GRADES WITH TEETH

Comparing a team’s report-card rating with how early they draft gives Future Watch grades more perspective

BY BRIAN COSTELLO

IT’S ALWAYS GREAT seeing an ‘A’ grade on your favorite team’s report card when it comes to prospect depth. But don’t be so hard to judge if those ‘C’ and ‘D’ grades get you concerned about your team’s future. Many contending teams sacrifice prospects and high draft picks in order to stay in the Stanley Cup hunt. That takes a toll on the feeder system. To help level the playing field, this handicapping system shows how each team is doing in relation to others, taking into account how early or late it makes its first draft selection since 2020. So, a team that drafts early a lot – Anaheim, Detroit, Buffalo and Columbus have the four earliest first-draft-pick slots on average in the past four years – should have an exceptional…

You're reading a preview of

The Hockey News (Digital) - 1 Issue, Future Watch 2024

DiscountMags is a licensed distributor (not a publisher) of the above content and Publication through Zinio LLC. Accordingly, we have no editorial control over the Publications. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including those made in Publications offered on our website, are those of the respective author(s) or publisher(s) and not of DiscountMags. DiscountMags does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, truthfulness, or usefulness of all or any portion of any publication or any services or offers made by third parties, nor will we be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on information contained in any Publication, or your use of services offered, or your acceptance of any offers made through the Service or the Publications. For content removal requests, please contact Zinio.