Best player you've drafted so far?

[kingnashty61*]

nikita kucherov is a beast, after 3 seasons he's a 92

 

[bigbadbruins1]

Clinton parker. Traded up for him in the 2024 draft..Goalie, 5 yellow stars , 75 Ov. Year 2 his was an 87ish, and now six years down the road his is a 95 ov, but fluctuates between 92 and 95 ov.

Also, Drafted Serge Simard, Center, 4.5 green star and 83 ov when drafted. sitting at a 91 overall in his fourth year.

aside from that, Kucherov is a beast as said before, and acquiring Drouin is smart too.

 

[Sharpe Shot]

Adam Erne becomes decent. Not sure on the exact details but he gets to 85+ overall. Darnell Nurse is a good pick too.

be sure to draft players based on the attributes too. Theres one guy I picked that has a 4.5 rating for shooting, despite only like 3 stars and a 67 overall. He scored 29 goals on the 2nd line for my team. Granted, he was playing with a good center, but players can score regardless of rating.

Erne is very solid. I had him on my Bruins BeAGm and he produced consistently no matter if I had him as first line, 2nd or third line winger (both wings too) during different points of a season.

 

[jeffl97]

Let's see, I only have one really good one, and one that hasn't panned out yet. But here's my contribution.

- I always trade for Bogosian because he seems to turn into a perennial norris candidate on the ducks.
- Nikita Scherbak (24th in 2014) 4.5 yellow star with high 90's in shooting and puck skills. currently an 85, been in the NHL 3 years with 38G, 40G, 47G. 72P, 83P, 71P
- Juluis Honka (39th 2014) 4.5 red stars

edit:
Also traded for this guy
- Sebastien Auger (20th, 2014) 4.5 yellow stars. turned out to be an elite goalie.

But yeah Kucherov and Drouin turn lethal. Drouin has cracked 100+ points every season he's been in the league.

 

[milehigh11]

I have simulted around 10+ seasons. I always start with a fantasy draft and draft all young players

Steals in fantasy draft:

Drouin 67 / 89 after 3 years (round 22)
Kucherov 73 / 88 (round 20)
Zykov 59 / 81 (round 23)
S Baertschi 78 / 87 (round 9)
J Schwarts 78 / 85 round 12
M Reilly 74 / 90 round 18

So many "steals" so easy to draft a young team, tank get a free top 5 pick in 2014 and then start to dominate

The best players i have drafted after the "known" players

Name / drafted rating / year 2/3

K Trnka D - 73 / 89
R Hanzel LW 75 / 88

____________________________________
Best Goalie

K Montador 18 Goalie 5 Green Stars best goalie ever 73 / 95 by year 4

5 stars GREEN
__________________________________-

Best Forward

M Cahill 18 years old LW 74 / 97 by year 3

He was interesting as i put him on my top line as a rookie and he struggled producing only 9 pts in 24 games. Sent him down to juniors. By the end of the year i see his rating went up to an 85. The next year playing again on the top line he put up 55 goals, 65 assists. DOMINATE When contract came up this was year 2028 he asked for 12 million / year.

5 Stars GREEN
______________________________________________________

Best defender drafted

S Daze 19 OFD 82 / 97 by year 3

Was lucky to get him 2 years after getting Cahill. He put up 78 pts his rookie year and 97 his 2nd.

5 stars GREEN

_________________________________________________


I keep an excel sheet of all the drafts i do. Its funny as the player names will stay the same and ratings will change (except for the first few drafts 2014-2016)

 

[wings95]

Wow some good players in this thread.

 

[viiggen]

William Nylander RW 58 -> 75 (after one season in AHL)
- I picked Nylander in the first round. Played him along Pirri and Hayes, and he made a big first season as a senior and made 27 goals and 68p.

Julius Honka 65 -> 78 (after one season in Juniors)
- In the same draft i picked Honka in the second round. I signed him and let him play one year in the juniors. Now he will lead the AHL team from the blueline. With 95 passing and 97 offensiveawerness he should do great.

 

[JCLiponfanboy*]

I drafted Ekblad once and he was 5 green stars and 75 overall. Jumped to 90 the next year. Got 60 points in his 2nd year, lost the Norris to YANNICK WEBER

 

[canadianmagpie]

One year, I was noticing there were about 5-10 with at least 4.5 stars potential. As I had a solid veteran team and had already made the playoffs by trade deadline day, I traded all my UFAs for packages that included first round picks and I ended up with 8 first round picks (something like 3, 8, 17 and 5 in the 20's).

The best player I grabbed was a goalie named Naurov, 5 stars green, played him in the minors one year and he became 89 OV. Allowed me to trade Jonathan Bernier for some defensive help and he's been great as a starter. I've had to limit how many games he's played in, only been in 14 of 22 because his durability is low-ish. But he's had 6 shutouts, a GAA of just over 1 and a .950 SV%.

I've got a stacked team, played for four seasons and the only players to remain on my team for all the seasons are Taylor Hall, Nicklas Backstrom and Brandon Gormley. I generally have avoided players who want a tremendous amount of money so I've been running a team (thanks to ELC's) that is the lowest in the league (I have to run with a full pro roster because I'm that close to the cap floor)

 

[DeluzioN]

russell park 87 overall . jumped to 94 by year 2



on one of my old gm saves there was a goalie i drafted that ended up being 96 overall by year 3. all i remember is the last name was Scarlet.. i haven't been able to find this player again for some reason.. sadly had to replace my ps3 hd recently and lost my saves

 

[Richi]

I drafted Ekblad once and he was 5 green stars and 75 overall. Jumped to 90 the next year. Got 60 points in his 2nd year, lost the Norris to YANNICK WEBER

This might actually be the funniest thing I´ve ever seen on HF, so glad I came to this thread by clicking on the wrong link

 

[Tak7]

russell park 87 overall . jumped to 94 by year 2



on one of my old gm saves there was a goalie i drafted that ended up being 96 overall by year 3. all i remember is the last name was Scarlet.. i haven't been able to find this player again for some reason.. sadly had to replace my ps3 hd recently and lost my saves

The game also randomizes some player's potentials - especially goaltenders.

That means that one goaltender might be a stud prospect, but in another GM might not be. It works for more of those bubble prospects; the locked in ones (Ekblad, Draisitl, Reinhart, etc) seem to always be the same, but beyond that in the early drafts there is some good variability.

 

[Tankadelphia]

What's the best strategy to scout? I'm not too great at it so far, and i get the first overall pick and end up with a 3.5 star player

 

[jhoops89]

What's the best strategy to scout? I'm not too great at it so far, and i get the first overall pick and end up with a 3.5 star player

Try to upgrade your scout a lot in the GM Tracker. I believe it's under tasks or upgrades, you'll find it easily. And I find that sending my scout out on three-four week trips works well at least for me.

 

[JoshuaTarr]

I drafted Damian Salcido 3rd overall in the 2017 draft (2 way forward, LW) he was an 80 overall at the draft, spent 2 years in juniors and came into the NHL as a 97 overall.

He scored 18 goals and 64 assists in his first year

Lost the calder trophy to Malcolm Subban -__-

 

[Hansen]

LW Sniper Clarence Nomura out of Calgary in the WHL at 3rd overall 2018.
6'2" 204lbs (now 208lbs), 84 Overall at the draft. 93's across the boards in speed and jumped to 86 during the offseason with great awareness and puck skills.

68 point rookie season, 26 goals 42 Assists but lost the Calder to the 1st overall pick in the draft, a more shot oriented Sniper who had 72 points.

Currently 25 and has 151g 400pts in 418 games playing on my teams top line with Draisaitl and Shinkaruk or Tyler Benson (one of the two depending on whos doing better)

 

[hockey17jp]

I picked up Connor Mcdavid in the 2015 draft first overall.

Beginning of 2015-2016 - 72 overall
All-Star Break of 15-16 - 74 overall
Beginning of 16-17 - 77 overall
All-Star Break 16-17 - 80 overall
All of 2017-2018 - 84 overall
All of 2018-2019 - 86 overall
Beginning of 2019-2020 - 88 overall

+16 overall over 5 years

It's definetely worth it to trade for 1st overall in 2015. Mcdavid develops fast and scores at an even faster pace.

 

[George Maharis]

Darren Simpson
Age: 20
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 174lbs
Hand: Left
Position: LW
Style: Sniper

Drafted: 2020 draft, 1st round, 1st overall
Overall: 85 overall
Potential: 4.5 green

Shooting: 86, 91, 94, 95 (5 stars)
Puck Skills: 84, 89, 85, 84 (4 stars)
Senses: 82, 93, 73 (5 stars)
Skating: 94, 92, 82, 84, 93 (5 stars)
Physical: 78, 80, 82, 74, 79 (3 stars)
Defense: 79, 81, 81, 77 (3 stars)

 

[you Giroux it for me]

What's the best strategy to scout? I'm not too great at it so far, and i get the first overall pick and end up with a 3.5 star player

My strategy is save before the draft. Sim the draft. Go to contracts, rookie skaters, and then sort by potential. The unsigned high potential rookies are usually the ones from the most recent draft, and you can see what they are, their stats, and what pick they were. Is it cheap? Sure, but it prevents me from wasting picks on 5 star tough guys

 

[George Maharis]

Darren Simpson
Age: 20
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 174lbs
Hand: Left
Position: LW
Style: Sniper

Drafted: 2020 draft, 1st round, 1st overall
Overall: 85 overall
Potential: 4.5 green

Shooting: 86, 91, 94, 95 (5 stars)
Puck Skills: 84, 89, 85, 84 (4 stars)
Senses: 82, 93, 73 (5 stars)
Skating: 94, 92, 82, 84, 93 (5 stars)
Physical: 78, 80, 82, 74, 79 (3 stars)
Defense: 79, 81, 81, 77 (3 stars)

After simulating through free agency, he's jumped to an 87 overall.

Hasn't played a single game in his career and he's an 87.

Guy is gonna be a force.

 

[George Maharis]

What's the best strategy to scout? I'm not too great at it so far, and i get the first overall pick and end up with a 3.5 star player

Not sure if you know, but after the Top Prospects game, if you go into the stats for it in the scouting part, it'll say the overalls for the players who played.

 

[NickLidstrom]

Ive had a ton since I constantly trade for high draft picks. One year I had 7 1st rounders, with 4 in the top 10. I am in the year 2029with the Flames.
Anyway, 5 of my best:
Marcel Dupont: Drafted 1st overall 2019, at the time was an 82 OVR Yellow 5 star powerforward right wing. Is now a 94, with two 60 goal seasons and a 130 point season.
Mathew Barzal: 3rd overall, 2015 draft: was drafted as a 62 (I believe) 4 1/2 yelloe star centre. Is now a 90 with two 100+point seasons and id PPG over his career.
Travis Masters: 1st Overall, 2017 draft. 5 star Green defender, was a 72 at the time, now a 92 OVR defender with 4 straight Norris's. Career high of 73 points.
Mark Owens, 6th overall 2020 Draft. I have no idea how he fell to 6th. Was a 79 overall 5 star green centre, now a 96(!) OVR sniper with 4 straight Art Ross'. He has 200 more points then games played.
Nicholas Petrovic. 2nd overall, 2023 draft. An Afghan native, he was drafted as a 54 OVR left wing with 4 1/2 red star potential. Is now a 88 (I think) playmaker with a 90+ season. Career high of 10 goals, though.

Honorable mentions: Tracis Konecny, 19th overall 2015 draft. 4 1/2 yellow potential, now an 89. Traded to Washington in 2019, has 613 points in 573 games. Injured a helluva lot.

Julius Honka: don't remember when he was drafted, but was a 4 1/2 red star defender in the second round. Now am 89 with a Calder, Norris, Conn Smythe and a AHL Defender of the year award. Best part is, signed to a 6 year deal at 4.6 mill.

 

[vilyzz]

Worst player ive ever drafted was Lucas Wallmark 3rd overall. He was 4 gold and he become 4th liner with 79 ovrl. Best maybe back in NHL 11 I drafted Ryan Howse in 5th round 122th. He was B,B-,B-, and he become 95 overall and he was having 140+ pt seasons. Back in that year I drafted Ryan Spooner 1st overall and he lost his potential. He became 81 overall. Also NHL 11 gems were Joakim Nordström who got drafted by me last in the whole draft. He became 86 overall with starting potential of ccc and 70ovrl. Also drafted Niklas Treutle Goalie in 7th and he became 87 ovrl with ccc pot.

 

[mcwp1996]

In my first season as gm for Edmonton, i drafted Jonathan Drouin in the first round and within 3 seasons he went from 67 overall to 91. his potential to start was 4.5 stars green and is now 5 stars green

 

[Blues]

Goalie
Kelly Dennis
4.5 yellow stars
74 overall when drafted
91 overall now
Drafted 4th overall