2015 NHL Draft: Diamonds in the Rough

The much anticiapted 2015 NHL draft is less than a week away, and now every team’s number one focus is on it. Edmonton and Buffalo will be lucky enough to get franchise cornerstones, while the rest of the top ten picks seems to be sure-fire top line players in the NHL one day. Teams drafting lower still have a chance to pick up some solid depth for their lineup, but once on a while they can steal a star deep in the draft. Many hockey analysts argue that drafting good players late in the NHL draft was the key to the recent Detroit Red Wings dynasty (1995-2009) and the recent Chicago Blackhawks dynasty (2010-present).

For example, the Red Wings drafted Jonathan Ericsson (291st in 2002), Vladimir Konstantinov (221st in 1989), Pavel Datsyuk (171st in 1998), and Henrik Zetterberg (210th in 1999) among others. Menawhile, the Blackhawks have so far stole Dustin Byfuglien (245th in 2003), Troy Brouwer (214th in 2004), Niklas Hjalmarsson (108th in 2005), Marcus Kruger (149th in 2009), Brandon Saad (43rd in 2011), and Andrew Shaw (139th in 2011).

Let’s take a look at some lower-ranked candidates at the 2015 NHL draft that I think could be diamonds in the rough.

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