2019 NHL Draft: Biggest winners and losers from Vancouver

Winner: New Jersey Devils

I cannot think of the last time a team managed to come away with a franchise-changing center and a Norris Trophy-winning defenceman within 24 hours. Actually, can anybody point out a time one team landed both in a single offseason?

When they won the draft lottery, the New Jersey Devils probably knew the whole time they were going with Hughes. He’s going to turn this franchise around right away, and it won’t be long until they grow into a championship contender.

If that wasn’t enough, general manager Ray Shero landed All-Star defenceman P.K. Subban from the Nashville Predators. All Shero had to surrender was two-second rounders, defenseman Steven Santini and prospect Jeremy Davies.

New Jersey Devils fans should think about putting a Shero statue in front of the Prudential Center, because they’re going to be a serious contender in such little time.

Loser: Nashville Predators

With a plethora of quality blueliners, many figured that Nashville Predators general manager David Poile would move one out. That said, the return for one of the NHL’s few elite defencemen was very minimal and lackluster. It’s very uncharacteristic for Poile to get such little value in a trade for one of his premier players.

Davies and Santini have lots of talent, but neither have shown their abilities to be true game-changers. Acquiring second round picks doesn’t help Nashville much in the short-term future. Their window to win is now, and they don’t really need to stock up players that are a few years away from the NHL. It was a simple a salary clearing move for Poile, but if he waited it out, the Predators could have gotten a much better return.

Taking Philip Tomasino in the first round was also a curious move.  Center isn’t exactly an organization need for a team that has Ryan Johansen, Nick Bonino, Kyle Turris and Colton Sissons down the middle.