2015 NHL Draft: Winners and Losers

The 2015 NHL draft has come and gone, but the repercussions remain. Who helped themselves the most?

Winners

Edmonton Oilers

Peter Chiarelli hasn’t done a bad job rebuilding this team. They become a winner just for getting Connor McDavid, but they did more than that this weekend. They didn’t have to give up much to get Cam Talbot, a goalie they needed. The Oilers have work to do, sure, and they could use another defenseman, but they didn’t mess everything up which is progress for this team.

New York Islanders

The Islanders must have been stunned when the Bruins didn’t select Mathew Barzal, because it only took them about five minutes to trade up for the 16th overall pick. New York gave up defenseman Griffin Reinhart, but to have the confidence to trade up for the guy they wanted earns them a winners spot. So many teams drift through the draft but the Islanders had an opportunity and they took it.

Calgary Flames

Getting Dougie Hamilton for less than a song earns you a spot in the winners circle. The Flames needed to give up just a first and two seconds to have possible the best offensive defense core in the NHL. Add Hamilton to a group that includes Kris Russell, Mark Giordano, Dennis Wideman, and TJ Brodie? Winners.

Buffalo Sabres

Getting Jack Eichel without having the first overall pick makes you a winner. However, they also traded for Robin Lehner, and thus now have a goalie. They then traded for Ryan O’Reilly from the Colorado Avalanche, and add in the Evander Kane deal from the last NHL trade deadline and the Sabres suddenly look very formidable.

Losers

Boston Bruins

Could anyone have had a worse time than the Boston Bruins? They traded away the rights to potential star defenseman Dougie Hamilton for three picks. One of those picks was the 15th in the draft. In fact, they held the 13th, 14th, and 15th, and preceded to do squat with those picks. They left players like Mathew Barzal and Kyler Conner on the table.

Not to mention, they got far too little for every deal they made. Milan Lucic brought just a first round pick and a backup goaltender and they have to eat half of the salary.

San Jose Sharks

They didn’t get the goalie they needed and they lost their chance with Anti Niemi after they traded his rights to the Dallas Stars. They lost out on Cam Talbot, Anton Khudobin, Eddie Lack, and Robin Lehner, and they still need a goaltender.