2018 NHL Draft: Report card grades for every team

DALLAS, TX - JUNE 22: Rasmus Dahlin of the Buffalo Sabres, Andrei Svechnikov of the Carolina Hurricanes and Jesperi Kotkaniemi of the Montreal Canadians pose for a picture of the 2018 NHL draft on June 22, 2018 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Matthew Pearce/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

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DALLAS, TX – JUNE 22: Ty Dellandrea speaks to the media after being selected thirteenth overall by the Dallas Stars during the first round of the 2018 NHL Draft at American Airlines Center on June 22, 2018 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images) /

Dallas Stars – C

First Round Pick: Ty Dellandrea (C) (13)

Ty Dellandrea was ranked 25th among North American skaters by Central Scouting. Best case scenario, he was a late first round where people say, “It’s not a great pick, but they were a playoff team so we’ll trust them.” Instead, Dallas took him in the lottery. Look, I didn’t grade this draft for Dallas. The fans of Dallas graded this draft for me. They had Mike Modano and Jamie Benn up their doing a comedy routine, the crowd was into it, they were waiting for the next great Dallas superstar to be selected. And then Benn announced Ty Dellandrea. The crowd was so silent, Gary Bettman had to quickly walk on stage to make sure they were still alive. Maybe Dellandrea is the next Modano. I like to give teams the benefit of the doubt because they get paid a lot of money to scout these kids and I don’t. But if you’re taking someone who is a consensus second round pick in the lottery, he better be the next Modano. Otherwise, heads will roll. I never understand teams reaching this much on players. Just move back. If this pick happens at 25, it’s easier to defend and Dallas gets an extra draft pick or two.

Other Notable Picks: Albin Eriksson (RW) (44), Oskar Back (C) (75)

While I didn’t love what the Stars did in the first round, everything else was good. Albin Eriksson is a big young forward with great puck handling skills. Back is a playmaking center who could develop into a second line talent if all goes well. The Stars typically stay in North America with their picks, but both Swedish forwards project to be future NHL regulars. They went with Canadians the rest of the draft, except for their last pick, when they selected Jamaican born Jermaine Loewen. Bonus points for that.

I hated what Dallas did in the first round, but they made up ground on Day 2 to turn this into an average draft.

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