Western Conference best drafting team #1

[Mitch nylander]

*Avoiding Mentioning Prospects due to conflict purposes. I do hope you include them when you choose.

Anaheim

Forwards: William Karlsson, Rickard Rakell, Kyle Palmieri, Odrej Kase, Nick Ritchie, Devante Smith-Pelly, Chris Wagner, Peter Holland, Emerson Etem, Brandon Mcmillan, Joseph Cramarossa,

Defence: Hampus Lindholm, Cam Fowler, Sami Vatanen, Josh Manson, Jake Gardiner, Justin Schultz, Brandon Montour, Shea Theodore, Marcus Pettersson, Tim Heed

Goalies: Frederik Andersen, John Gibson,

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Arizona

Forwards: Clayton Keller, Max Domi, Mikkel Boedker, Christian Dvorak, Christian Fischer, Brandon Perlini, Oscar Lindberg, Jordan Martinook, Victor Tikhonov, Jordan Szwarz

Defence: Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Michael Stone, Jakob Chychrun, Brandon Gormley

Goalies: Louis Domingue, Marek Langhammer

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Calgary

Forwards: Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan, Matthew Tkachuk, Michael Ferland, Sven Baertchi, Markus Granlund, Mark Jankowski, Lance Bouma, Sam Bennett,

Defence: T.J Brodie, Tim Erixon, Brett Kulak, Parker Wotherspoon

Goalies: Joni Ortio,

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Chicago

Forwards: Alex Debrincat, Kevin Hayes, Brandon Saad, Teuvo Teravainen, Nick Schmaltz, Ryan Hartman, Andrew Shaw, Vinnie Hinostroza, Marcus Kruger, Ben Smith, Brandon Pirri, Joakim Nordstrom, John Hayden, Tyler Motte, Byron Froese,

Defence: Klas Dahlback, Stephen Johns, Dylan Olsen, Adam Clendening,

Goalie: n/a

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Colorado

Forwards: Nathan Mackinnon, Matt Duchene, Ryan O'Reilly, Mikko Rantanen, Gabriel Landeskog, Tyson Jost, Michael Bournival, Joseph Blandisi, Mark Olver,

Defence: Tyson Barrie, Will Butcher, Duncan Siemens, Anton Lindholm,

Goalie: Calvin Pickard

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Dallas

Forwards: Reilly Smith, Radek Faksa, Valeri Nischushkin, Devin Shore, Brett Ritchie, Alex Chiasson, Genel Smith, Remi Elie, Jason Dickinson, Nick Paul, Curtis Mckenzie, Tomas Vincour

Defence: John Klingberg, Esa Lindell, Jamie Oleksiak, Patrick Nemeth, Julius Honka, Philip Larsen, Jyrki Jokipakka,

Goalie: Jack Campbell

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Edmonton

Forwards: Connor Mcdavid, Leon Draisaitl, Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Jordan Eberle, Tobias Rieder, Magnus Pajaarvi, Anton Slepyshev, Nail Yakupov, Jujhur Khaira, Tyler Pitlick, Anton Lander,

Defence: Darnell Nurse, Oscar Klefbom, Brandon Davidson, Martin Marincin, Eric Gustafsson

Goalie: n/a

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LA

Forwards: Brayden Schenn, Tyler Toffoli, Tanner Pearson, Adrian Kempe, Kyle Clifford, Jordan Nolan, Andrei Loktionov, Nic Dowd, Nick Shore, Lindon Vey, Jordan Weal, Andy Andreoff,

Defence: Drew Doughty, Colin Miller, Slava Voynov, Derek Forbort, Paul Ladue, Kevin Gravel, Andrew Campbell,

Goalies: JF Berube, Christopher Gibson,

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Minnesota

Forwards: Mikael Granlund, Jason Zucker, Erik Haula, Alex Tuch, Joel Eriksson Ek, Tyler Graovac,

Defence: Nick Leddy, Matt Dumba, Jonas Brodin, Marco Scandella, Gustav Olofsson, Nick Seeler

Goalie: Darcy Kuemper, Matt Hackett,

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Nashville

Forwards: Viktor Arvidsson, Kevin Fiala, Craig Smith, Colin Wilson, Auston Watson, Jimmy Vesey, Colton Sissons, Pontus Aberg, Brandon Leipsic, Gabriel Bourque, Miika Salomaki, Michael Latta, Taylor Beck,

Defence : Roman Josi, Seth Jones, Ryan Ellis, Matthias Ekholm, Samuel Girard, Anthony Bitetto,

Goalies: Juuse Saros, Anders Lindback, Marek Mazanec, Magnus Hellberg,

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San Jose

Forwards: Charlie Coyle, Thomas Hertl, Chris Tierney, Kevin Labanc, Timo Meier, Matthew Nieto, Tommy Wingels, Freddie Hamilton, Sean Kuraly, Philip Varone,

Defence: Jason Demers, Joakim Ryan, Mirco Mueller, Dylan Demelo,

Goalie: Harri Sateri

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St Louis

Forwards: Vladimir Tarasenko, Jaden Schwartz, Robby Fabbri, Dmitrij Jaskin, Ivan Barbashev, Jori Lehtera, Ty Rattie, Tage Thompson

Defence: Alex Pietrangelo, Colton Parayko, Vince Dunn, Joel Edmundson, David Rundblad, David Warsofsky, Petteri Lindbohm,

Goalies: Jake Allen

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Vancouver

Forwards: Bo Horvat, Brock Boeser, Cody Hodgson , Jordan Shroeder, Jake Virtanen, Jared McCann, Brandon Gaunce, Nicklas Jensen,

Defence: Ben Hutton, Kevin Connauton, Gustav Forsling, Nikita Tryamkin, Frank Corrado,

Goalie: n/a

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Winnipeg

Forwards: Mark Scheifele, Patrik Laine, Evander Kane, Nikolaj Ehlers, Kyle Connor, Andrew Copp, Adam Lowry, Nicolas Petan, Alexander Burmistrov, Jeremy Morin,

Defence; Jacob Trouba, Josh Morrissey, Zach Bogosian, Ben Chiarot, Zac Redmond, Julian Melchiori,

Goalies: Connor Hellebuyck,


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My Vote Goes To Anaheim. So much depth. Two Starting Goaltenders, 7-8 top 4 defenders, a bunch of top six forwards, plus tons of depth.. .

Click to read more...

 

[Juxtaposer]

Anaheim without question.

 

[Kcb12345]

What's the age cutoff? Like you mentioned Demers for the Sharks but he's 30 years old

Voting Anaheim easily though

 

[Bounces R Way]

Anaheim by a lot. Then I'd probably go with Winnipeg followed by either Minny or St Louis

 

[Critical13]

I would take Winnipeg, then St. Louis, then Anaheim.

After that, maybe Nashville and Vegas to round out the top 5.

 

[thomaspalmer]

What's the age cutoff? Like you mentioned Demers for the Sharks but he's 30 years old

Voting Anaheim easily though

Seems like 2008 draft onwards and not necessarily an age cutoff. Could be wrong though.

Voted Anaheim, too, in any case.

 

[Section88]

Anaheim, so consistent

 

[Royal Thunder]

Anaheim

They've been contenders for years and still have continued to draft well and have a steady flow of talent to plug in.

 

[Kaners Bald Spot]

Anaheim

They've been contenders for years and still have continued to draft well and have a steady flow of talent to plug in.

I've been mentioning this in other threads: while consistently drafting 25 and lower from 2013-2017, and only having 3 picks in the top 20 in the last decade(one by trade up) the Blackhawks have done more with less than any other team. Even though they don't have any high-end talent over that span(though you could argue that Schmaltz and DeBrincat could be those impact players in the near future), they have done a really good job of continuing to find NHL talent year after year. What sucks is that most of that talent went elsewhere. Other teams whose player pool looks better, had a lottery pick or two mixed in there. This past season was the Hawks first lotto pick in a decade. This doesn't even include the gem that was the two seasons of Artemi Panarin, who the Hawks couldn't afford to put into their salary structure anyway because he was so damn good.
In any event, the Hawks continue to find gems near the bottom of the 1st round and don't be surprised if Jokiharju and Beaudin are both solid NHL defensemen in the near future.
Lindholm and Fowler were both top 10 picks, so I don't think it is a fair comparison with those two, and otherwise the Blackhawks compare very favorably to anyone on this list. Stan Bowman doesn't get nearly enough credit for his drafting prowess.

 

[duxfan1101]

In any event, the Hawks continue to find gems near the bottom of the 1st round and don't be surprised if Jokiharju and Beaudin are both solid NHL defensemen in the near future.
Lindholm and Fowler were both top 10 picks, so I don't think it is a fair comparison with those two, and otherwise the Blackhawks compare very favorably to anyone on this list. Stan Bowman doesn't get nearly enough credit for his drafting prowess.

Not that it makes a huge difference, but Fowler was picked #12

 

[Kaners Bald Spot]

Not that it makes a huge difference, but Fowler was picked #12

I could have sworn he was #10 I'll have to double check on that.
EDIT: You're right. My bad.

 

[duxfan1101]

I could have sworn he was #10 I'll have to double check on that.
EDIT: You're right. My bad.

You are right though that Chicago has been underrated in their drafting ability. Part of that definitely has to do with them having to trade a lot of their prospects for cap purposes before they enter their prime.

 

[Kaners Bald Spot]

You are right though that Chicago has been underrated in their drafting ability. Part of that definitely has to do with them having to trade a lot of their prospects for cap purposes before they enter their prime.

Losing Teravainen because of failure to properly diagnose Bryan Bickell hurts really badly. They made some really horrible trades over the last few years, trying to squeeze one last cup out of this core. They might have had a better opportunity to get that one more cup if they stood pat in 2016 and 2017 rather than attempt to add to a core with a ton of hard miles on them. That being said, getting swept by Nashville a couple seasons ago after being the top seed in the West and 3rd best in the League was shocking, to say the least. The most egregious trade made was Danault+2nd for Wiese and Fleischmann.

 

[TopShelfWaterBottle]

Anaheim consistently gets roster players drafting at 20+

Winnipeg has had a lot of lower picks

 

[Morgs]

Anaheim gets as much as anyone with lesser picks.

Especially with Leaf picks