NHL Draft Analysis: Trade Deadline Day and Draft Picks

NHL Draft History

Dude, where’s my draft pick?

That pick traded on Deadline Day could be far from an afterthought
Steve Kournianos  |  3/3//2017 |  New York  |  [hupso]

The NHL’s annual trade deadline has come and gone, and while this year’s less-than-impressive event failed to deliver on the promise of widespread excitement and intrigue, general managers once again doled out future draft choices for rentals and graybeards. Whether the moves work out or not remains to be seen. But if you’re part of the dumbfounded collective that saw teams trade away those ever-precious draft picks for aging relics or guys too expensive to keep, you’re probably still looking for answers. Or that unfinished bottle of vodka. Or both.

Using hindsight as our spotter, we’ve examined and assessed the last 45 years of NHL trades made on or around the trade deadline that involved draft picks of any kind. We did, however, omit the draft picks that were acuired on Deadline Day but later shipped for an additional team (or two) to use at the draft. For example, the Los Angeles Kings on Deadline Day ’07 acquired a second round pick in 2007 after trading defenseman Brent Sopel to the Vancouver Canucks and kept it to select Wayne Simmonds. On the other hand, the Tampa Bay Lightning, who in the winter of 2014 acquired Ryan Callahan and two first round picks from the New York Rangers in exchange for Martin St. Louis, later flipped both first rounder to the New York Islanders. For the sake of brevity, we kept trades that involved three teams or more out of the analysis. Furthermore, we listed only the key components traded for draft picks rather than include all those involved. Again, it was to keep this project short and to the point. Keep in mind that the tables below list only draft picks hat we considered to be notable, as this is a project showing both the positive and negative side of acquiring draft choices at the deadline.

Whatever the case may be, hearing or seeing the news that draft picks were traded can unleash a bevy of uncontrollable emotions. Compounding matters —  especially in this era of “I need to know and I need to know NOW!” — are the cloudy trade specifics that seemingly take hours, sometimes days to sort out. So why all the fuss? Why am I making such a big deal about years and picks in say, 2019, when your team is gunning for a Cup run this year? Because going into Draft Day with an otherwise barren cupboard of picks not only robs an organization of assets, but makes most of us feel like a left-out preschooler who didn’t get invited to a birthday party. If you’re on the other end of the trade, it usually means your team stunk, gave up on the season and wanted to give the fans something — anything — to be excited about.

When it comes to improving their hockey clubs, front office types will always defer to trading their right to select players in the after-season entry draft rather than deal an established NHL player or a promising prospect. This fire-and-forget strategy in search of instant gratification makes total sense on the surface — there is no human element to consider when trading away a draft pick which on Deadline Day is nothing but a number on a board. There are no difficult phone calls to make or families to uproot. And like players, draft picks from an emotional standpoint are far easier to replace than the player a coach or GM has grown to love.

Nevertheless, whether bolstering a contender for the Stanley Cup or looking for a final piece to sneak into the playoffs, a general manager assuming risk on Deadline Day is most certainly part of his job description. And while he’ll justify mortgaging a portion of his team’s future with cliche after cliche, there’s always the possibility for regret. When it comes to trading draft picks, one man’s trash becomes another man’s treasure. And if you go by the list below, treasure is a subtle way of describing a diamond mine.

NHL Draft Boards are like Grandmothers and snowflakes — no two are alike. So it’s folly to think Team A was going to draft the same player chosen by Team B after acquirung the pick from Team A on Deadline Day. Still, fans are pretty protective of their team’s draft picks, and losing one (or a bunch) in one day is tough to get over.

Trade Deadlines By Year

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

No Trade Deadline (Work Stoppage)

2004

2003

2002

2001

2000

1999

1998

1996

1995

1994

1993

1991

1990

1989

1988

1987

1984

1982

1981

1980

1978

1976

1974

1973

1971