Winners and losers of the 2024 NHL Draft

Although there wasn’t as much trade action as had been speculated in Round 1 of the 2024 NHL Draft on Friday, there was still plenty on intrigue and drama.

Several players fell below their projections, including expected top-five pick Zeev Buium, who dropped all the way to 12th overall despite many scouts believing was the second-best defensive prospect in the class.

With the 2024 draft in the books, here are the winners and losers from the event.

Winner: San Jose Sharks | The Sharks could’ve considered themselves winners after just the first round. They landed the consensus top player in the draft in center Macklin Celebrini, then lucked into defenseman Sam Dickinson, who was considered a top-10 lock, at 11th overall.

After adding winger Igor Chernyshov and defender Leo Sahlin Wellenius in Round 2, the Sharks ended up with four first-round talents in the top 53 picks and finished out a well-rounded draft class with solid depth on defense (Colton Roberts, Nate Misskey) and in goal (Christin Kirsch, Yaroslav Korostelyov.)

Loser: Philadelphia Flyers | It’s not that Jett Luchanko and Jack Berglund were bad picks, but they both play center, and it can be argued there were better centers on the board both times Philly drafted in Rounds 1 and 2. Konsta Helenius was rated much higher than Luchanko by most scouts, as were Teddy Stiga and Linus Eriksson over Berglund.

But the biggest issue with Philly’s draft was inexplicably trading back one spot and letting the Minnesota Wild move up grab Buium, an elite blue-liner who many believed wouldn’t make it out of the top 10. The move is especially tough to understand considering Buium is miles better than either of the Flyers' top two defensive prospects, Oliver Bonk and Emil Andrae.

Winner: Calgary Flames | Just like the Sharks, the Flames are winners for their ability to out-draft their position with six of their first eight picks. They landed a future top-pairing defenseman in Zayne Parekh ninth overall and followed it up with a potential top-four defenseman in Henry Mews early in Round 3.

Calgary also got tremendous value with winger Andrew Basha in Round 2, who many believed could have been a first-rounder, plus it got winger Jacob Battaglia a good 15 spots after he should have been gone and center Luke Misa three rounds later than he was projected to go.

Loser: Colorado Avalanche | Colorado employed a "throw everything at the wall and see what sticks" approach to finding a goaltender, using three of its first five picks on goalies Ilya Nabokov, Louka Cloutier and Ivan Yunin. Nabokov was a highly rated prospect and one of the top goalies in the draft, so his selection makes sense, but the other two not so much.

With their other selections, the Avalanche got some solid depth pieces but no one forward that grades out as more than a middle-six contributor and their only defenseman was a sixth-round flier. Colorado’s farm system ranks in the bottom-third of the league and it did little to help bolster its standing.

Winner: Minnesota Wild | The Wild moved up one spot for Buium, a defensive star-in-the-making, then lucked into forward Ryder Ritchie, who many scouts have projected as a first-rounder, in the middle of Round 2.

Minnesota took defensemen with three of its final four picks, including Aron Kiviharju, who began the season as a projected top-five pick but fell to the fourth round following a major injury during his draft year. In terms of high-upside talent, Minnesota made out as good as anyone in the first four rounds.

Loser: St. Louis Blues | It’s clear St. Louis’ mission was to restock the cupboard defensively, and it got some decent players. But the team took defensemen with its first three picks, and all three times there were better prospects still on the board. First-rounder Adam Jiricek is a high-risk, high-reward kind of player, but with Stian Solberg, E.J. Emery, Charlie Elick and Ben Danford still available, there were less risky players that could have been had.

Then in Round 2, the Blues took Colin Ralph with Sahlin Wallenius, Leon Muggli and Jesse Pulkkinen still there, and then they picked Lukas Fischer with Mews, Luca Marelli and Will Skahan still available. It appears St. Louis was set on drafting for ceiling and not for value.

Winner: Utah Hockey Club | Utah made some good picks with centers Tij Iginla and Cole Beaudoin in the first round, and defenders Skahan and Veeti Vaisanen in Rounds 2 and 3, respectively. However, the team is a winner for moves it made that weren’t draft picks but went down at the draft — trading for blue-liners Mikhail Sergachev and John Marino.

Booth players are arguably top-pairing defensemen who will likely play prominent roles this season. Marino is a solid right-handed penalty-killer and Sergachev, 26, is a two-time Stanley Cup winner who’s logged 30 or more points in six of the last seven seasons. Utah walked away from the draft with two players ready to step in right away and a coveted center prospect that isn’t far away from being NHL ready.

Other winners: Anaheim Ducks, Columbus Blue Jackets

Other losers: Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs