Before I start this column, I want to make it clear I don't have a crystal ball and I don't know how all these players will perform in the future. These are my initial reactions about players I've read about and watched play over the past season leading up to the draft.
The Boston Bruins are no longer the "big bad Bruins" after the moves they made. On the surface trading Dougie Hamilton looks like one of the dumbest moves an NHL franchise has made in recent memory.
When you delve deeper, it still looks dumb. The ninth overall pick in the 2011 NHL draft is essentially everything you look for in a defenceman. At 6'5'' he has the reach, great skating, hard shot, knows when to jump into the play and puts up big points from the blue line. So why did they trade him? It's obvious they moved him because they knew they couldn't sign him.
His three-year rookie contract ended at the end of this season and with his skills and potential he's about to cash in on a major deal. The Bruins obviously didn't think they could afford to sign him. They allegedly gave him a six-year, $33-million offer which Hamilton refused. The Bruins were cutting it close with the salary cap so they moved him and also Milan Lucic to the LA Kings. The Calgary Flames took advantage of the Bruins moving Hamilton and gave up only three picks for him, 15th, 45th and 52nd overall in last weekend's draft
It was a small price to pay for a number one defenceman. The return for Lucic was better, 13th overall, goaltender Martin Jones and defenceman Colin Miller.
The Bruins ended up with three consecutive first round picks, LA's 13th, their own 14th and Calgary's 15th. And yet when they took to the stage to make their selections, two of the three players they took left people scratching their heads. Jakub Zboril was an understandable pick at 13, but Jake Debrusk from the Swift Current Broncos may have been a little bit of a reach at 14. The worst was at 15, Zach Senyshyn, who would have been available in the second round. The Bruins passed on one of the most offensively dynamic players in the draft in Matt Barzal of the Seattle Thunderbirds to take those three players.
Right after the 15th pick, the New York Islanders jumped on the phone and sent 2012 fourth overall pick Griffin Reinhart to the Edmonton Oilers for the 16th and 33rd overall picks. Surely enough, the Islanders took Barzal at 16th overall. I have a feeling the Bruins will regret not taking him for years to come.
Acquiring Reinhart from the Islanders was an excellent move for the Oilers. Everyone knows they have a ridiculous amount of talent up front, they didn't need to draft Barzal because they would have nowhere to play him. Instead, they get a future top-four defenceman in exchange for two picks they didn't need. As a Canucks fan it's slightly upsetting to see the Oilers make good decisions instead of the past 10 years when they've made almost exclusively bad ones.
After trading away their first three picks in the draft, you would think the Flames wouldn't get a top prospect. Luckily for them, a Swedish defenceman by the name of Oliver Kylington (pronounced Schillington) was available at 60th overall. This time last year, Kylington was seen a potential top-five pick for this year's draft. Consistency and attitude issues dropped him all the way to 60 for Calgary to scoop him up. If he lives up to his potential, that will be an absolute steal for the Flames.
Aside from getting Reinhart and Connor McDavid with the first overall pick, the Oilers also bolstered their goaltending by trading for Cam Talbot of the New York Rangers. It will be interesting to see how Talbot performs now that he's not playing behind one of the best defence groups in the NHL. Regardless, he's better than what Ben Scrivens or Viktor Fasth offers in net for Edmonton.
It could be a sad few years for Canucks fans as the Oilers and Flames got exponentially better over the weekend. I think the Canucks will look to make some trades to acquire young players and draft picks to build for the future. They've waited over 40 years to win a Stanley Cup, what's another decade?
