An expert decides to redo the 2017 draft and the result is very revealing
It often happens that some experts have fun revisiting certain years of the various NHL drafts to find out which players were real steals and which ones did not meet expectations.
Cimon Asselin, of Habsolumentfan.com, indulged in the game of revisiting the first round of the 2017 draft, the year the Habs' leading scorer that season, Nick Suzuki was drafted by the Vegas Golden Knights.
He was the 13th pick in the first round before being involved, one year later, in the famous transaction that sent Max Pacioretty to the Golden Knights.
We know what happened next, number 14 became the Canadiens' first center and he just reached the 60-point plateau for the first time in his career this season.
But let's have some fun here replaying the first round of the 2017 draft. That year, Nico Hischier was the very first pick by the New Jersey Devils, followed by Nolan Patrick, selected by the Flyers and defenseman Miro Heiskanen selected by the Dallas Stars.
However, the next picks, Cale Makar and Elias Pettersson, seem to have moved ahead of the first three selections in the new draft. In fact, the two players would be the first two out according to Habsolumentfan.com, while Hischier fell to third and Heiskanen to fourth.
That leads to Nick Suzuki at fifth, followed by St. Louis Blues forward Robert Thomas at sixth and Dallas Stars forward Jason Robertson.
The top 10 is completed by Josh Norris of the Ottawa Senators, Martin Necas of the Carolina Hurricanes and Drake Batherson, also of the Senators.
Canadiens forward Ryan Poehling, selected 25th by the team, dropped five spots, but the most noticeable drop is that of Nolan Patrick who is now 20th. It must be said that the numerous injuries he has suffered have certainly not helped.
Note that two players chosen in the top ten, Lias Andersson by the Rangers and Cody Glass by the Golden Kights, are no longer on the list.
Just goes to show that a top 10 pick is not always a guaranteed success.
Here's the full list of the revisited first round of the 2017 NHL Draft.
1. Cale Makar
2. Elias Pettersson
3. Nico Hischier
4. Miro Heiskanen
5. Nick Suzuki
6. Robert Thomas
7. Jason Robertson
8. Josh Norris
9. Martin Necas
10. Drake Batherson
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. Sebastian Aho
29. Jesper Boqvist
30. Ryan Poehling
31. Morgan Frost
32. Gabriel Vilardi
| POLL | ||
Who's the best player of the 2017 draft? | ||
| Cale Makar | 314 | 66 % |
| Nico Hischier | 23 | 4.8 % |
| Elias Pettersson | 36 | 7.6 % |
| Nick Suzuki | 103 | 21.6 % |
| List of polls | ||
