torontos finest
Joined: Jul. 2019
Posts: 9,560
Likes: 11,191
Well, two reasons why:
1) There's a lot of sentimental value of a first rounder over someone picked later in the draft. The teams first pick in a draft is expected to be your best prospect from that class, and is often the most thoroughly scouted and examined. You want to get absolutely everything you can out of the top guy, which is why these players get afforded opportunities that someone picked later would not. A good portion of guys on this list are (still) relatively young and can still have productive NHL careers, even if a number of their contemporaries have surpassed them in ability and value.
2) Game experience and name value have a lot more pull for some GMs. Galchenyuk, Ceci and Johnson still get contracts because general managers usually see "Wow! Cool Games Played!" instead of their overall impact in those games. This ties in the first point I made because first round picks often accumulate games quicker. Additionally, first round picks have more name value than guys taken later, and yes it's solely based on draft position. Sbisa and Ennis get deals because they were former first rounders, and GMs will sell big assets for Griffin Reinhart because he could still be better than Rielly and Trouba.