What If Every NHL Team Was Composed of Its Own Draft Picks?

Every NHL team has them: the players who got away. Maybe it was a skilled winger the coach didn't appreciate, or a late-blooming goalie who didn't get an opportunity until he arrived in another NHL city. It's always frustrating for teams to see the players they've drafted and developed blossom somewhere else.

What if we could reverse the process? What would it look like if every NHL team's roster was composed entirely of the players it selected at the annual draft? 

That's the question we strive to answer here. We've sorted through each team's draft table (please note: undrafted free-agent signings are not included) and constructed a 23-man NHL roster entirely of the picks those teams made. In some cases, rosters grew incredibly powerful; in others, we were forced to bring back players from the AHL or distant European leagues just to round out the group. 

Read on to see what your team looks like. 

Anaheim Ducks

Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

Forwards

• Bobby Ryan—Ryan Getzlaf—Corey Perry
• Joffrey Lupul—Rickard Rakell—P-A Parenteau 
• Matt Beleskey—Matt Cullen—Kyle Palmieri
• Drew Miller—Peter Holland—Devante Smith-Pelly
• Spares: William Karlsson, Emerson Etem

Defence

• Hampus Lindholm—Sami Vatanen
• Cam Fowler—Justin Schultz
• Jake Gardiner—Steven Kampfer
• Spare: Ladislav Smid

Goal

• Frederik Andersen
• John Gibson

Summary: This is a pretty decent team, with quality and depth at all positions. We can quibble about centre depth and the quality of the right side of the defensive depth chart, but this is a good group overall, and it's loaded on the wings. 

Arizona Coyotes

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Forwards

• Mikkel Boedker—Kyle Turris—Blake Wheeler
• Max Domi—Martin Hanzal—Shane Doan
• Daniel Winnik—Dylan Strome—Viktor Tikhonov
• Lucas Lessio—Oscar Klingberg—Chris Brown
• Spares: Jordan Szwarz, Henrik Samuelsson 

Defence

• Oliver Ekman-Larsson—Michael Stone
• Keith Yandle—Connor Murphy
• Brandon Gormley—Chris Summers
• Spare: Mathieu Brodeur

Goal

• Scott Darling
• Louis Domingue

Summary: This is just an incredibly bad team. There's some quality at the top end, especially on defence, but the goaltending relies pretty much entirely on Scott Darling, the defensive depth is non-existent (Brodeur is an AHLer and there's nothing behind him) and the spare forwards don't exactly inspire confidence. 

Boston Bruins

James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports

Forwards

• Milan Lucic—Joe Thornton—Tyler Seguin
• Brad Marchand—David Krejci—Phil Kessel
• David Pastrnak—Patrice Bergeron—Kris Versteeg
• Ryan Spooner—Vladimir Sobotka—Joe Colborne
• Spares: Nate Thompson, Seth Griffith
  

Defence

• Matt Hunwick—Dougie Hamilton
• Mark Stuart—Zach Trotman
• Linus Arnesson—Milan Jurcina
• Spare: Shaone Morrisonn

Goal

• Michael Hutchinson
• Malcolm Subban

Summary: Look at that forward group! Thornton/Seguin and Krejci/Kessel as the tandems at the heart of the first two lines, with Bergeron playing the role of third line centre and the brilliant Sobotka on line four! A glorious offensive team is unbalanced on the back end, though, as the defence is not good and the goaltending is (for the moment) just adequate. 

Buffalo Sabres

Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Forwards

• Tyler Ennis—Jack Eichel—Thomas Vanek
• Clarke MacArthur—Zemgus Girgensons—Jason Pominville
• Nathan Gerbe—Sam Reinhart—Drew Stafford
• Marcus Foligno—Paul Gaustad—Zack Kassian
• Spare: Mikhail Grigorenko 

Defence

• Andrej Sekera—Tyler Myers
• Brian Campbell—Rasmus Ristolainen
• Brayden McNabb—Dennis Wideman
• Spares: Jan Hejda, Mike Weber

Goal

• Ryan Miller
• Jhonas Enroth

Summary: Much like the current edition of the Sabres, our all-draft edition leans heavily on Jack Eichel and Sam Reinhart at centre ice. Unlike the current Sabres, though, the drafted edition has two competent goalies, an incredibly deep and capable defence and plenty of scoring on the wings. 

Calgary Flames

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Forwards

• Johnny Gaudreau—Sean Monahan—Sven Baertschi
• Sam Bennett—Mikael Backlund—Lance Bouma
• Brandon Prust—Markus Granlund—David Moss
• Micheal Ferland—Dustin Boyd—Adam Cracknell
• Spares: Eric Nystrom, Travis Moen

Defence

• Tim Erixon—T.J. Brodie
• Adam Pardy—Dion Phaneuf
• Tyler Wotherspoon—John Ramage
• Spare: Keith Aulie

Goal

• Curtis McElhinney
• Joni Ortio/Laurent Brossoit

Summary: This isn't a particularly impressive team, though an injection of good young players has made it better of late. Still, goaltending is iffy, featuring a career backup and two good prospects, and the defence with a couple of exceptions has real quality issues. The forward depth pieces are long on grit and light on skill.  

Carolina Hurricanes

Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Forwards

• Andrew Ladd—Eric Staal—Erik Cole
• Jeff Skinner—Victor Rask—Elias Lindholm
• Chris Terry—Brandon Sutter—Justin Shugg
• Zac Dalpe—Zach Boychuk—Craig Adams
• Spare: Brody Sutter

Defence

• Jack Johnson—Justin Faulk
• Michal Jordan—Ryan Murphy
• Noah Hanifin—Brian Dumoulin
• Spares: Brett Bellemore, Tyson Strachan

Goal

• Cam Ward
• Justin Peters

Summary: The defence is still reeling from the career-ending injury to Hurricanes Hall of Famer Chris Pronger, but the arrival of Hanifin should help, and there are some good players there. Goaltending is iffy and leans heavily on Ward, while the top end of the forward depth chart is decent but the depth needs a lot of help. 

Chicago Blackhawks

Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports

Forwards

• Brandon Saad—Jonathan Toews—Patrick Kane
• Kevin Hayes—Teuvo Teravainen—Troy Brouwer
• Brandon Pirri—Dave Bolland—Andrew Shaw
• Bryan Bickell—Marcus Kruger—Ben Smith
• Spares: Tuomo Ruutu, Jack Skille 

Defence

• Duncan Keith—Brent Seabrook
• Niklas Hjalmarsson—Dustin Byfuglien
• Dylan Olsen—James Wisniewski
• Spare: Adam Clendening

Goal

• Corey Crawford
• Craig Anderson

Summary: It turns out that on drafting alone, the Blackhawks are a pretty good team. Most of the key elements of the team's Cup runs are here. The defence is improved significantly with the returns of Byfuglien and Wisniewski, Anderson provides depth in net and with players like Saad, Hayes and Teravainen working their way up, the future is secure. 

Colorado Avalanche

Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports

Forwards

• Gabriel Landeskog—Matt Duchene—Nathan MacKinnon
• Alex Tanguay—Paul Stastny—Radim Vrbata
• Brad Richardson—Ryan O'Reilly—Chris Stewart
• Michael Bournival—Joey Hishon—David Jones
• Spares: Bradley Malone, Cody McCormick
  

Defence

• Johnny Boychuk—Kevin Shattenkirk
• John-Michael Liles—Tyson Barrie
• Tom Gilbert—Stefan Elliott
• Spare: Duncan Siemens

Goal

• Calvin Pickard
• Peter Budaj

Summary: That forward corps is exceptional and for the most part on the young side of the spectrum. The defence is quite good, too, although five of the team's six best defenders are right shots, which would necessitate some players moving to their off side. The club clearly misses the physical presence of the recently retired Robyn Regehr on its back end. Goaltending is the big question mark. If Pickard doesn't make the jump, it's going to be quite a mess. 

Columbus Blue Jackets

Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

Forwards

• Rick Nash—Ryan Johansen—Jakub Voracek
• Boone Jenner—Derick Brassard—Cam Atkinson
• Marko Dano—Alexander Wennberg—Derek Dorsett
• Matt Calvert—Tim Jackman—Jared Boll
• Spare: Tom Sestito

Defence

• Marc Methot—David Savard
• Kris Russell—Adam McQuaid
• Ryan Murray—Grant Clitsome
• Spares: John Moore, Cody Goloubef

Goal

• Steve Mason
• Anton Forsberg

Summary: Behold the surprisingly decent Columbus Blue Jackets. This roster features the best of the up-and-coming team, along with all the key stars who have enjoyed success elsewhere. The forward group is quite good, and the defensive depth chart is deep and reasonably competent, while the goaltending relies on Mason not turning into a pumpkin upon his return to Ohio. 

Dallas Stars

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Forwards

• James Neal—Jamie Benn—Valeri Nichushkin
• Loui Eriksson—Reilly Smith—Jarome Iginla
• Jussi Jokinen—Colton Sceviour—Alex Chiasson
• Luke Gazdic—Steve Ott—Brett Ritchie
• Spares: B.J. Crombeen, Curtis McKenzie

Defence

• Trevor Daley—Matt Niskanen
• Nicklas Grossmann—John Klingberg
• Patrik Nemeth—Jamie Oleksiak
• Spare: Jyrki Jokipakka

Goal

• Mike Smith
• Richard Bachman

Summary: This is a roster desperately in need of Jim Nill's ability to land NHL centres. The Stars here have a lot of good forwards, but they all play wing; only one of the four centres on the roster above is currently a full-time NHL pivot! The defensive group is young and somewhat uncertain, and Smith's goaltending probably would have sunk the team last season.   

Detroit Red Wings

Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Forwards

• Henrik Zetterberg—Pavel Datsyuk—Jiri Hudler
• Tomas Tatar—Valtteri Filppula—Gustav Nyquist
• Justin Abdelkader—Darren Helm—Johan Franzen
• Tomas Jurco—Shawn Matthias—Calle Jarnkrok
• Spares: Teemu Pulkkinen, Tomas Fleischmann

Defence

• Niklas Kronwall—Jonathan Ericsson
• Kyle Quincey—Brendan Smith
• Xavier Ouellet—Alexey Marchenko
• Spare: Jakub Kindl

Goal

• Jim Howard
• Petr Mrazek

Summary: The defence isn't anything to write home about, but other than that this team is pretty amazing. There were probably 20 forwards who could have potentially made the cut, and this is certainly a four-line team. The goaltending looks good, too, with two starting options. 

Edmonton Oilers

Erich Schlegel-USA TODAY Sports

Forwards

• Taylor Hall—Ryan Nugent-Hopkins—Jordan Eberle
• Andrew Cogliano—Connor McDavid—Ales Hemsky
• Nail Yakupov—Anton Lander—Riley Nash
• Shawn Horcoff—Jarret Stoll—Sam Gagner
• Spares: Kyle Brodziak, Tobias Rieder

Defence

• Oscar Klefbom—Jeff Petry
• Darnell Nurse—Matt Greene
• Martin Marincin—Taylor Chorney
• Spare: Brandon Davidson

Goal

• Devan Dubnyk
• Jussi Markkanen

Summary: Just like the actual Oilers, this team is loaded to the gills with talent up front, but the defence is a bit of a disaster. The forward depth here is substantially improved, with NHL regulars sitting in the No. 13 and No. 14 forward slots. The blue line is awfully young, and if Klefbom/Nurse can't carry the load, it's in real trouble. Devan Dubnyk provides solid starting minutes, and he'll need to play a lot of them because the backup goalie is 40 years old. 

Florida Panthers

James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports

Forwards

• Jonathan Huberdeau—Nick Bjugstad—Michael Frolik
• Stephen Weiss—Aleksander Barkov—Drew Shore
• Lawson Crouse—Vincent Trochek—Iiro Pakarinen
• Tanner Glass—Gregory Campbell—Rocco Grimaldi
• Spares: Corban Knight, David Booth

Defence

• Jay Bouwmeester—Aaron Ekblad
• Dmitri Kulikov—Erik Gudbranson
• Matt Bartkowski—Alex Petrovic
• Spare: Colby Robak

Goal

• Jacob Markstrom
• Sam Brittain

Summary: There's been a renaissance for Florida at the draft the last few years, but for our purposes it's not enough of one to undo the damage of a terrible first decade in the new millennium. The forward group is, with the exception of a handful of young players, just not very good. The defence is a little better, but still only middling, while the goaltending is flat-out terrible. 

Los Angeles Kings

Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports

Forwards

• Mike Cammalleri—Anze Kopitar—Wayne Simmonds
• Tanner Pearson—Brayden Schenn—Tyler Toffoli
• Dwight King—Trevor Lewis—Dustin Brown
• Nicolas Deslauriers—Brian Boyle—Kyle Clifford
• Spares: Linden Vey, Jordan Nolan
  

Defence

• Alec Martinez—Drew Doughty
• Lubomir Visnovsky—Slava Voynov
• Andrew Campbell—Thomas Hickey
• Spare: Derek Forbort

Goal

• Jonathan Quick
• Jonathan Bernier

Summary: The drafted Kings are a decidedly inferior team to the actual Kings. Some of the key pieces are the same—this roster includes Kopitar, Doughty and Quick, too—but it's easy enough to see here the strong work of Los Angeles general manager Dean Lombardi. This isn't a terrible group, just not as good as the actual current roster. 

Minnesota Wild

Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

Forwards

• Benoit Pouliot—Mikko Koivu—Marian Gaborik
• Jason Zucker—Mikael Granlund—Cal Clutterbuck
• Erik Haula—James Sheppard—Johan Larsson
• Stephane Veilleux—Tyler Graovac—Brett Bulmer
• Spares: Patrick Bordeleau

Defence

• Jonas Brodin—Brent Burns
• Nick Leddy—Marco Scandella
• Clayton Stoner—Mathew Dumba
• Spare: Nick Schultz, Justin Falk

Goal

• Anton Khudobin
• Darcy Kuemper

Summary: This isn't a great group, though it has decent balance. Forward depth is an issue for the drafted Wild, and star power is a problem everywhere save on defence. The goaltending is uncertain, though not as bad as other teams on this list. 

Montreal Canadiens

Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports

Forwards

• Max Pacioretty—Tomas Plekanec—Brendan Gallagher
• Alex Galchenyuk—Mike Ribeiro—Michael Ryder
• Chris Higgins—Mikhail Grabovski—Andrei Kostitsyn
• Kyle Chipchura—Maxim Lapierre—Ryan White
• Spare: Jacob de la Rose

Defence

• Andrei Markov—P.K. Subban
• Mark Streit—Ryan McDonagh
• Alexei Emelin—Francois Beauchemin
• Spares: Ron Hainsey, Stephane Robidas
  

Goal

• Carey Price
• Jaroslav Halak

Summary: Just ignore the forwards for a minute; we'll get back to them. Revel in that combination of goaltending and defence. Halak as a backup goalie, Beauchemin as a third-pairing defenceman, Hainsey in the press box. It was tempting to stick Streit on left wing so that Nathan Beaulieu could make the team, or to convert Yanick Weber into a forward.

Up front, this team isn't as good, but it's adequate. There's depth down the middle and some offensive presence on the wings. 

Nashville Predators

Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

Forwards

• Scott Hartnell—Craig Smith—Alexander Radulov
• Colin Wilson—Mike Santorelli—Patric Hornqvist
• Scottie Upshall—Nick Spaling—Martin Erat
• Matt Hendricks—David Legwand—Taylor Beck
• Spare: Gabriel Bourque

Defence

• Ryan Suter—Shea Weber
• Roman Josi—Cody Franson
• Dan Hamhuis—Seth Jones
• Spares: Ryan Ellis, Mattias Ekholm

Goal

• Pekka Rinne
• Anders Lindback

Summary: This is another team with a deep defence; so deep in fact that Kevin Klein found himself out in the cold while Canadian Olympian Dan Hamhuis has been relegated to the third pairing (owing to being a left shot). With Pekka Rinne in net behind that blue-line group, they won't get scored on much.

While less impressive up front, Nashville really isn't bad. The return of Radulov from overseas gives them a game-breaking offensive weapon, and what the team lacks in firepower it makes up for with decent depth. 

New Jersey Devils

Jim O'Connor-USA TODAY Sports

Forwards

• Zach Parise—Adam Henrique—Brian Gionta
• Patrik Elias—Travis Zajac—Nicklas Bergfors 
• Pavel Zacha—Scott Gomez—Matt Halischuk
• Reid Boucher—Jacob Josefson—Deryk Engelland
• Spare: Stefan Matteau

Defence

• Paul Martin—Damon Severson
• Willie Mitchell—Adam Larsson
• Eric Gelinas—Mark Fayne
• Spares: Jon Merril, Mark Fraser

Goal

• Scott Clemmensen 
• Scott Wedgewood

Summary: This mess is so bad that not even the return of Parise can save it. There's a reason a glance at the actual New Jersey roster is so depressing, and it's because of just how bad the team has been at drafting and developing players. There are some nice points on defence, but the forward corps is so bad that Vladivostok's Nicklas Bergfors is a serious contender for top-six minutes at right wing. And the less said about the goalies, the better. 

New York Islanders

Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

Forwards

• Josh Bailey—John Tavares—Kyle Okposo
• Brock Nelson—Ryan Strome—Nino Niederreiter
• Anders Lee—Frans Nielsen—Blake Comeau
• Raffi Torres—Casey Cizikas—Matt Martin
• Spares: Sean Bergenheim, Jesse Joensuu   

Defence

• Zdeno Chara—Travis Hamonic
• Calvin de Haan—Jared Spurgeon
• Griffin Reinhart—Andrew MacDonald
• Spares: Matt Donovan, Eric Brewer

Goal

• Roberto Luongo
• Kevin Poulin

Summary: It doesn't look worlds different from the actual Islanders roster up front, does it? Niederreiter returns to the fold, and a couple of older castoffs (Comeau, Torres, Bergenheim) find their way into the rotation. But for the most part, the heart of this team is the heart of the current Islanders squad.

There are more changes on the back end, where Mike Milbury's two greatest mistakes (Chara, Luongo) return to take on key roles. It's an awfully good group overall. 

New York Rangers

Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Forwards

• Chris Kreider—Derek Stepan—Ryan Callahan
• Carl Hagelin—Brandon Dubinsky—Anthony Duclair
• J.T. Miller—Artem Anisimov—Dale Weise
• Lauri Korpikoski—Dominic Moore—Marc-Andre Cliche
• Spares: Jesper Fast, Manny Malhotra 

Defence

• Marc Staal—Marek Zidlicky
• Fedor Tyutin—Nate Guenin
• Michael Del Zotto—Corey Potter
• Spare: Bob Sanguinetti

Goal

• Henrik Lundqvist
• Al Montoya

Summary: Lundqvist is still in net, and the forward group really isn't too bad, but the drafted Rangers lose something significant from the real version of the team: that beautiful defensive group. Instead, this edition features Staal in the No. 1 role, and nobody really even close to him otherwise. Fringe players like Potter and Sanguinetti fill out the depth positions on the blue line. 

Ottawa Senators

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Forwards

• Nick Foligno—Jason Spezza—Marian Hossa
• Mike Hoffman—Mika Zibanejad—Mark Stone
  
• Chris Kelly—Mike Fisher—Jakob Silfverberg
• Curtis Lazar—Patrick Eaves—Erik Condra
• Spares: Brooks Laich, Jean-Gabriel Pageau

Defence

• Patrick Wiercioch—Erik Karlsson
• Jared Cowen—Cody Ceci
• Mark Borowiecki—Eric Gryba
• Spares: Anton Volchenkov, Andrej Meszaros

Goal

• Brian Elliott
• Robin Lehner

Summary: Ottawa has done a good job over the years of finding forwards in the draft. The team's depth is incredible; there were a half-dozen players considered who didn't make the final cut. The talent at the top end isn't bad, either. The defence needs a little more work but has an elite No. 1 at the top end, and the goaltending should be just fine. 

Philadelphia Flyers

Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

Forwards

• James van Riemsdyk—Claude Giroux—Justin Williams
• Patrick Sharp—Jeff Carter—Steve Downie
• Patrick Maroon—Sean Couturier—Dainius Zubrus
• Scott Laughton—Mike Richards—Zac Rinaldo
• Spares: Nick Cousins, Tye McGinn 

Defence

• Luca Sbisa—Dennis Seidenberg
• Samuel Morin—Ivan Provorov
• Shayne Gostisbehere—Robert Hagg
• Spare: Oliver Lauridsen

Goal

• Jakub Kovar
• Joacim Eriksson

Summary: Well, the forwards look good. Beyond that, things aren't so sunny.

The defence is a total mess; the Flyers simply haven't drafted good NHL defencemen over the last 10-15 years. The team has a pile of good prospects on the way, and nearly all of them have had to be crammed onto the roster immediately to compensate for the lack of quality in the past. Goaltending is almost as bad. Kovar is a good KHL goalie, and Eriksson was reasonably good in the AHL before returning to Europe this year. 

Pittsburgh Penguins

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Forwards

• Matt Moulson—Sidney Crosby—Jaromir Jagr
• Erik Christensen—Evgeni Malkin—Tyler Kennedy
• Kenneth Agostino—Jordan Staal—Beau Bennett
• Paul Bissonnette—Max Talbot—Joe Vitale
  
• Spare: Dustin Jeffrey 

Defence

• Jake Muzzin—Kris Letang
• Brooks Orpik—Alex Goligoski
• Olli Maatta—Simon Despres
• Spares: Derick Pouliot, Michal Rozsival
  

Goal

• Marc-Andre Fleury
• Chad Johnson

Summary: The real-life Penguins aren't known for their defence, but these ones are. Andrew Ference and Rob Scuderi both failed to make this team, along with players like Joe Morrow and Scott Harrington. This version of Pittsburgh loses quite a bit in terms of forward depth—that's Swedish league star Christensen on the second line—but seeing Jagr's name next to Crosby's almost makes up for that. 

St. Louis Blues

John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

Forwards

• Jaden Schwartz—Jori Lehtera—Vladimir Tarasenko
• David Perron—Carl Soderberg—T.J. Oshie
• Lars Eller—Patrik Berglund—David Backes
• Dmitrij Jaskin—Jay McClement—Lee Stempniak
• Spare: Ryan Reaves

Defence

• Erik Johnson—Alex Pietrangelo
• Ian Cole—Nikita Nikitin
• Barret Jackman—David Rundblad
• Spares: Roman Polak, Petteri Lindbohm

Goal

• Ben Bishop
• Jake Allen

Summary: These Blues have some pretty impressive forwards, with three exceptionally strong lines and five excellent centres. The defence starts out well but tapers off in a hurry, though depth isn't really an issue. Bishop is a quality starter, and Allen edged out Reto Berra for the backup job. 

San Jose Sharks

Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Forwards

• Patrick Marleau—Joe Pavelski—Milan Michalek
• Tomas Hertl—Logan Couture—Charlie Coyle
• Matthew Nieto—Nick Bonino—Tommy Wingels
• Chris Tierney—Torrey Mitchell—Steve Bernier
• Spares: Marcel Goc, Jamie McGinn
  

Defence

• Marc-Edouard Vlasic—Justin Braun
• Christian Ehrhoff—Jason Demers
• Matt Carle—Brad Stuart
• Spare: Mirco Mueller

Goal

• Thomas Greiss
• Alex Stalock

Summary: This is a nicely balanced team, nothing special, but with a strong a defence corps and a deep group of offensive talent. The weakness is the same weakness as that of the actual NHL team, namely the lack of a clear-cut No. 1 goaltender. 

Tampa Bay Lightning

Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Forwards

• Ondrej Palat—Steven Stamkos—Nikita Kucherov
• Jonathan Drouin—Brad Richards—Alexander Killorn
• Cedric Paquette—Vincent Lecavalier—Brett Connolly
• James Wright—Vladislav Namestnikov—Richard Panik
• Spare: Blair Jones 
  

Defence

• Victor Hedman—Nikita Nesterov
• Mark Barberio—Radko Gudas
• Slater Koekkoek—Luke Witkowski
• Spare: Mike Lundin 

Goal

• Karri Ramo
• Dustin Tokarski
• Andrei Vasilevskiy

Summary: One thing this series has shown pretty convincingly is that for most teams, drafting is destiny; if a team does well or poorly in the draft, for the most part it will perform the same way in the standings. Tampa Bay is an exception to this. The Bolts do not have a long track record of strong work on draft day, but while this version of the team is relatively weak, the real version is quite strong. 

Toronto Maple Leafs

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Forwards

• Alex Steen—Nazem Kadri—Brad Boyes
• Nikolai Kulemin—William Nylander—Jimmy Hayes
• Viktor Stalberg—John Mitchell—Jiri Tlusty
• Nik Antropov—Matt Stajan—Leo Komarov
• Spares: Shawn Thornton, Matt Frattin

Defence

• Morgan Rielly—Anton Stralman
• Carl Gunnarsson—Luke Schenn
• Jay Harrison—Carlo Colaiacovo
• Spare: Korbinian Holzer

Goal

• Tuukka Rask
• James Reimer

Summary: Toronto's position of greatest strength here is in net, where both Rask and Reimer provide better than league-average value at their respective positions. It's a good thing, too, because even with the insertion of Stralman on the defensive side of things, the drafted group of rearguards is pretty weak. The forward corps is fairly mediocre overall at this point. 

Vancouver Canucks

Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports

Forwards

• Daniel Sedin—Henrik Sedin—Michael Grabner
• R.J. Umberger—Ryan Kesler—Jannik Hansen
• Mason Raymond—Bo Horvat—Nicklas Jensen
• Cody Hodgson—Jordan Schroeder—Mike Brown
• Spares: Matt Cooke, Sergei Shirokov 

Defence

• Kevin Bieksa—Alexander Edler
• Kevin Connauton—Kirill Koltsov
• Bryan Allen—Frankie Corrado
• Spare: Henrik Tommernes

Goal

• Cory Schneider
• Jonathan Iilahti

Summary: This is a team with some severe depth issues. The backup goaltender was the best available; he's posting decent numbers in Finland. KHLer Koltsov is a second-pairing defenceman. Umberger is playing top-six minutes. Vancouver has simply not done a good job of finding NHL players at the draft over the last 10-15 years. 

Washington Capitals

Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports

Forwards

• Evgeny Kuznetsov—Nicklas Backstrom—Alex Ovechkin
• Marcus Johansson—Mathieu Perreault—Filip Forsberg
• Andre Burakovsky—Cody Eakin—Eric Fehr
• Alexander Semin—Boyd Gordon—Tom Wilson
• Spares: Stanislav Galiev

Defence

• Karl Alzner—John Carlson
• Johnny Oduya—Mike Green
• Dmitri Orlov—Connor Carrick
• Spare: Sergei Gonchar

Goal

• Braden Holtby
• Semyon Varlamov
• Michal Neuvirth

Summary: It's pretty tough to fit all the talent drafted by the Capitals onto one depth chart, and perhaps the most remarkable thing is how well that talent is distributed. Washington has three goalies capable of playing regular NHL minutes, a strong top four on defence and three strong scoring lines. 

Winnipeg Jets

Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Forwards

• Evander Kane—Bryan Little—Ilya Kovalchuk
• Nikolaj Ehlers—Mark Scheifele—Jeremy Morin
• Adam Lowry—Alexander Burmistrov—Patrick Dwyer
• Dany Heatley—Jim Slater—Derek MacKenzie
• Spares: Carl Klingberg, Andrew Copp

Defence

• Braydon Coburn—Zach Bogosian
• Tobias Enstrom—Jacob Trouba
• Ben Chiarot—Zach Redmond
• Spare: Paul Postma

Goal

• Kari Lehtonen
• Ondrej Pavelec

Summary: It's more than a little weird to see key Atlanta Thrashers building blocks like Kovalchuk, Heatley, Coburn and Lehtonen on the roster; it's also a little sad to see how few primary building blocks the Thrashers left to Winnipeg. The forward crop is good at the top end but falls off quickly, while the defence is decent. Goaltending is set with two capable competitors.