It was a strange NHL Trade Deadline this year. There were few – if any – deals that could be defined as a “hockey trade”, or one roster player being exchanged for another roster player or a package of roster players. Instead, most teams opted to exchange futures for impending free agents. In fact, between February 4th and March 1st, 34 draft picks changed hands. That has caused quite the shakeup in the composition of the upcoming NHL Draft, as well as future drafts. Here is a look at the current post-deadline status of the 2017 draft:
Superlatives
Most picks: Philadelphia Flyers – 12. The Flyers have loaded up on picks for this draft over the years. They own all seven of their own picks, plus five additional picks. They own the Boston Bruins’ third-round pick as part of the Zac Rinaldo trade in 2015 (yikes), the fourth-round and seventh-round selections of the Tampa Bay Lightning as part of the recent Mark Streit – Valtteri Filppula deal, the New York Islander’s fourth-rounder as part of a draft day swap for their own fourth-rounder last year, and a seventh-round selection of the New Jersey Devils in exchange for Petr Straka.
Fewest picks: Washington Capitals/Ottawa Senators/Anaheim Ducks – 4. The Capitals could potentially have only three picks in 2017, if they have to give up their fifth round pick to the Los Angeles Kings, but that is conditional on Washington winning two playoff series (reasonable) and Tom Gilbert playing in at least half of those games (not so reasonable). Otherwise, the Caps will have their own, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh-round selections this year. Yeah, that’s it. Meanwhile, Ottawa also has just four picks: their own first, fourth, and sixth-round selections and the Calgary Flames’ second-round choice as the return for Curtis Lazar. The Senators’ second-round pick went to Toronto as part of the return for Dion Phaneuf last year, and their third, fifth, and seventh-rounders have been moved to the Carolina Hurricanes, Pittsburgh Penguins, and San Jose Sharks respectively this season in exchange for Viktor Stalberg, Mike Condon, and Tommy Wingels. The Ducks owe the Dallas Stars a first or second, depending on their own postseasonperformance, and could potentially owe the Toronto Maple Leafs a second or third based on Jonathan Bernier’s postseason performance, but it is very unlikely. Anaheim traded away their sixth and seventh-round picks in minor deals for Colby Robak and Corey Tropp.
Strongest group of picks: Carolina Hurricanes. There have been two 2017 first-round selections traded away this year, the Washington Capitals’ pick to the St. Louis Blues in the Kevin Shattenkirk deal and the Minnesota Wild’s pick to the Arizona Coyotes in the Martin Hanzal deal. Both picks may as well be high second-rounders for the two teams leading their respective conferences and most likely to meet in the Stanley Cup, but Arizona obviously has the edge in the value of their own choice, a guaranteed top five pick, versus St. Louis, who is still likely to make the playoffs. However, neither of those teams can hold a candle to the Hurricanes when it comes to the deep 2017 draft class. Carolina also has a lottery pick of their own, as well as their own second and third-round selections, but GM Ron Francis has also collected four more picks in the second and third rounds. The ’Canes still hold another New York Rangers second-round pick from last year’s Eric Staal trade and then recently added the Pittsburgh Penguins second-round pick for Ron Hainsey. They also own the New Jersey Devils’ third-rounder from – get this – the 2014 trade of Tuomo Ruutu, as well as the aforementioned Ottawa Senators’ selection in exchange for Viktor Stalberg.
Weakest group of picks: Washington Capitals. You probably saw this coming. There are a few teams with only a handful of picks and missing a few mid-rounders. However, there are just two teams missing their first-round pick, the Capitals and the Wild, but the Caps are also missing picks two and three and could potentially lose five. Washington traded this year’s and next year’s second-rounder to the Montreal Canadiens for Lars Eller this summer and moved their third-rounder to the Buffalo Sabres for Mike Weber ahead of the 2016 trade deadline. If, as many expect, this is finally the year that Washington takes home their first ever Stanley Cup title, they won’t have a pick until the 31st choice of the fourth round, pick #124. Of course, if they do win the Cup they won’t mind picking late as much.
Teams
Anaheim Ducks (3/4) – ANA 1st/2nd**, ANA 3rd*, ANA 4th, ANA 5th
Arizona Coyotes (7) – ARI 1st, MIN 1st, ARI 2nd, DET 3rd, CGY 3rd, ARI 5th, ARI 7th
Boston Bruins (6) – BOS 1st, EDM 2nd, BOS 4th, BOS 6th, FLA 7th, BOS 7th
Buffalo Sabres (8) – BUF 1st, BUF 2nd, MIN 2nd, BUF 3rd, WSH 3rd, BUF 4th, BUF 6th, BUF 7th
Calgary Flames (5) – CGY 1st, CGY 4th, CGY 5th, CGY 6th, CGY 7th
Carolina Hurricanes (11) – CAR 1st, CAR 2nd, NYR 2nd, PIT 2nd, CAR 3rd, NJ 3rd, OTT 3rd, CAR 4th, BOS 5th, CAR 6th, CAR 7th
Chicago Blackhawks (9) – CHI 1st, CHI 2nd, CHI 4th, CAR 5th, STL 5th, CHI 5th, NYI 6th, CHI 6th, ANA 7th
Colorado Avalanche (7) – COL 1st, COL 2nd, COL 4th, NYR 4th, COL 5th, COL 6th, COL 7th
Columbus Blue Jackets (6/7) – CLB 1st, CLB 2nd*, CLB 3rd, CLB 4th, CLB 5th, CLB 6th, CLB 7th
Dallas Stars (8) – DAL 1st, DAL 2nd, TOR/OTT/SJ 2nd (from ANA)*, DAL 3rd, DAL 4th, MTL 4th, DAL 5th, DAL 6th, DAL 7th
Detroit Red Wings (10/11) – DET 1st, DET 2nd, ARI/FLA 3rd*, TOR 3rd, NYR 3rd, CHI 3rd, DET 4th, DET 5th, DET 6th, FLA 6th, DET 7th
Edmonton Oilers (7/8) – EDM 1st, STL 3rd*, EDM 3rd, EDM 4th, VAN 5th, EDM 5th, EDM 6th, EDM 7th
Florida Panthers (5) – FLA 1st, FLA 2nd, ARI/FLA 3rd*, FLA 5th, ANA 6th
Los Angeles Kings (7) – LA 1st, LA 2nd, LA 3rd, LA 4th, TB 5th, LA 5th, LA 6th
Minnesota Wild (6) – MIN 3rd, ARI 4th, MIN 4th, MIN 5th, MIN 6th, MIN 7th
Montreal Canadiens (5) – MTL 1st, MTL 2nd, WSH 2nd, MTL 3rd, MTL 5th
Nashville Predators (6) – NSH 1st, NSH 2nd, NSH 3rd, NSH 5th, NYR 6th, NSH 7th
New Jersey Devils (10) – NJ 1st, NJ 2nd, BOS 2nd, COL 3rd, SJ 3rd, NJ 4th, NSH 4th, NJ 5th, NJ 6th, NSH 6th,
New York Islanders (5) – NYI 1st, NYI 2nd, NYI 3rd, NYI 5th, NYI 7th
New York Rangers (5) -NYR 1st, FLA 4th, NYR 5th, VAN 6th, NYR 7th
Philadelphia Flyers (12) – PHI 1st, PHI 2nd, PHI 3rd, BOS 3rd, TB 4th, PHI 4th, NYI 4th, PHI 5th, PHI 6th, NJ 7th, TB 7th, PHI 7th
Pittsburgh Penguins (6) – PIT 1st, PIT 3rd, OTT 5th, PIT 5th, PIT 6th, PIT 7th
Ottawa Senators (4) – OTT 1st, CGY 2nd, OTT 4th, OTT 6th
San Jose Sharks (7) – SJ 1st/4th*, SJ 5th, ARI 6th, SJ 6th, OTT 7th, CHI 7th, SJ 7th
St. Louis Blues (7) – STL 1st, WSH 1st, STL 2nd, STL 4th, BUF 5th, STL 6th, STL 7th
Tampa Bay Lightning (6) – TB 1st, TB 2nd, TOR/OTT/SJ 2nd*, TB 3rd, TB 6th, MTL 6th, LA 7th
Toronto Maple Leafs (7) – TOR 1st, TOR/OTT/SJ 2nd*, TOR 4th, PIT 4th, TOR 5th, TOR 6th, TOR 7th
Vancouver Canucks (6) – VAN 1st, VAN 2nd, VAN 3rd, VAN 4th, SJ 4th/1st*, VAN 7th
Vegas Golden Knights (7) – VGK 1st, VGK 2nd, VGK 3rd, VGK 4th, VGK 5th, VGK 6th, VGK 7th (that’s it for now)
Washington Capitals (3/4) – WSH 4th, WSH 5th*, WSH 6th, WSH 7th
Winnipeg Jets (8) – WPG 1st, WPG 2nd, WPG 3rd, WPG 4th, WPG 5th, WPG 6th, WPG 7th, MTL 7th
Draft pick information courtesy of CapFriendly.com