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2016 NHL Draft Results: Full Review, Grade for Each Franchise
June 26, 2016
While the second day of the 2016 NHL draft from First Niagara Center in Buffalo, New York, might have not provided the star power or grandeur of Friday night's first round, 181 players heard their names called in Rounds 2 through 7 on Saturday.
Given the sheer number of players taken, it's unlikely all of them will play in the NHL, but the possibility of what lies ahead is what makes this event special for the numerous prospects.
For the teams, though, the business of winning is priority No. 1, and the draft is a great way to acquire players who could make a big impact one day.
Here's a look at how each team fared over the two days in Buffalo:
| Full 2016 NHL Draft Grades | |||
| Team | Notable Selection(s) | Analysis | Grade |
| Anaheim Ducks | Max Jones (LW), Sam Steel (C) | Two solid two-way forwards who can score and backcheck. | B |
| Arizona Coyotes | Clayton Keller (C), Jakob Chychrun (D) | Keller is a pure goal scorer, while Chychrun could be the next Victor Hedman. | A- |
| Boston Bruins | Charlie McAvoy (D), Trent Frederic (C) | The Bruins chose McAvoy before Chychrun, who was a better-rated defenseman. Frederic was selected too early. | B- |
| Buffalo Sabres | Alexander Nylander (LW) | An above-average playmaker, Nylander will one day flank Jack Eichel in Buffalo. | B |
| Calgary Flames | Matthew Tkachuk (LW) | The Flames not only got a power forward in Tkachuk, but they also acquired their goalie of the future in Brian Elliott from the Blues. | A+ |
| Carolina Hurricanes | Jake Bean (D), Julien Gauthier (RW) | Bean will add to deep blue-line prospect pool, while Gauthier was a steal at No. 21. Pure sniper near the goal. | A- |
| Chicago Blackhawks | Alex DeBrincat (RW) | It's not often a team gets a first-rounder at No. 39, but the Blackhawks just got that after dealing away Andrew Shaw to Montreal. | B |
| Colorado Avalanche | Tyson Jost (C) | High-intensity player to fortify the center of Colorado's offense. | B |
| Columbus Blue Jackets | Pierre-Luc Dubois (LW), Andrew Peeke (D) | Dubois was a shock pick considering Jesse Puljujarvi was still on the board. Peeke is a nice pickup to improve the defense. | B- |
| Dallas Stars | Riley Tufte (LW) | Tufte won't be heard from for at least two years, and they didn't have another pick until No. 90. | C+ |
| Detroit Red Wings | Dennis Cholowski (D) | The Red Wings were able to free up the contract of Russian-bound Pavel Datsyuk to the Coyotes, which frees up space for a run at Steven Stamkos. | A- |
| Edmonton Oilers | Jessie Puljujarvi (LW) | Thanks to Columbus' questionable pick, Puljujarvi, the third-best player in the draft, fell into Edmonton's lap. | A |
| Florida Panthers | Henrik Borgstrom (C) | Big, solid center who can add offense in a few years. | B |
| Los Angeles Kings | Kale Clague (D) | Even though their first pick was No. 51, the Kings still got a top-30 talent in Clague. | B |
| Minnesota Wild | Luke Kunin (C/RW) | The Wild need offense now. Kunin will be ready in a few years. | B- |
| Montreal Canadiens | Mikhail Sergachev (D) | Sergachev was the best defenseman in the draft, which Montreal will need, especially with P.K. Subban rumors swirling. | B+ |
| Nashville Predators | Dante Fabbro (D) | The Predators needed support for Shea Weber on the blue line. So they went out and drafted five defensemen. | B+ |
| New Jersey Devils | Michael McLeod (C) | Devils need a premier goal scorer; McLeod has a chance at being that. | B+ |
| New York Islanders | Keiffer Bellows (LW) | The Islanders needed to make a move to help their team now in the form of a trade. They didn't do that, but Bellows is a nice consolation prize. | B+ |
| New York Rangers | Sean Day (D) | The effectiveness of the Rangers' draft can't be deduced until their offseason, which is predicted to be a busy one, is over. | B |
| Ottawa Senators | Logan Brown (C) | The Senators were looking for forward help. They got the best available in Brown and drafted accordingly in the later rounds. | B |
| Philadelphia Flyers | German Rubtsov (C), Pascal Laberge (C) | The Flyers flipped their No. 18 pick for the 22nd and 36th from Winnipeg and got two good centers for it. | A- |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | Filip Gustavsson (G) | With an uncertain future surrounding Marc-Andre Fleury, picking up a goalie provides solid insurance. | B |
| St. Louis Blues | Tage Thompson (C) | Thompson is a decent pick, but getting two draft picks in return for Brian Elliott from Calgary is underwhelming. | C+ |
| San Jose Sharks | Dylan Gambrell (C) | They didn't have a first-round pick, but the Sharks focused on getting young forwards as possible replacements for their numerous veterans down the road. | B |
| Tampa Bay Lightning | Brett Howden (C) | In an offseason in which they're facing the loss of Steven Stamkos, rumors swirled about goalie Ben Bishop being dealt. So Tampa went offense-heavy and took a goalie. | B- |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | Auston Matthews (C) | The possibility of drafting a generational talent makes the rest of Toronto's choices irrelevant. | A+ |
| Vancouver Canucks | Olli Juolevi (D) | I think Sergachev was the best defenseman in the draft. So making Juolevi the first blueliner to go was a confusing choice. | B- |
| Washington Capitals | Lucas Johansen (D) | For a team that's looking to make that next step toward a Stanley Cup Final, the Capitals weren't able to acquire a young talent with a limitless ceiling. | B- |
| Winnipeg Jets | Patrik Laine (RW) | While Laine could be as good if not better than Matthews, they reached when they took Logan Stanley at No. 18. | A- |
Which Teams Had the Best Draft Nights?
Calgary Flames
The Calgary Flames' stellar night began when left winger Matthew Tkachuk, arguably a top-four talent in this draft, fell into their laps at No. 6. The son of 500-goal scorer Keith Tkachuk, Matthew plays a similar, powerful brand of hockey:
He'll join the young crop of stars that includes Sam Bennett, Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau.
Shortly after, the Flames acquired goaltender Brian Elliott from the St. Louis Blues for two draft picks.
It's an enormous pickup for a team that allowed a league-worst 260 goals last season. That was a big reason why Calgary didn't make it to the playoffs. Elliott will provide a steady presence in goal for the Flames and a huge upgrade from what the team used to have.
| Brian Elliott vs. 2015-16 Calgary Flames Goaltenders | ||||
| Stat | Elliott | Karri Ramo | Jonas Hiller | Joni Ortio |
| Games Started | 38 | 37 | 23 | 19 |
| Record | 23-8-6 | 17-18-1 | 9-11-1 | 7-9-5 |
| Goals Allowed | 78 | 94 | 79 | 55 |
| Save Percentage | .930 | .909 | .879 | .902 |
| Goals Against Average | 2.07 | 2.63 | 3.51 | 2.76 |
| Shutouts | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Hockey-Reference.com | ||||
With a new head coach in Glen Gulutzan, Calgary went from a team on the fringe of the playoff conversation in the West to a dark horse to make a lot of noise next year.
Edmonton Oilers
The Edmonton Oilers received a gift and have the Columbus Blue Jackets to thank for it.
With the No. 3 pick of the draft behind the Toronto Maple Leafs and Winnipeg Jets, the Blue Jackets had their pick of the litter beyond Auston Matthews and Patrik Laine. Instead of picking the clear No. 3 prospect in Jesse Puljujarvi, the Blue Jackets went with Pierre-Luc Dubois.
While Dubois was a top-10 prospect, Puljujarvi has the stuff to be a big-time playmaker at the next level:
So the Oilers, one spot back at No. 4, snapped up Puljujarvi and can add him to the class of forwards they've been building through the draft since 2010—from Nail Yakupov to Taylor Hall and from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to Connor McDavid.
Toronto Maple Leafs
As the draft crept closer, Laine was picking up steam as a possible No. 1 option over Matthews, who was viewed as the top prospect for the past year.
But when it came time for the Maple Leafs to get on the clock, they made the right choice by picking Matthews, who could have drawn the same hype as Sidney Crosby had McDavid not come through in 2015.
Matthews is a complete player with size (6'2" and 216 lbs), speed, agility and a second-to-none scoring ability.
With that kind of skill set, he's the perfect kind of player. He will enter an organization that is starving for a Stanley Cup. The last time the Maple Leafs won was 1967, and Matthews may be the cornerstone to turn things around in Ontario.