2019 NHL Draft: Grading each team’s draft class

Now that the 2019 NHL Draft is over, let’s take a look at how each team. Here’s a grade for each team’s draft class.

The 2019 NHL Draft is over. General Managers have put their pencils down and now it’s time to grade their work. It’s tough, and perhaps unfair, to judge prospects less than three years after they are drafted, but life isn’t fair.

Some teams did exceptionally well during the draft. Others didn’t. Some teams helped to build a promising future and gave their prospect pipeline a talent injection. Others reached for players and drafted players who likely won’t contribute.

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Before we begin, let’s take a look at how we’re going to judge each team’s draft class. Grading won’t be done on a curve. In other words, I don’t particularly care where a team drafted in each round, nor do I care how many picks they had. Secondly, I’ll take a look at my favorite and least favorite picks for each team.

Without further ado, here’s how each team did.

Central Division

Colorado Avalanche

Favorite prospects: Bowen Byram and Alex Newhook is a heck of a haul. Love them adding Alex Beaucage too.

Least favorite prospects: The Avalanche reached a bit for Matthew Stienburg in the second round.

Grade: A+. Byram and Newhook alone gets them an A. Adding Alex Beaucage in the third round and some other intriguing prospects pushes them to an A+.

Chicago Blackhawks

Favorite prospects: The merits of drafting Kirby Dach with the third overall pick are up for debate. But what’s not is his talent. Dach is a heck of a player and should be a strong piece for them for years to come. Antti Saarela has the skating tools to be an NHLer. Dominic Basse is one of my favorite 2019 draft goalie prospects.

Least favorite prospects: Cole Moberg is a lottery ticket. But then again, that’s what seventh-round picks are for. They also reached a bit too much for Alex Vlasic for my liking.

Grade: B+. Dach and Vlasic should be NHL players. Michal Teply could be a diamond in the rough, as he had a rough draft year, but was highly thought of before it.

Dallas Stars

Favorite prospects: First-round pick Thomas Harley has a terrific skill set. He should be a difference maker on the Dallas Stars blueline. People are wary of his defensive issues, but I think they’re blown out of proportion. Harley might emerge as the second-best offensive defenseman in the 2019 draft.

Least favorite prospects: Samuel Sjolund doesn’t have a good skill set. I’d be surprised if he’s a contributor on the Stars blueline. I didn’t like anything they did on the second day.

Grade: C-. Harley is likely going to be the only contributor the Stars get from this draft. But to be fair, they only had four picks. A 25% success rate isn’t too shabby.

Minnesota Wild

Favorite prospects: The Minnesota Wild drafted Matthew Boldy in the first round. This is probably a hot take, but it wouldn’t surprise me if Boldy winds up having a better NHL career than Cole Caufield. His two-way game and scoring prowess should give the Wild a guy they can rebuild around.

Least favorite prospects: I didn’t like them drafting two goaltenders. In a vacuum, Hunter Jones was fine in the second round and Filip Lindberg probably should have been drafted before the seventh round. But together, I don’t like it.

Grade: B+. The Wild quietly had a pretty darn good draft. Fifth-round pick Marshall Warren is a guy to keep an eye on – he should have been picked in the third round.

Nashville Predators

Favorite prospects: Philip Tomasino was one of my favorite 2019 draft prospects. The Predators got him in the first round. Tomasino could be a very good goal scorer and shows hints of driving play at an impressive level.

Least favorite prospects: Alexander Campbell would have been a perfect late-round draft pick because he’s a huge project, but he’s got a lot of potential. Unfortunately, the Predators drafted him in the third round.

Grade: C+. Tomasino’s going to be a stud and Egor Afanasyev could be a big contributor for them. But I wasn’t a fan of anyone else they picked.

St. Louis Blues

Favorite prospects: Nikita Alexandrov is someone who I had as a fringe first-round pick. The St. Louis Blues got him late in the second round. He’s got a sky-high hockey IQ and I think he has enough skill to be a consistent contributor in the NHL.

Least favorite prospects: The Vadim Zherenko pick confused me. Yes, the Blues have an annual tradition of drafting goalies, but they already got Colton Ellis (who I like) in the third round. There were guys there worth taking a flyer on, but Zherenko wasn’t one of them, in my opinion.

Grade: C. Blues fans, just remember – if you win the Stanley Cup, you shouldn’t whine for five years. Maybe even 10.

Winnipeg Jets

Favorite prospects: I loved the Ville Heinola pick. He’s a great Finnish defenseman who should help them as they rebuild. Heinola excels in transition, which is something the Jets need from their defensemen.

Least favorite prospects: Simon Lundmark doesn’t have a strong skill set. His lack of offense is going to make it very hard for him to be an NHL guy.

Grade: C-. To be fair, the Jets only had four draft picks. But still, other than Heinola, the Jets draft was underwhelming at best.