Redrafting the top 10 from the 2015 NHL Draft
The players from the 2015 NHL Draft are starting to emerge as the league’s newest superstars, so how would the draft go if it were re-done today?
Many people point to the 2003 draft as one of the best draft classes of all-time, with studs such as Marc-Andre Fleury, Zach Parise, Ryan Getzlaf, Eric Staal, Ryan Suter, Thomas Vanek and Jeff Carter being selected. The 2005 draft also churned out a ton of superstars with the likes of Sidney Crosby, Carey Price, Anze Kopitar, Tuukka Rask, T.J. Oshie, Kris Letang, Paul Stastny, James Neal and Jonathan Quick getting picked. Soon, the 2015 NHL Draft might join those two drafts.
It’s starting to look like the 2015 NHL Draft has a real good chance to top these two, with a surplus of young players starting to prove themselves in the league. They’re showing that the future of the NHL is in great hands.
Some teams whiffed big on their picks while others cashed in. Looking back with what we know now, let’s take a look at how the top ten should have been drafted.
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Originally selected third overall in the 2015 draft, Dylan Strome hasn’t seen the instant success that many of his classmates have had. He’s suited up in just 47 NHL games since he was drafted, scoring seven goals and adding nine assists.
His first season he was sent back to the Erie Otters of the OHL after getting one assist in seven games with the Coyotes in a trial run, where he piled up 75 points in 35 games helping them capture the title.
Last season he spent 50 games with the Tucson Roadrunners in the AHL, putting up 22 goals and 53 points. There was a reason he was selected third overall in a deep draft – he’s dominated at every level he’s played in and has the raw skill to get it done at the NHL level.
Unfortunately for him, his path to NHL stardom has been a bit slower than others, but the 21-year-old still has the potential to be one of the best players from his draft class.
One of four Russians selected in the first round, Ivan Provorov is the only one to have found NHL success so far. Provorov finished last season 11th in the league in blocked shots with 169 and 59th in hits with 148. The bruising blueliner was also second in the league among defensemen with 17 goals and added another 24 assists.
Provorov averaged a monstrous 24.1 minutes per game last season and started nearly 60% of his shifts in the defensive zone. A threat on either end of the ice, Provorov has taken on the task of being a shutdown, number one defenseman quite easily. Not many players are able to enter the league and be such a threat on the blue line straight away.
Zach Werenski was picked eighth overall by the Columbus Blue Jackets, and he’s slotting in right at number eight still. The American finished third in Calder voting during his rookie campaign, with fewer votes than only Patrik Laine and winner Auston Matthews.
Alongside Seth Jones, Werenski has established himself as one of the league’s best defensemen and deservedly so. Since entering the league, he’s seventh among defensemen in goals with 31 and 23rd in points with 97. His Corsi For of 55.9 percent puts him among the league’s elite and above the likes of Erik Karlsson, Victor Hedman, John Carlson and Drew Doughty. That’s pretty good company to be ahead of if you ask me.
Boeser somehow slipped into the hands of the Vancouver Canucks at 23rd overall, but this time around teams wouldn’t make the mistake of passing on Prince Charming. He finished second among rookies in scoring last season with 29, only two behind Kyle Connor despite playing 14 games less.
Boeser looked like he was on pace to lock up the Calder Trophy before he injured his back and was forced to miss the last 16 games of the season. Despite this, he still finished as a finalist for the Calder Trophy.
He was also named the MVP of the All-Star Game, making him the first rookie to do so since Mario Lemieux did it in 1985. Boeser looked to be back on track this season, as he racked up 11 points in 13 games before injuring his groin and being forced out of action. Part of a young core in Vancouver alongside Bo Horvat, Elias Pettersson and Sven Baertschi, Boeser should fill opposing nets for years to come.
At the time of the draft, there was no way that the New York Islanders thought about franchise superstar John Tavares leaving the team. When center Mathew Barzal fell into their laps at 16th overall, there was no way they could pass up on him.
What hurts more is the fact that the Boston Bruins owned picks 13, 14 and 15 and failed to snag him. Barzal wasted no time turning on the jets in his rookie season last year, blowing up for 85 points in 82 games.
He received 160 out of 164 first-place votes for the Calder Trophy last season, with no other rookies even close to him. He was the first rookie since 1917-18 to record three five-point games in a season, and he absolutely dominated his competition. Now, with John Tavares out of the picture he’s still up to his old scoring self, sitting at 19 points in 21 games so far this season. Barzal is showing that he has what it takes to be a franchise center.
When the Colorado Avalanche traded Matt Duchene last season, Nathan MacKinnon was promoted to handle first line duties in every capacity. When that happened, it seemed to awaken a sleeping giant in both him and linemate Mikko Rantanen.
Originally drafted 10th overall by the Avalanche, Rantanen has been one of the league’s hottest players over the last two years. He sits sixth in the league in points with 120 since the beginning of last season and is currently sitting at the top of the league leaderboard in points and assists.
The trio of Rantanen, MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog has been an absolute nightmare for opponents, with nobody being able to find an answer to stop them. After flying under the radar his rookie season in a disastrous year for the Avalanche, Rantanen has emerged as an elite threat.
Last season when the Carolina Hurricanes decided to shake things up by trading Noah Hanifin and Jeff Skinner, the team made it clear that there was only one untouchable player: Sebastian Aho. Aho dropped to the Hurricanes in the second round at 35th overall, and has made every team that passed on him (some twice!) regret it immensely.
After a relatively slow start to the season last year, he had an incredible second half to finish the year with 29 goals and 65 points, and that carried over to this season where he kicked things off with a 12-game point streak in which he totaled four goals and 17 points.
He was also awarded the Best Forward award at the IIHF World Championship last year, where he put up 18 points in eight games for Finland. The youngster has proven early on in his career that he can do it all on any stage, which makes it even more incredible that he fell so low in the draft.
Mitch Marner was originally selected fourth overall, but he’s made a great case for himself that he should have been the third man off the board. Granted, he has had the luxury of playing with Auston Matthews and John Tavares early in his career, he’s still shown flashes of brilliance and incredible hockey IQ that he could get things done with just about anybody.
After ripping up the OHL with the London Knights, it didn’t take long for Marner to get going in the big league. He’s second among players in his draft year in points with 155, behind only Connor McDavid (spoiler alert, he’s number one on this list).
His playmaking abilities are superb, and he’s shown that he can get the puck in the net also by chipping in 47 goals. The fact that there’s a chance that opposing teams may have to deal with him, Tavares and Matthews for the next seven years should make coaches lose sleep at night.
As I’m writing this article, the Buffalo Sabres are riding an eight-game win streak. Yes, the Buffalo Sabres. Fans were gutted when the Sabres lost the McDavid sweepstakes to the Edmonton Oilers, but Jack Eichel is not too bad of a consolation prize.
He’s had to deal with a number of injuries since entering the league and only has one full season under his belt which was his rookie year. He has 203 points in 232 games and is a big part of the Sabres’ success so far this season.
Thanks to great additions such as Carter Hutton, Rasmus Dahlin, and Jeff Skinner this off-season, the Sabres look like they have finally built a team around their franchise center. Eichel can do it all, so if he can manage to stay healthy he’ll be a legitimate contender for all of the trophies at the end of the season for years to come.
Surprise, it’s Connor McDavid. The projected number one overall pick for years before he was eligible for the draft has honestly somehow exceeded expectations so far in his career. There’s no way around it, he creates magic with the puck every single time he’s on the ice and does things that no other player could.
It seems as though every one of his goals or assists is eligible for the highlight reel. His speed matched with his IQ and versatility makes him the most dangerous player in the entire league. He already has two Art Ross Trophies and a Hart Trophy locked up, and he’s not going to stop collecting them any time soon.
He’s second in the league in scoring since his rookie season with 287 points, trailing Patrick Kane by only nine points despite playing 37 fewer games than him. This league belongs to McDavid now, and the scariest part about him is that it looks like he’s only getting better. At just 21-years-old, there’s nowhere to go but up for him.