Now that the dust has settled, which teams did the best job of improving during the draft? Here is my list,with comments:
1. Montreal- Montreal landed forward Alex Galchenyuk, who could turn out to be the most productive player chosen this year. Swede Sebastian Collberg, rated a first-round talent, fell to the Canadiens in th second, and Tim Bozon and Dalton Thrower were both value picks. Thrower, a tough defenseman with offensive upside, could be a real steal at 51 overall. Brady Vail, a native from North Carolina, is an intruiging prospect to keep an eye on.
2. Dallas- In Radek Dafsa the Stars are getting a Bobby Hoik clone who is close to ready. Ludwig Bystrom is a first-round talent picked at 43rd, and Mike Winther looks like a future NHLer to me. Devin Shore could surprise if his skating improves.
3. Pittsburgh- It’s scary to think how good the Penguins could be once Derrick Pouliot and Olle Maata hit the NHL. They also acquired defense prospect Brian Dumoulin in th Jordan Staal trade. He may provide immediate blue line in the Steel City.
4. Buffalo- Mikhail Grigorenko was a good gamble for the Sabres at number 12 overall. He could be just what the doctor ordered for the Sabres. Zemus Girgensons is several years away, but should be worth the wait. Defenseman Jake McCabe from Wisconsin was a good pick at 44.
5. New York Islanders- They definitely wanted to upgrade defensively as all of their picks were defensemen, but they got quality as well as quantity. Griffin Reinhart rose all the way to number 4, but nobody is calling it a reach. Ville Pokka and Adam Pelech are both quality prospects.
Other teams also did well, such as Washington getting Forsberg at 11 and adding Tom Wilson, and Toronto getting defensemen Morgan Rielly and Matt Finn, but only time will tell who really won and lost at the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.
I updated the profiles for the day two draft picks to include their new team. So you can find the profile by clicking on the team, or by performing a player seach from the home page.
Follow me on Twitter @RichDillon17 for more prospect nuggets if you’d like. See you next time.