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

Winner: Washington Capitals and Hendrix Lapierre

The Washington Capitals never trade up in the first round. I was shocked when they did and, honestly, I was sort of scared of what they were going to do. But my fears were eased when the Capitals drafted Hendrix Lapierre. The Capitals needed to swing for the fences with a very weak prospect pool and that’s precisely what they did.

And what a moment for Lapierre. He’s dealt with so much over the past 20 months. It would make a lot of prospects quit. Lapierre did not. His health is a huge red flag, as he has had concussion issues and neck issues early in his career. But whenever he’s been healthy, Lapierre has blown me away with his playmaking and work in transition.

Lapierre needs to be more confident in his shot because it’s very good and because it’ll open up so many passing lanes for him. But I saw some growth there last season, even though he only played in 19 games. This is a very small sample size, but so far in two games this season, he’s been a bit more trigger happy and I love that.

Loser: Buffalo Sabres

Imagine watching the Ottawa 67’s repeatedly and saying “I’d rather have Jack Quinn than Marco Rossi”. That’s basically what the Buffalo Sabres did. I love Quinn as a prospect, but he wasn’t even close to being the best player on his team. Rossi, Perfetti, and even Anton Lundell would have been better picks than him.