It is always interesting to look back at previous drafts to see what went right, and what went wrong for teams. Steals and blunders happen every year. We take a look back to see who won the draft and kick started their rebuilds, or prolongued their dynasty.

The consensus going into this draft was Matthews or Laine. Both players had great rookie seasons, making it difficult on draft day who to select. With Joe Bast having the 1st overall pick, it was obvious he was going for hometown boy Auston Matthews. In the end, it was the right decision. Laine is still a great player, but Matthews has separated himself in his own tier.

The biggest impact riser in this draft is clearly Adam Fox, who I have at the #2 position. Congrats to Kevin and Jesse for cleaning up this draft. Both teams show up on the Best and Worst picks of the draft, but Kevin sniped himself Adam Fox with the 43rd pick of the draft. McAvoy, Tkachuk and Laine round out the top 5. You could argue Laine over Tkachuk, and I would listen, but I feel like Tkachuk brings more to the table then Laine does overall.

The next group from 6 to 10 was tough to order as well. I have Sergachev over Chychrun, and DeBrincat over Keller and Dubois. You may see it differently, but all these players belong in the top 10. Dubois started off great, arguably in the top 5 after year 3. His off year in 2020-2021 has hurt him a bit, but he did rebound nicely in 2021-2022. He can still move up this list over Keller.

After about pick 14, things get dicey. I have Pionk at 11, Thompson at 12, Girard at 13 and Bratt at 14. I believe these guys are a tier above the guys who come after. Thompson had a great season in 2021-2022 and jumps up this list huge. He wasn't even in the discussion if this was done a year earlier. Let's talk about Pionk for a second. Jesse found his steal of the draft, drafting Pionk 156th overall. But let's not forget Jesper Bratt, who he drafted two picks before at 154th. This is how you use the draft to rebuild properly. Kudos to Jesse.

In the next group we see Kyrou, Hronek, Hagel and Peeke and Puljujarvi. Ordering here can vary. Hronek has been a big peice for the Red Wings blue line, while two of these guys are ranked this high because of recency bias. Hagel and Peeke had breakout years this season. Much like Thompson, Hagel would not have even been in the discussion if it wasnt for his 25 goals and 44 points this season. Peeke shows up on the list as he was the Bluejackets #1 shut down defensemen this season, it wasn't Gavrikov. Puljujarvi can very well go down as the 'Worst' pick from the draft, but it's hard to give him this honor when he cracks the top 30. Actually, i'd even have Sam Steel go down as the 'Worst' top pick of this draft.

To finish off the list, we see appearances from Kunin, Fabbro, Bean, Lindgren, Dube, Colton, Jost, Steel and Mete. Ross Colton was a great pick by Garrett at 202nd overall. Nice gem he found there. Some of these guys feel like they've been around forever in Kunin, Jost and Mete who pretty much played the year after being drafted. Jost may be a bit under appreciated as his defensive game is better then his offensive one. Jake Bean is just coming into his own as of late and could be a riser on this list as well.

As for goaltenders, well two made the list. One of which was an overager in Cal Peterson. It was not a good draft for goalies, but at one point Carter Hart looked to be the future of Team Canada goaltending. Whatever happened to him?

Honorable Mentions: Jacob Middleton (Garrett - Maple Leafs), David Rittich (Rex - Wild), Filip Gustavsson (Joe B - Golden Knights), Rasmus Asplund (Kevin - Flames) and Rem Pitlick (Kevin - Flames)

We end on a sad note, below you will see the worst picks of the draft. Sam Steel does not make this list since he is actually a top 30 player. The players below have no business being in the top 30.

Mika's hard-on for Finns was evident with his selection of Juolevi at 10th overall. It was clear Juolevi was a faller in this draft, but that wasn't enough of a red flag for Mika to pass on his Finn. Rumpy makes an appearance with Alex Nylander, but can't really fault him here as it was only 2 picks away from his NHL selection, and he did have name recognition from his brother. Jesse maybe makes the biggest blunder of the 1st round by reaching for Julien Gauthier, who he selected 6 picks above his NHL slot. Kevin sees two 1st rounders bust out hard in German Rubtsov and Tyler Parsons. Lastly, Kirk pulls a Kirk-esque move and drafts someone no one ever heard of in Cliff Pu with the 36th overall pick.