The best NHL draft years by one team in the salary cap era

Ever since the NHL introduced the salary cap in the 2005-06 season, drafting went from being a great way to get talent on your roster to an essential part of maintaining a successful team. Not only is nailing your first-round pick important to get some good players in your lineup but finding hidden gems in the later rounds helps you maintain depth in your organization as you need to start replacing players that are pricing themselves out of your team.

With the 2023 NHL Draft just around the corner, I thought I’d take a look in hindsight at some of the past drafts of the salary cap era, and find somewhere a team went above and beyond at bringing in talent for their team to build around. I’m looking at these drafts in a vacuum, so even if some of the players had no impact on the team that picked them, I’m still giving props to the scouting team that saw their potential.

I picked eight drafts from eight teams based on a couple of factors: how many selections either turned into high-impact players (home runs) or at least made some noise in the NHL (additional hits), along with the teams’ success rate in that draft for based on how many players played in the NHL at some point, even if it was just one game. There won’t be any teams in recent drafts because it’s tough to judge all the players so soon, so most of these picks will come in the earlier years of the cap era.

Boston Bruins, 2006

Home Runs: Phil Kessel (1-5th), Milan Lucic (2-50th), Brad Marchand (3-71st)
Additional Hits: None
Total Picks with NHL Action: 4/6

The Bruins already had a plethora of talent building toward what would become their Cup-winning team in 2011, but no single event may have had a bigger impact in creating that than the 2006 draft, which set the paths for not one, not two, but three important players on that Cup run. The obvious ones are Milan Lucic and Brad Marchand, who filled out the top six on that 2011 team, but Phil Kessel wasn’t quite as simple, with him out the door by that point and Tyler Seguin as part of the return to help them win the Cup. That said, the joke’s on the Bruins, with Kessel winning three after that, including one this season with the Vegas Golden Knights in a year where the Bruins went home in the first round disappointed after a record-setting regular season.

Even without Cup success, those three players have had incredible careers. At Kessel’s peak, he was arguably one of the best-scoring wingers in the league. Marchand started as an annoying pest that played well in the top six and became one of the best all-around wingers in the game. And while Lucic’s game fell off hard in his later years, prime Lucic was the prototypical power forward that everyone wanted on their team. Andrew Bodnarchuk was the final player to play games, with 37 of the 42 games coming in 2015-16 of all seasons, but getting three elite talents out of six draft picks is something few teams can match, especially when they were rewarded for it with a Stanley Cup.

Montreal Canadiens, 2007

Home Runs: Ryan McDonagh (1-12th), Max Pacioretty (1-22nd), P.K. Subban (2-43rd)
Additional Hits: Yannick Weber (3-73rd)
Total Picks with NHL action: 4/9

While most of the drafts on this list feature a combination of elite talents and players on the higher end who might have briefly peaked into elite territory, the Canadiens might be the only one that landed three truly elite talents that had the longevity to that status. This draft almost didn’t get considered because they missed five of their nine picks, but I was eventually convinced to include it because it’s hard to pass up the results they got from three of their players. Well, they didn’t get the results from Ryan McDonagh with the team, but he also turned out well.

McDonagh ended up on the New York Rangers as part of the trade for Scott Gomez, and by the time the Rangers were in their competitive window in the early 2010s, he was the top defenseman on their blue line. When the Rangers stripped it down, he was dealt to the Tampa Bay Lightning and became their matchup defenseman to let Victor Hedman roam free a bit more, and helped them to back-to-back Stanley Cups. Max Pacioretty has been an excellent goal scorer throughout his career, hitting the 30-goal mark six times and probably would have a few more times if not for injuries. And then there’s P.K. Subban, who at his best was one of the most dynamic defensemen in the league, even winning a Norris Trophy in 2013, making for a steal as a mid-second-round pick. Yannick Weber also rounds out their draft picks that had an impact in the NHL, and while he never touched the same status as the other three, he made for a solid bottom-pair defender and was one game short of 500 games. Not many teams can brag about drafting three players who’ve been a huge part of their team’s contention windows for most of their careers, but the Habs did just that in 2007.

Colorado Avalanche, 2009

Home Runs: Matt Duchene (1-3rd), Ryan O’Reilly (2-33rd), Tyson Barrie (3-64th)
Additional Hits: None
Total Picks with NHL Action: 4/7

It’s somewhat ironic that one of the Avalanche’s best drafts comes in between their late '90s/early '00s Cup years and their current success, and none of the players selected in this draft were a part of those teams. Their returns certainly were, with Samuel Girard and Bowen Byram being rewarded for the massive Matt Duchene trade while Nazem Kadri was excellent as part of the return for Tyson Barrie, but those players were off to other places, although at least Ryan O’Reilly still had Cup success.

Even if they weren’t around for the important moments in Colorado, they’re still three damn good hockey players. Duchene wasn’t quite the high-end talent many expected for a third-overall pick but still became an excellent scoring forward. O’Reilly turned into one of the game’s best two-way forwards. And while Barrie’s stock has taken a big hit, he was still an excellent offensive defenseman when he was with Colorado and also put up plenty of points alongside Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl in Edmonton. Stefan Elliott also turned into 87 games of NHL hockey spread across six different seasons, so he doesn’t quite get the recognition of a hit, but the Avs still went four for seven in a draft where they managed to get two top-six centers and a top-four defenseman.

New York Islanders, 2009

Home Runs: John Tavares (1-1st), Anders Lee (6-152nd)
Additional Hits: Casey Cizikas (4-92nd), Calvin de Haan (1-12th), Mikko Koskinen (2-31st), Anders Nilsson (3-62nd)
Total Picks with NHL Action: 7/7

The Islanders drafting in 2008 and 2009 has actually produced a solid amount of NHL talent for a team that struggled to be competitive for as long as they did. 2008 gets the honorable mention for producing Josh Bailey, Travis Hamonic, Matt Martin, and Jared Spurgeon, all of who’ve played 800 games (Hamonic falls just seven games short), but 2009 gets the spotlight here for obvious reasons.

I don’t think I need to go into the impact of John Tavares, even if he left the Islanders on a sour note, but nabbing their follow-up captain in Anders Lee in the sixth round makes this draft look even better on its own. Then there’s the fact that they got mileage out of two more players in defenseman Calvin de Haan and Casey Cizikas, the latter being a solid part of their best years in 2020 and 2021, and the draft looks even better. And then you have the two goalies that both played just more than 160 games in the NHL, Mikko Koskinen and Anders Nilsson, with both having brief moments of success outside of the organization to add to that. Fifth-round pick Anton Klementyev only played one game in 2009-10, so I feel like I’m cheating by saying that they went seven for seven, but even just getting six solid NHLers out of seven picks is an incredible feat.

Carolina Hurricanes, 2010

Home Runs: Jeff Skinner (1-7th), Justin Faulk (2-37th), Frederik Andersen (7-187th)
Additional Hits: None
Total Picks with NHL Action: 6/8

It’s funny to think that out of the Canes’ three home run picks in this draft, two of them stayed while one re-entered the draft, and yet the one that re-entered the draft is the one currently on the team in Frederik Andersen. Maybe not for long since he’s set for unrestricted free agency and may not return, but the path for Andersen to get drafted by the Canes, not be signed, and then end up back in Carolina is certainly an interesting one.

Jeff Skinner’s legacy is a bit tainted by the fact that the Buffalo Sabres bought high on an unsustainable 40-goal campaign, but he’s had six 30-goal seasons in his career, including back-to-back efforts these past two years, so you can’t complain about him as a seventh overall pick. Justin Faulk has also fallen off a bit with the St. Louis Blues, but his best years with the Canes saw him be a steady top-four defenseman. And while the Canes weren’t the team that last drafted Andersen, in his prime he was one of the most consistent starting goalies, so the fact that they at least saw something in him is good enough in my books. The other three players to play from that draft Mark Alt, Danny Biega, and Justin Shugg combined for 33 games, but three elite talents and going six for eight is some solid work overall.

Anaheim Ducks, 2011

Home Runs: Rickard Rakell (1-30th), John Gibson (2-39th), William Karlsson (2-53rd), Josh Manson (6-160th)
Additional Hits: None
Total Picks with NHL Action: 7/7

There’s no denying that the Ducks had a bit of help putting this draft together, as they got their top two picks by trading down with a Toronto Maple Leafs team that really, really, really wanted Tyler Biggs (one of two players in the first round of the 2011 draft that didn’t play a single NHL game). As a result, they got two strong talents instead of likely getting only one of them, selecting Rickard Rakell with the final pick of the first round, and then John Gibson with the ninth pick in the second round. That gave them two of their cornerstone pieces in their later competitive years, with Rakell being an excellent top-six forward and Gibson becoming one of the best goalies in the league for a stretch.

That wouldn’t be all in this draft. Later in the second round, they drafted William Karlsson, who wouldn’t develop until well after leaving the Ducks organization but has become an excellent two-way center with the Golden Knights. And then with their last pick, all the way in the sixth round, they selected Josh Manson, who became an elite defensive defenseman with the group of Rakell and Gibson in Anaheim. None of the other three picks in Joseph Cramarossa, Andy Welinski, and Max Friberg played a season’s worth of NHL hockey, but the fact that they got any playing time in the NHL without needing draft pedigree to get there is still an achievement. All seven of your picks having some use in the NHL is a good sign, and four of them becoming high-impact players is an even better sign.

Tampa Bay Lightning, 2011

Home Runs: Nikita Kucherov (2-58th), Ondrej Palat (7-208th)
Additional Hits: Vladislav Namestnikov (1-27th), Nikita Nesterov (5-148th)
Total Picks with NHL Action: 6/6

Normally one of my requirements for making this list is that at least one of the team’s first-round picks needs to be a home run, but this draft from the Lightning was hard to turn away from. Vladislav Namestnikov has had himself a solid NHL career, including a 22-goal, 48-point season in 2017-18 when he got a spot on the Lightning’s top line, but he’s mostly been a journeyman in his career and never really been super productive.

But I can’t overlook the fact that the Lightning got two players who dominated on the top line for them on their three straight Cup Final runs from 2020 to 2022. Nikita Kucherov is the headline grabber here, as the Lightning managed to turn a late second-round pick into the best player in his draft year, with two 40-goal seasons, three 100-point seasons and a Hart Trophy, and while he never won the Conn Smythe, he had back-to-back 30-point playoff runs when they won their Cups. On top of Kucherov, they also got Ondrej Palat with the fourth-last pick in the draft, and he also turned into an essential player for their success. He’s only had a few 50-point seasons, but it’s his forechecking and defensive ability that made him an excellent complement to Kucherov and Steven Stamkos or Brayden Point on their line.

They also got a few seasons out of Nikita Nesterov, Matthew Peca’s managed to get 83 games including five as recent as 2021-22, and Adam Wilcox rounds out the list with one game in relief in 2017-18. They got three consistent NHLers, including two great players, and all coming in a draft where the Lightning was coming off a run to the Eastern Conference Final. That’s how you maintain success in the NHL.

Dallas Stars, 2017

Home Runs: Miro Heiskanen (1-3rd), Jake Oettinger (1-26th), Jason Robertson (2-39th)
Additional Hits: None
Total Picks with NHL Action: 5/7

Most teams are lucky if they get one or two of a franchise scorer, an elite two-way defenseman, and a high-end goaltender during their contention window, but the Dallas Stars not only have all three, they got all of them in the same draft. Miro Heiskanen was a bit more of an obvious pick (although somehow still not the best pick available with Cale Makar going right after), but selecting Jake Oettinger later in the first round has looked great so far, and getting Jason Robertson in the second round is looking like a steal right now.

This is the most recent draft on this list, having only six years to develop, so there’s still plenty of time for it to flame out a bit, but right now it’s looking like a franchise-altering one, especially considering they were in desperate need of a new core with Seguin and Jamie Benn taking steps back. It’s why they went from a Cup Final appearance in 2020 to a retool to a Conference Final appearance in 2023. They’ve got franchise pillars to build around for years to come, and most of it was because of Jim Nill’s work in 2017. All Dallas needed was Roope Hintz to also be drafted that year and it might be one of the best by one team of all time — again, assuming they all continue on their current development.