2020 NHL Draft: Top 5 winners and losers from Round 1

Winner: Calgary Flames

You can’t help but respect what the Calgary Flames did in the first round. They pulled off a masterpiece. The Flames managed to trade down twice, picked up two extra third-round picks in the process, and still got the guy they wanted in Connor Zary.

Zary needs to improve his skating, but as Brayden Point has proven, you can improve your skating. He’s a very well-rounded player who is almost like a swiss army knife because he can do just about anything you ask him to, whether it’s score, pass, lead in transition, or play defense.

While Zary doesn’t have the fascinating upside of some of the other first round picks, his floor is among the highest of the picks and he still has the upside to be a top-six forward. If his skating improves, I could see him being a top-line forward.

Loser: Columbus Blue Jackets

Anytime the analysts on television have no idea who you just picked in the first round, it’s not a good sign. Yegor Chinakhov was a fifth-round pick for me. He’s off to a pretty good start in his 2020-21 KHL season, but the Blue Jackets are betting quite a bit on a very small sample size. This could be a pick Columbus regrets for years to come.