Quoting: jassan28
2015 was the deepest and elite draft in recent memory, a top number 1, a great number 2, elite top 10, and dense 1st round. McDavid, Kaprizov, Eichel, Marner, Ranty, etc
2016 comes next with a clear number 1, elite top 10, and dense first round Matthews, Laine, Tkachuk, Keller, McAvoy, etc
2017 will come with weak overall first round but elite 10 players randomly there with phenoms. No clear 1st overall or super elite top 3. Makar, Heiskanen, Pettersson, Robertson, etc
2019 is the average in the pack, no clear stars, little difference between top 3, but very good players spread out Hughes, Zegras, Seider, Caufield, Boldy
Now the 'weaker' drafts
2018, 2020, 2021 no clear stars, hard to know superstart, etc
This is one of my favorite topics in all of hockey (and there is no real right or wrong answer). Sometimes a great top-5…or a couple late round steals can make a draft. It’s kind just an expectations game too.
2015: agree, awesome draft. Has delivered on hype.
2016: disappointing relative to hype
2017: much better than expected
2018: rough year
2019: pretty solid, still early
2020: looking rough-ish, but I think will be ok.
2021: looking better than expected
One good way to measure is with a single draft position. If you were picking #1, #5-7, #20-25, etc and then ranking them that way.
#1: 2015, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2018, 2017, 2020
#8-13: 2015, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2021, 2018, 2017, 2016
#20-25: 2015, 2021, 2019, 2022, 2020, 2017, 2018, 2016
(This was kind of of quick, back of envelope list)
Always fun