An expert decides to redo the 1st round of Nick Suzuki's draft, and the result is surprising

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Jeff Drouin
September 5, 2022 (8:52)

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One exercise that is always interesting to try is to go back to a previous draft and re-rank the players to see what the new order of said draft would be, if it were held today.

It's easy to see the teams that made good moves, but also, the teams that missed their selection.

It's been a little over five years since the 2017 National Hockey League draft. So we have a much better idea of the quality of the players selected, and their real potential.

This is the famous draft in which the Vegas Golden Knights drafted Nick Suzuki with their second first-round pick of this draft and their second first-round pick in their history.

Here's the new order of the 2017 NHL Draft, if it took place today, and as published by an expert at The Hockey Writers.

Top 10:

1. Cale Makar (4th overall pick)
2. E. Pettersson (5th overall)
3. Miro Heiskanen (3rd overall)
4. Nick Suzuki (13th overall)
5. Nico Hischier (1st overall)
6. Robert Thomas (20th overall)
7. Jason Robertson (39th overall)
8. Josh Norris (19th overall)
9. Martin Necas (12th overall)
10. Drake Batherson (121st overall)

What's next:

11. Kailer Yamamoto
12. Jake Oettinger
13. Filip Chytil
14. Erik Brannstrom
15. Henri Jokiharju
16. Eeli Tolvanen
17. Alex Formenton
18. Alexandre Texier
19. Casey Mittelstadt
20. Nolan Patrick
21. Owen Tippett
22. Nicolas Hague
23. Maxime Comtois
24. Michael Rasmussen
25. Timothy Liljegren
26. Mario Ferraro
27. Morgan Geekie
28. S. Aho (Islanders)
29. Jesper Boqvist
30. Ryan Poehling
31. Morgan Frost
32. Gabriel Vilardi

In this new order, you'll notice several nice surprises, and it's actually surprising to see how quickly it can change. It says a lot about the importance of good recruiting, good development and good drafting. Turning a 121st overall pick into a 10th overall pick is major.

Let's give credit to Batherson, who goes from 121st to 10th overall, Robertson who goes from 39th to 7th, Nico Hischier who moves down a few spots, and Suzuki who moves into the top 4. What a solid acquisition for the CH!

Who do you think made the steal of the 2017 NHL draft?