NHL Draft: Trading Up Into 16th – 20th

Photo: fineartamerica.com

By Thomas Harrington

With the top 15 done, it’s time to turn our attention to teams picking between 16th and 20th overall in the upcoming NHL Entry Draft. At this point, we’ve now entered the territory of teams who made the playoffs but did not advance past the second round. Depending on how their postseason went, some teams might be willing to make a move if they think it will help put them over the top. Others might realize how far they have to go and decide to keep their pick.  I’ll follow the same criteria as before, so you won’t see Ryan Getzlaf, Ryan Kesler, Patrick Eaves, Cam Fowler, Rickard Rakell, Josh Manson, John Gibson, Hampus Lindholm, Ondrej Kase, and Jakob Silfverberg in any of the below deals. The players who I think Anaheim would most likely deal are Nick Ritchie, Adam Henrique, Daniel Sprong, and Devin Shore, as well as various prospects and picks. Players that could be available who Anaheim could be interested in include Bobby Brink, Pavel Dorofeyev, Ryan Suzuki, Philip Tomasino, Nils Hoglander, Patrik Puistola, Thomas Harley, Vasili Podkolzin, and Anttoni Honka.

16th Pick

The Colorado Avalanche hold the 16th overall pick, their second pick in the draft after picking fourth overall. While they might trade their first pick, I think they are much more likely to trade their second first-round pick. As before, this deal would start with Henrique, but as with the Montreal trade, I don’t think the Ducks would want to give up Henrique and a first-round pick to move up about a dozen spots. However, Henrique and a second or Henrique and a prospect or two might pull it off. If Colorado really wants Anaheim’s 29th pick, then I think Shore is the player to trade with that pick. He’s a useful player who can play both center and wing, as well as help out on the penalty kill. So, I think the Ducks should either offer up Henrique, De Leo, and a second round pick for the 16th overall pick, or the 29th pick, Shore, and a second round pick for the 16th overall pick. While neither deal is perfect, I do think both are enough to at least get a serious conversation going between the two teams.

17th Pick

The Vegas Golden Knights are picking 17th in the draft. Given the controversial ending to their season, it’s hard to get a read on what they will do this summer. I could see them keeping the pick and taking the patient approach. However, they did get Mark Stone at the deadline and then sign him to a long term deal. They are clearly in a win-now mode. They are very deep at center and have a number of utility forwards already. So even if they are open to trading away this pick, I don’t think it will be with Anaheim.

18th Pick

The Dallas Stars lost in double overtime of game seven in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. If they think one player could put them over the top, I do believe that they’d trade away the 18th overall pick in a heartbeat. However, in the first three rounds of this draft, the Stars only have the first round pick, nothing in the second or third. So if the Stars do trade this pick, I think that they’d also like to get some picks back as well. The Ducks could offer up the 29th pick and the 39th overall pick, but I’m not sure if that would be enough to get the 18th pick. I don’t think the Ducks would want to give up much more than that, and I don’t think the Stars would trade out of the first round unless they were getting back more than one pick. Since Anaheim doesn’t have a third-round pick to sweeten the deal, I don’t think there’s a trade to be made for the 18th overall pick.

19th Pick

The Ottawa Senators have the 19th overall selection, the pick that they got from Columbus when they traded Matt Duchene there. Given that they are in a rebuild, I highly doubt that they’d trade this pick, especially since they traded away their own first round pick, which ended up being fourth overall.

20th Pick

The New York Rangers had the 20th overall pick, acquired from Winnipeg for Kevin Hayes. However, the Jets have reacquired the pick from the Rangers, sending New York Jacob Trouba for the 20th pick and Neal Pionk. Given that the Jets just got the pick back and traded Trouba, I think it highly unlikely that they’ll trade the pick. Maybe they’d be interested in trading down and acquiring more picks, so if a deal were to be made between Anaheim and Winnipeg, it would be the 29th and 39th picks for the 20th pick. But I doubt the Rangers move out of the 20th spot.

Next up, I’ll take a look at the teams picking from 21st through 28th.

Related Articles:

Trading Up At The Draft: The Top Five

Trading Up Into Sixth Through 10th

Trading Up Into 11th Through 15th

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June 19th, 2018