Over the last 10 years in the NHL 2170 players have been taken between the third round to the seventh round of the draft… I was talking to a friend who said that he believed the team needed to change its head scout.  That he didn’t like the way the team drafted…especially in the first two rounds.. I made the argument that I believe the scouts have more to do with rounds 3-7, because the GM’s are usually pretty aware of the top 50 players or so and after that they really don’t have any idea for the most part… So I went off and did a study: How many players in the NHL drafted in the third round or later have//over the last 10 years..playeds 82 or more games.  And then how many of those players are still on the teams who drafted them

But I was shocked to find only 133 players met the first criteria of simply playing 82 games…that is just over 6%.  

How many of those players re still on the team that drafted them? 30 Players 1.38%

Calgary Anaheim Chicago New Jersey Philadelphia

Nashville Tampa Ottawa Minnesota Columbus Carolina Boston Buffalo NY Rangers Dallas Vegas Toronto

Here are all the teams listed from best to worst when it comes to drafting players who will at least play 82 games in the NHL: 

Arizona/Utah (7 players):None Remain

Kyle Capobianco (Draft: 2015, Round: 3, GP: 99)Adin Hill (Draft: 2015, Round: 3, GP: 193)Conor Garland (Draft: 2015, Round: 5, GP: 523)Mackenzie Entwistle (Draft: 2017, Round: 3, GP: 193)Ty Emberson (Draft: 2018, Round: 3, GP: 152)Matias Maccelli (Draft: 2019, Round: 4, GP: 262)Emil Martinsen Lilleberg (Draft: 2021, Round: 4, GP: 145)

Los Angeles Kings (7 players):3 Remain

Austin Wagner (Draft: 2015, Round: 4, GP: 178)Matt Roy (Draft: 2015, Round: 7, GP: 488)Jacob Moverare (Draft: 2016, Round: 4, GP: 106)Michael Eyssimont (Draft: 2016, Round: 5, GP: 253)Michael Anderson (Draft: 2017, Round: 4, GP: 394)Jordan Spence (Draft: 2019, Round: 4, GP: 220)Alex Laferriere (Draft: 2020, Round: 3, GP: 207)

Edmonton Oilers (6 players):NONE remain

Caleb Jones (Draft: 2015, Round: 4, GP: 255)Ethan Bear (Draft: 2015, Round: 5, GP: 275)John Marino (Draft: 2015, Round: 6, GP: 412)Vincent Desharnais (Draft: 2016, Round: 7, GP: 187)Stuart Skinner (Draft: 2017, Round: 3, GP: 206)Michael Kesselring (Draft: 2018, Round: 6, GP: 173)

Nashville Predators (6 players): 1 remains

Thomas Novak (Draft: 2015, Round: 3, GP: 251)Alexandre Carrier (Draft: 2015, Round: 4, GP: 346)Karel Vejmelka (Draft: 2015, Round: 5, GP: 235)Rem Pitlick (Draft: 2016, Round: 3, GP: 132)Spencer Stastney (Draft: 2018, Round: 5, GP: 101)Juuso Parssinen (Draft: 2019, Round: 7, GP: 151)

Tampa Bay Lightning (6 players): 1 remains

Anthony Cirelli (Draft: 2015, Round: 3, GP: 555)Mathieu Joseph (Draft: 2015, Round: 4, GP: 455)Connor Ingram (Draft: 2016, Round: 3, GP: 111)Ross Colton (Draft: 2016, Round: 4, GP: 378)Nicklaus Perbix (Draft: 2017, Round: 6, GP: 266)Cole Koepke (Draft: 2018, Round: 6, GP: 132)

Chicago Blackhawks (5 players): 2 remain

Dennis Gilbert (Draft: 2015, Round: 3, GP: 112)Ryan Shea (Draft: 2015, Round: 4, GP: 118)Philipp Kurashev (Draft: 2018, Round: 4, GP: 348)Wyatt Kaiser (Draft: 2020, Round: 3, GP: 147)Louis Crevier (Draft: 2020, Round: 7, GP: 102)

Minnesota Wild (5 players): 1 remains

Kirill Kaprizov (Draft: 2015, Round: 5, GP: 370)Brandon Duhaime (Draft: 2016, Round: 4, GP: 343)Mason Shaw (Draft: 2017, Round: 4, GP: 82)Jack McBain (Draft: 2018, Round: 3, GP: 290)Connor Dewar (Draft: 2018, Round: 3, GP: 286)

New Jersey Devils (5 players):2 remain

Colton White (Draft: 2015, Round: 4, GP: 107)Joseph Anderson (Draft: 2016, Round: 3, GP: 169)Jesper Bratt (Draft: 2016, Round: 6, GP: 602)Fabian Zetterlund (Draft: 2017, Round: 3, GP: 296)Yegor Sharangovich (Draft: 2018, Round: 5, GP: 405)

Ottawa Senators (5 players): 1 remains

Christian Wolanin (Draft: 2015, Round: 4, GP: 86)Christian Jaros (Draft: 2015, Round: 5, GP: 94)Joey Daccord (Draft: 2015, Round: 7, GP: 155)Drake Batherson (Draft: 2017, Round: 4, GP: 437)Mark Kastelic (Draft: 2019, Round: 5, GP: 255)

St. Louis Blues (5 players): 4 remain

Niko Mikkola (Draft: 2015, Round: 5, GP: 376)Alexey Toropchenko (Draft: 2017, Round: 4, GP: 293)Joel Hofer (Draft: 2018, Round: 4, GP: 96)Tyler Tucker (Draft: 2018, Round: 7, GP: 135)Matthew Kessel (Draft: 2020, Round: 5, GP: 91)

Montreal Canadiens (5 players: None remain

Victor Mete (Draft: 2016, Round: 4, GP: 248)Michael Pezzetta (Draft: 2016, Round: 6, GP: 200)Cale Fleury (Draft: 2017, Round: 3, GP: 93)Jordan Harris (Draft: 2018, Round: 3, GP: 169)Rafael Harvey-Pinard (Draft: 2019, Round: 7, GP: 84)

Calgary Flames (5 players): 2 remain

Andrew Mangiapane (Draft: 2015, Round: 6, GP: 543)Adam Fox (Draft: 2016, Round: 3, GP: 461)Adam Ruzicka (Draft: 2017, Round: 4, GP: 117)Martin Pospisil (Draft: 2018, Round: 4, GP: 144)Dustin Wolf (Draft: 2019, Round: 7, GP: 108)

Columbus Blue Jackets (5 players): 1 remains

Keegan Kolesar (Draft: 2015, Round: 3, GP: 405)Vladislav Gavrikov (Draft: 2015, Round: 6, GP: 486)Markus Nutivaara (Draft: 2015, Round: 7, GP: 275)Emil Bemstrom (Draft: 2017, Round: 4, GP: 242)Dimitri Voronkov (Draft: 2019, Round: 4, GP: 197)

4 Players – TIED FOR 15TH

Anaheim Ducks (4 players): 2 remain

Troy Terry (Draft: 2015, Round: 5, GP: 470)Joshua Mahura (Draft: 2016, Round: 3, GP: 275)Lukas Dostal (Draft: 2018, Round: 3, GP: 153)Henry Thrun (Draft: 2019, Round: 4, GP: 123)

Carolina Hurricanes (4 players): 1 remain

Nicolas Roy (Draft: 2015, Round: 4, GP: 415)Steven Lorentz (Draft: 2015, Round: 7, GP: 352)Morgan Geekie (Draft: 2017, Round: 3, GP: 382)Jackson Blake (Draft: 2021, Round: 4, GP: 131)

3 Players – TIED FOR 17TH

Winnipeg Jets (3 players): NONE remain 

Mason Appleton (Draft: 2015, Round: 6, GP: 440)Johnathan Kovacevic (Draft: 2017, Round: 3, GP: 228)Declan Chisholm (Draft: 2018, Round: 5, GP: 117)

Florida Panthers (3 players): None Remain

Sam Montembeault (Draft: 2015, Round: 3, GP: 226)Denis Malgin (Draft: 2015, Round: 4, GP: 257)Riley Stillman (Draft: 2016, Round: 4, GP: 167)

Boston Bruins (3 players): 1 remains

Daniel Vladar (Draft: 2015, Round: 3, GP: 133)Jeremy Swayman (Draft: 2017, Round: 4, GP: 224)Jakub Lauko (Draft: 2018, Round: 3, GP: 139)

Buffalo Sabres (3 players): 1 remains

William Borgen (Draft: 2015, Round: 4, GP: 342)Brandon Hagel (Draft: 2016, Round: 6, GP: 418)Jacob Bryson (Draft: 2017, Round: 4, GP: 286)

Washington Capitals (3 players): 1 remains

Beck Malenstyn (Draft: 2016, Round: 5, GP: 229)Axel Jonsson-Fjallby (Draft: 2016, Round: 5, GP: 99)Aliaksei Protas (Draft: 2019, Round: 3, GP: 292)

New York Rangers (3 players): NY Rangers 1

Morgan Barron (Draft: 2017, Round: 6, GP: 296)Zachary Jones (Draft: 2019, Round: 3, GP: 115)Adam Edstrom (Draft: 2019, Round: 6, GP: 86)

2 Players – TIED FOR 23RD

Dallas Stars (2 players): 1 remains

Jacob Peterson (Draft: 2017, Round: 5, GP: 83)Oskar Back (Draft: 2018, Round: 3, GP: 113)

Vegas Golden Knights (2 players): 1 remains

Paul Cotter (Draft: 2018, Round: 4, GP: 264)Pavel Dorofeyev (Draft: 2019, Round: 3, GP: 197)

Toronto Maple Leafs (2 players): 1 remains

Joseph Woll (Draft: 2016, Round: 3, GP: 98)Pontus Holmberg (Draft: 2018, Round: 6, GP: 200)

New York Islanders (2 players): None Remain

Parker Wotherspoon (Draft: 2015, Round: 4, GP: 156)Sebastian Aho (Draft: 2017, Round: 5, GP: 190)

Philadelphia Flyers (2 players):2 Remain

Noah Cates (Draft: 2017, Round: 5, GP: 283)Samuel Ersson (Draft: 2018, Round: 5, GP: 130)

San Jose Sharks (2 players):None Remain

Rudolfs Balcers (Draft: 2015, Round: 5, GP: 170)Noah Gregor (Draft: 2016, Round: 4, GP: 317)

Colorado Avalanche (1 player): None Remain

Nils Aman (Draft: 2020, Round: 6, GP: 132)

Pittsburgh Penguins (1 player): None Remain

Dominik Simon (Draft: 2015, Round: 5, GP: 256)

Vancouver Canucks (1 player): None Remain

Adam Gaudette (Draft: 2015, Round: 5, GP: 340)

Teams with ZERO successful picks: Seattle Kraken (joined league in 2021, limited data)

So out of all these players I would say there are only 5 stars….

Kaprisof, Cirelli, and Bratt, Hagel, Swayman

However there are some very good goalies…

Dustin Wolf, Sam Montembeaut, Jeremy Swagman, Justin Woll, and Dan Vladar.

What say you?  Besides all the scouting departments might be overpaid…Just kidding.. I think I see here is how difficult it is to predict players at a young age… It feels like there might be more undrafted players play in the NHL right now that they played 82 games versus players drafted in the 3rd to 7th round… Anyone who checks gets a cookie…