Quoting: Bflo_Soldier
Winners:
Sabres: not that it was made hard for them, but they acquired a franchise D-man (Dahlin) at the top of the draft.
Red Wings: Had the most prolific scorer (Zadina) drop right into their laps.
Islanders: Grabbed two blue chip players (Wahlstrom and Dobson), one forward and one defenseman, back to back.
Losers:
Coyotes: Took a player (Hayton) at 5 that would have probably been available at 15-20.
Blues: Traded up to get a player (Bokk) who very well could turn out to be worse than the players picked in the 2 spots they gave up (Sandin and der-Arguchintsev).
Blue Jackets: Reached on a 3rd round talent (Foudy) in the middle of the first.
We'll see:
Sharks: Took the biggest boom-or-bust, high-risk/high-reward prospect available this year (Merkley).
I don't like how you put the Blues in the "Loser" category but then put the Sharks in the "We'll See" category for the same speculative reasoning. I also don't think Bokk will be worse than Sandin and SDA, and I would've said that before the draft. He's one of the most skilled players in the whole draft. Probably should have gone sooner than 25th, depending on who you ask.
Bokk:
Ranked #13 by HOCKEYPROSPECT.COM
Ranked #33 by FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS
Ranked #28 by ISS HOCKEY
Ranked #18 by MCKEEN'S HOCKEY
Ranked #12 by NHL CENTRAL SCOUTING (EU Skaters
Ranked #18 by TSN/McKenzie
If anything, I'd put the Blues in the "loser" category for not getting immediate help by trading their 1st, and by picking some underwhelming players in rounds 4-7. But then again, guys get paid the big bucks to make these decisions so I'd love to be proven wrong by some of those late round guys.