The 2016 NHL Draft weekend in Buffalo has come to a close. There were some surprises, some strange decisions, some glorious moments and, of course, plenty of boos for Gary Bettman. 2016 NHL Entry Draft. Drafts- NHL - Entry - 2016. This is the list of players selected in the 2016 NHL Entry draft. There were 211 prospects selected across 7 rounds. Also included is each player's career NHL totals. If a player has no totals listed, this means that he has not played in a regular season game in the NHL. You can click on the. The 2016 NHL Entry Draft had plenty of shocks to offer, starting with the third overall pick (when the Columbus Blue Jackets selected center Pierre-Luc Dubois over consensus third-ranked prospect Jesse Puljujarvi) and including a handful of intriguing trades. While fewer teams walked away from the draft outraging fans nearly as much as Don Sweeney. 2016 NHL Draft Winner: Edmonton Oilers The Blue Jackets’ loss is the Oilers’ gain, as near-consensus top three prospect Jesse Puljujarvi fell to the fourth overall slot with Columbus selecting. NHL Draft 2016: Winners and losers BUFFALO, NY – The 2016 NHL Draft weekend in Buffalo has come to a close. There were some surprises, some strange decisions, some glorious moments and, of.
At this point, those last-minute deals have just about trickled in, so let’s do that thing where we hastily grade how general managers handled the trade deadline.
Check out PHT’s trade deadline tracker here, in case you want to do a little research before you make weirdly angry comments.
Winners
Flames: Calgary produced a resounding bounty for Jiri Hudler and Kris Russell, two players who were likely to walk in free agency anyway. The Flames now have seven picks in the first four rounds of the 2016 draft, and they received some nice pieces, including already-quite-experienced defenseman Jyrki Jokipakka.
Hurricanes: Another seller yielding huge returns, maybe the best of any team. Much like the Flames, Carolina gained a ton of futures for three players who only had months left on their deals. As many have mentioned, Eric Staal could return next summer, which would remove much of the discomfort from the toughest move.
If picks received by #Canes for Liles are in 2016, then they now have 12 picks in 2016, tying the #Leafs for most. pic.twitter.com/cm7rvG8630
— General Fanager (@generalfanager) February 29, 2016
Sellers, in general: The Leafs were quiet on the deadline day itself, and some aren’t happy about that.
Leafs end up keeping impending UFAs Parenteau, Boyes and Grabner. Parenteau banged up recently, Grabner without a point in 23 straight.
— Jonas Siegel (@jonassiegel) February 29, 2016
Even so, they grabbed some assets, and sellers who managed to pull the trigger were rewarded more often than not. The Buffalo Sabres didn’t sell like they have before, but they still have 19 draft picks between 2016 and 2017.
Blackhawks: They didn’t need to break the bank to add Andrew Ladd, a legitimate first-line forward who brings rare familiarity for a rental. No team has more benefit of the doubt when it comes to enjoying short-term gains for some long-term pain.
Rangers, in 2015-16: It’s a hefty price, yet Staal has the ability to help the Rangers take another step as contenders. They remain in “win now” mode.
Panthers: They spent a lot of picks. That said, collecting some rentals (Jiri Hudler in particular) rather than merely getting one could increase the odds of one or more actually paying off.
Ducks:Brandon Pirri isn’t spectacular and might be a little banged up, but a young guy coming off a 22-goal season for just a six-round pick? Not a bad bargain.
Brandon Pirri generates 5.1 scoring chance generating plays per 20 minutes at ES. Comparable offensive players: Parenteau, Frolik, Ladd.
— Sportlogiq (@Sportlogiq) February 29, 2016
Jamie McGinn also adds some depth to the Ducks’ mix, although he doesn’t stand as the same sort of value.
The phrase “standing pat:” Afrustrating themefor anxiousfans.
Lee Stempniak‘s landlords/real estate agents: He’s been moved three straight deadlines and the Bruins stand as his 10th team.
It’s probably inaccurate to label Stempniak as a loser or winner, really, as he does join a slightly more promising team.
On a similarly cheesy joking front, a few travel agents lost on Monday:
Two moves already today where guys didn't have to leave: Plotnikov goes across hall at Consol from Pens to Coyotes, Brown from MTL to SJ.
— Stephen Whyno (@SWhyno) February 29, 2016
Losers
People who took off work: An annual tradition. Seriously, this joke makes it into basically every winners/losers list.
Even so, this specific deadline day was as slow as ever.
Worst NHL trade deadline I can ever recall. Likely worst one in more than 20 years.
— James Mirtle (@mirtle) February 29, 2016
Jonathan Drouin: Yes, it’s true that the Lightning can technically trade Jonathan Drouin (he just wouldn’t be eligible to play), but it sure looks like he’s in limbo.
In Drouin’s case, limbo translates to “suspended in carbonite like Han Solo.” (Bonus loser: timely pop culture references.)
Canucks: Maybe you can give Jim Benning a partial pass for failing to move Dan Hamhuis, who exercised the powers of his no-trade clause. Either way, not finding an acceptable price for Hamhuis and Radim Vrbata stings for a franchise that isn’t contending and isn’t doing much to build for the future.
Vancouver likely has the most unhappy fans from a deadline perspective.
Stars: Kris Russell adds another piece to the Stars’ scary attack, but sheesh, what a price for a so-so rental. That’s an “oops, I have a month-long late fee at Blockbuster” type of price tag.
(Yeah, timely references are definitely another loser.)
All kidding aside, it’s not necessarily their fault that they missed out on Dan Hamhuis, but Jim Nill paid a lot for a marginal improvement.
Jyrki Jokipakka: He seems really sad.
Jyrki Jokipakka after the trade: 'Pretty empty feeling… I don't know what else to say.'
— Sami Hoffrén (@shoffren) February 29, 2016
Bruins: Much like the Stars, you can make a winner argument for the Bruins … but each team gave up so much to maybe only make a moderate step forward. Lee Stempniak and John-Michael Liles could help out a bit on defense, yet are they worth a bucket of picks? Was it really the best move to keep Loui Eriksson?
A first-round exit would make this a very costly week. Consider this more of a C- than a F grade, though.
So Bruins are, uh, all in. Godspeed.
— Amalie Benjamin (@AmalieBenjamin) February 29, 2016
Rangers’ future: Another annual tradition? The Rangers will now lack a first-round pick for four straight years, and they cleaned out some second-rounders, too. People thoroughly mock the Rangers for giving up guys like Anthony Duclair, so will these playoff pushes be worth it?
At some point, one would assume that the Rangers will pay for “mortgaging their future.”
The dust has barely settled on the 2016 NHL Draft, so what better time to assign winners and losers?
What’s that, you say? It would be better to wait anywhere between three and 10 years to hand out assessments?
(Awkward pause.)
OK, maybe that’s true, but let’s allow hindsight to make us look silly by throwing out some hasty picks anyway. Let’s start off with a post about the winners, shall we?
Note: These “grades’ are heavily influenced by trades and other factors beyond mere picks.
Winners
AMERICA
Feel free to cue Team America’s wildly NSFW theme song while noting that the United States churned out a record 12 first-rounders in 2016. That list included Auston Matthews, the top overall pick (and the first American to go first overall since Patrick Kane).
Read more about the ‘ol red-white-and-blue’s presence here.
Finland
With 14 overall selections, maybe Finland didn’t knock it out of the park in the “quantity” category. Still, with three of the top five picks hailing from Finland, that’s a heck of a haul.
2016 Nhl Winner World Series
Question: when will it stop being weird that Jarmo Kekalainen, the first Finnish GM in NHL history, opted against drafting one of those guys?
Maple Leafs/Jets
Filling out the “winners by default” categories are teams like the Leafs and Winnipeg Jets, who succeed merely by following the script in grabbing Matthews and Patrik Laine respectively.
Bonus points to Toronto if Kerby Rychel pans out, too.
Calgary Flames
Brian Elliott doesn’t cost much in cap space ($2.5 million) and he didn’t cost a whole lot to acquire. The Flames scored a massive upgrade in net for the short-term and might even be wise to lock him up for a few more years.
If that wasn’t enough, Calgary adds another useful young piece in Matthew Tkachuk. Extra super bonus points for inspiring the latest great Brian Burke quote:
Burke on Tkachuk: 'He’s a pain in the ass. We don’t have enough guys who are pains in the ass…I like guys who are pains in the ass.'
— Aaron Vickers (@AAVickers) June 25, 2016
Arizona Coyotes
Bold moves from a remarkably young new general manager. We could look back at nabbing Jakob Chychrun as a shrewd move, yet he wasn’t the only example of the ‘Yotes loading up on defense. Anthony Deangelo is an intriguing gamble. With Alex Goligoskiin tow, the Coyotes have quite the war chest at the coveted defensive position … and in general, really.
Chayka: 'Now we have a real strong pipeline of defensemen & we come away feeling pretty good about where our depth is in our organization.'
2016 Nhl Stanley Cup Winner
— Dave Vest (@davest4yotes) June 25, 2016
Absorbing Pavel Datsyuk‘s contract is all about the franchise’s economic realities.
Red Wings
Unloading Datsyuk’s $7.5 million cap hit opens up plenty of possibilities for Detroit, even if dreams of Steven Stamkos end up being unfounded.
Besides, this franchise still unearths draft gems with impressive regularity.
Chicago Blackhawks
Hey, giving up Andrew Shaw hurts, but the Blackhawks landed quite a deal for his mere negotiating rights. GM Stan Bowman continues to be a salary cap Houdini. If they really do end up reuniting with Brian Campbell, look out.
Edmonton Oilers
2016 Nhl Winner Season
It’s not easy to spell Jesse Puljujarvi, so let’s tweak it to “steal.”
Consider this a weaker “win” if the Oilers fail in their quest to land a defenseman.
Peter Chiarelli says he had positive talks today about acquiring a defenseman. Market softening.
— Craig Custance (@CraigCustance) June 25, 2016
***
Time will tell if winners end up looking like losers and vice versa. Things could even change between the moment this post is published and when free agency kicks off on July 1.
For whatever it’s worth, above teams look like they’re sitting fairly pretty at the moment.