It’s going to be a busy draft.
Eight teams control many of the top picks
The 2015 NHL entry draft is considered the deepest talent-wise since 2003.
Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel have been deemed “generational” talents, and many scouts and hockey executives believe this year’s draft will produce numerous very good, if not excellent, NHL players.
The majority of those players will be selected during the first two rounds Friday and Saturday in Sunrise, Fla. What makes this year’s draft so intriguing is that eight teams control almost 50 per cent of the picks in the first two rounds.
Most of the trade movement will centre on these eight clubs — Edmonton Oilers (picks No. 1, 16, 33, 57), Buffalo Sabres (2, 21, 31, 51), Arizona Coyotes (3, 30, 32, 60), Columbus Blue Jackets (8, 34, 38, 58), Calgary Flames (15, 45, 52, 53), New Jersey Devils (6, 36, 41), Philadelphia Flyers (7, 29, 61) and Winnipeg Jets (17, 25, 47). They own 29 of the first 61 selections (47.5 per cent).
(Note: There are 31, not 30, picks in the second round due to the Chicago Blackhawks receiving a secondround selection, 54th overall, as compensation for not being able to sign 2010 firstround pick Kevin Hayes, 24th overall).
Combined with the small salary cap increase to $71.4 million and how some very competitive teams don’t have any picks in the first 55 selections, we should see many draft-day trades.
The New York Islanders don’t have a pick until No. 72. The Nashville Predators’ first choice is 55th, the St. Louis Blues is 56th and the New York Rangers is 59th. The Vancouver Canucks only have one pick (23rd) in the first 113 slots while the Pittsburgh Penguins have one (46th) in the first 136.
The Oilers, Flames and Sabres will most likely trade one or more draft picks for proven NHL players. The Oilers have $18 million in salary-cap space, the Flames have $21M and the Sabres have more than $26M, according to NHLnumbers.com.
The Oilers and Sabres desperately need to upgrade their goaltending, with the Rangers hoping the Oilers, Sabres, San Jose Sharks and possibly the Flames get into a bidding war for backup Cam Talbot. Meanwhile, the Canucks will use goaltender Eddie Lack and defenceman Kevin Bieksa as trade bait in hopes of acquiring draft choices.
Another team to watch is San Jose. General manager Doug Wilson has a history of draft day deals and trading star players. After missing the playoffs for the first time in a decade and firing his coaching staff, Wilson will try to wheel and deal.
The Blackhawks have to trim some salary, with GM Stan Bowman looking to move Patrick Sharp, Bryan Bickell and maybe even defenceman Brent Seabrook.
On Monday, Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli said: “I’m open to all types of offers for all of our picks, except the first overall.” The Oilers currently have 10 picks. I’m guessing he trades three of them to try to upgrade his goaltending and defence. The Rangers have asked for the 16th pick, but Chiarelli is hesitant to deal such a valuable selection for a goalie who is one year away from being an unrestricted free agent (UFA).
Quick hits
Starting Thursday, UFAs may meet and interview with NHL teams, but cannot officially sign a contract until July 1 at 10 a.m. MST. The rules state teams and players can’t discuss specifics of contracts, but contracts will be discussed and some teams could have verbal agreements in place, which will allow them to make trades at the draft to ensure they have salary-cap space. This will be the Oilers’ fourth No. 1 draft choice, the most of any team since the league expanded in 1979. The Pittsburgh Penguins, Tampa Bay Lightning and Quebec Nordiques have each had three and all of them went on to win a Stanley Cup. Since the 21-team NHL entry draft was started in 1979, the organizations with the most top-three selections are the Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay and the Colorado Avalanche/ Nordiques, with seven each. The Islanders, Ottawa Senators, Penguins, Devils/Colorado Rockies have six each while the Oilers, Blackhawks, Sharks, Los Angeles Kings and Jets/Atlanta Thrashers have five each.
The Flames and Rangers have not had a top-three pick since the league expanded to 21 teams.