5 NHL teams that nailed Day 1 of 2018 NHL Draft

These five teams emerged from Day 1 of the 2018 NHL Draft as the biggest winners.

Day one of the 2018 NHL Draft was an exciting one. It saw a number of teams draft the hopeful superstars of tomorrow. There were some surprising moments, touching moments, funny moments. NHL fans were entertained on Friday night.

There were several teams who didn’t do very well. They passed up on some better players and made some questionable at best decisions. Time will tell if these teams were correct with their bold decisions or if they will regret them.

However, some teams outright stole the show. Whether it was by securing their future via prospects or by some brilliant outside-the-box thinking, these five teams won day one of the 2018 Draft.

5. Edmonton Oilers

The Edmonton Oilers came into Friday with rumors circulating that they were deeply considering trading their 10th overall pick. After seeing how the top five picks panned out, they likely stopped taking calls. The Oilers had to be ecstatic with every pick, realizing the guy they need the most was still available.

Eventually, Edmonton got their guy in Evan Bouchard. He’s a flawless pick for the Oilers. Bouchard is right-handed, which is huge because Edmonton’s defense needs a great right-handed shot. He’s also a monster on the power-play, which is important because the Oilers had the least effective man-advantage unit in the NHL last season.

General Manager Peter Chiarelli needs to have a strong draft to buy himself some more time. Drafting Bouchard gets him off to a terrific start. He should be a top-pairing defenseman for them someday. Bouchard isn’t an overly impressive skater, but he’s still pretty good. He can do a lot of special things with the puck. Oilers fans are really going to like him. It’s not often that Chiarelli does something brilliant, but not trading the 10th pick wound up being the right move.