Always forget Smith-Pelly was in this class which is a huge plus.
2011 Notable Choices: Rickard Rakell (30), John Gibson (39), William Karlsson (53), Josh Manson (160)
My grade: A
Only thing that lowers the grade from an A+ to an A is Kucherov was later selected in that 2nd round with Gibson and Karlsson. Probably the most important draft for us in recent history nonetheless.
2012 Notable Choices: Hampus Lindholm (6), Frederik Andersen (87)
My grade: B+
Pretty straight forward 1st round pick.
2013 Notable Choices: Shea Theodore (26), Nick Sorenson (45)
My Grade: B
Another good D-man fell to us if I remember correctly.
2014 Notable Choices: Nick Ritchie (10), Marcus Pettersson (38), Brandon Montour (55), Ondrej Kase (205)
My grade: B+
Sad to see them all gone. Can’t believe BM did such a great job after selecting NR. Then again, not the strongest 1st round.
Fun facts: Sonny Milano went 16 at this draft and with our pick (From the Ryan Kesler trade) Vancouver Canucks selected Jared McCann at 24th overall right before David Pasternak. Tough one.
2015 Notable Choices: Jacob Larsson (27), Julius Nattinen (59), Troy Terry (148)
My grade: C
I remember I was big on Julius Nattinen. He’s playing in the National League now.
Aho was later selected at 35th overall. So, that sucks.
2016 Notable Choices: Max Jones (24), Sam Steel (30), Josh Mahura (85)
My Grade: B
I remember being upset with our first-round choices (not anymore) I was hoping we would select Riley Tufte (Bust/injuries) and Alex DeBrincat. Oh well. What can you do?
2017 Notable Choices: Maxime Comtois (50)
My Grade (so far): C+
No first-round pick. Weak draft class imo and BM really has messed up the development of Comtois thus far.
2018 Notable Choices: Isac Lunderstrom (23), Benoit Oliver Groulx (54), Lukas Dostal (85)
My Grade (So far): B
Could definitely see this grade go up.
2019 Notable Choices: Trevor Zegras (9), Brayden Tracey (29), Jackson LaCombe (39), Henry Thrun (101)
My Too Early Grade: B+
All I’ll say is if we drafted Arthur Kaliev at 29th I’d grade the class at A. I know the issues of his game as his defensive capabilities are suspect and he can’t generate offensive chances on his own (or at least the season before this draft) but looking at the Holtz hype train I don’t see that many differences other than the fact Holtz practically shoots from anywhere on the ice having a high low-danger scoring percentage. I personally see him not being worth it at 6.
BM’s Overall Drafting Grade According to Me: B-
My guess is we draft Drysdale at 6 and Jake Neighbors at 28 at this years draft.