

The Failures:

I skipped right from the C’s to the failures because any team that I gave an overall grade of C- or less I consider to have failed in this particular entry draft. There were only two teams that I put this low- the Winnipeg Jets and the Ottowa Senators. 

Both teams were put this low for essentially the same reason. Neither team made the playoffs, and while Ottowa truly made a mistake by not finding a way to pick in the first round, Winnipeg did very little to make themselves playoff contenders next year, as well.

The Senators baffled me with their lack of a first-round pick. Captain Jason Spezza had requested a trade out of Ottowa, and could have been a phenomenal trading tool for a pick. Instead, the team traded him and a prospect for Dallas Stars forward Alex Chiasson and two prospects. While this could be a good move in the long run- after all, Dallas’s AHL affiliate won the Calder Cup under Vancouver’s new head coach Willie Desjardins this past year, so any prospects coming out of that system are probably going to be okay- I felt that Ottowa still ended up on the short end of this deal. After all, Dallas looks like a cup contender again this year- once again, Ottowa does not.

Winnipeg looks the same to me. While they picked a left winger with strong stats in Nickolaj Ehlers, I’m going to criticize them for the opposite of why I’m criticizing Ottowa. They need a left wing to replace Evander Kane, and soon- In my opinion, they should have traded their first round #9 pick for someone who could help them out much sooner than Ehlers will.