Revisiting the 2015 NHL Entry Draft

When NHL watchers and fans from around the world talk about the greatest NHL Draft class in recent memory, one name almost always comes up. The 2025 NHL Entry Draft.

The draft, headlined by Connor McDavid, has aged tremendously compared to some recent draft classes. There is a top-6 forward or a top-4 defenseman throughout all the rounds of this draft. There is even a handful of starting-calibre goalies, which is rare for classes. Either way, this is one of the best classes I have seen in my lifetime.

So this begs the question, how does it age today? It's been almost 11 years since this class, and almost all the players have matured into NHL calibre stars or fizzled out of the league as fast as they came in.

We will be going over some of the biggest risers in this class and also some of the biggest fallers in this class. These are players that have seen absurd jump up or down in their stock 10+ years out from the original draft.

For the sake of showing only the most relevant players, the redraft will be a first round mock showing the most elite players that came out of this class. There will be some hard snubs due to the skill but the first round will show everyone of extreme relevance.

Retrospect From the Draft

I feel like before we begin talking about some of the specifics of this NHL Draft, we must first take a look at the draft itself.

This draft was headlined by the one, the only, Connor McDavid.

It's hard to talk about this draft without mentioning McDavid a little bit. He is the best player in the NHL and helps build the case of this draft being one of the best drafts ever.

The combination of skill and speed from McDavid is just out of this world and spoiler alert, Im redrafting him first. So sorry for anyone that thought otherwise.

Next up the draft had Jack Eichel and Dylan Strome who are elite players that will 100% get redrafted into the top 15, but I want to talk about another player from this draft class who went 4th overall. Mitchell Marner.

Mitch Marner struggled heavily with the media early on in his career but overcame that to become a over PPG player. Recently, he left the Toronto Maple Leafs for the bright lights of Vegas and basically lead them to a Stanley Cup finals putting up a Conn Smythe kind of season.

He got robbed for the trophy as the Vegas Golden Knights lost in the finals to the Carolina Hurricanes despite Mitch leading in pts for the playoffs. This draft class ahve two gamechanging top 5 players in the NHL show some absolute top-end skill.

Some of the players later on in the draft class had some injuries issues. Some players weren't able to overcome it while some were able to, like Zach Werenski.

I feel like there is seriously a debate that Werenski is the best defenseman in the league, but he was defnitely the best defenseman in the league last year, winning the Norris trophy.

He has a long injury history, with the worst injury being a shoulder injury in the 2022-23 season. He was able to overcome this and put up a season where he put up 81 pts in 75 games.

When a draft class is able to have 2 of the best players in the league along with the best defenseman in the league, there is talks of it being a top 3 class of all time. I haven't even talked about Jack Eichel properly yet who's also a top 10 player in the league. This draft class is stacked.

So let's look at some of the other risers from this draft class that were underrated during the actual draft in 2015.

The Risers from 2015

Kirill Kaprizov - 5th Round, 135th pick - Minnesota Wild

Alright, let's start with a bang. The Minnesota Wild were able to snag a future top 10 player in the league in the 5th round. Kirill Kaprizov, despite some injuries, is a 100+ point scorer when you need him the most.

Coming into the draft, Kirill Kaprizov has some issues that a lot of Russian players faced in NHL drafts at the time. Reports were discussing how he had a weak shot and poor acceleration. He also had some knocks on his height, as 5'10" was considered small at the time. These knocks were minor but pale in comparison to his strengths.

Even when coming into the draft, he was seen as a player with elite offensive skills and instincts that would transition well into the NHL. Despite his size, he was a hard-working forward who would fight for the puck in areas that a lot of others wouldn't. He has the poise to be that go-to player in serious situations, and his hockey sense is borderline elite. His playmaking is next level in both 5v5 and powerplay situations at the time while also being able to maneuver around the offensive zone with ease. These tools were undeniable during his draft year, but one question loomed over him.

When in the absolute hell is he coming over to play in North America?

This question ultimately resulted in his draft position in the 5th round, and for good reason, as it took him 5 years to get to the NHL. It wasn't until 2020-21 that he came over and took the league by storm.

Immediately going 4 pts under PPG in 55 games and then for the next 5 SEASONS going over a point per game is borderline generational. The wait was well worth it for the Russian star.

So in terms of the redraft, where does he end up?

Due to his ongoing injury battles, 4th overall to the Toronto Maple Leafs would make the most sense. I feel like in terms of the players above him, there are 3 players that are on his level but have been playing in the NHL for years with fewer injury concerns.

Troy Terry - 5th round, 148th overall pick, Anaheim Ducks

I feel like one of the more underrated players in the NHL right now is Troy Terry of the Anaheim Ducks.

Troy Terry's knocks on his game came down to one glaring issue: his size. Despite being 6'0 he was around 170, which is INCREDIBLY undersized for a winger of that size. Scouts were concerned that the lack of size would not translate to him having a physical game in the NHL. This was true, as he barely hit anyone this past season; a running gag was that he only had one hit.

He, however, overcame this by adding on roughly 20 pounds of weight, which helped him become the player he is today. He is one of the most intelligent players in the league with one of the best offensive toolkits, which helps him be an effective power-play player.

Troy Terry, even at this moment, has never been a player that will take over games or put up 100+ points, but he is a solid top-6 player who can put up around 60 points and be an effective power-play player. This is a lot more than what a lot of the other 5th round picks can say. Great pick for the Anaheim Ducks.

So where does he rank in the redraft? I feel like he goes to one of these Boston Bruins picks. Historically, this is the biggest fumble of all time given the absolute talent they got here. In this alternate redraft, they get a top-6 player in Troy Terry, a top-2 defenseman in Chabot and a centre who is elite at killing penalties and will be incredible at 5v5.

All of the Goalies
MacKenzie Blackwood - 2nd round, 42nd overall - New Jersey Devils
Adin Hill - 3rd round, 76th overall - Arizona Coyotes
Karel Vejmelka - 5ht round, 145th overall - Nashville Predators
Joey Daccord - 7th round, 199th overall - Ottawa Senators

Man. Just an elite group of starting goalies here. I want to just come over here and briefly mention that this draft class has created 4 goalies who I would put as top 15 starters in the league. Adin Hill even won a Stanley Cup with Vegas and was 3rd in Conn Smythe voting in 2023.

The round disparity between them also shows the depth in the goalie pool in this class as all 4 of these starting goalies were all in different rounds from the backend to the beginning of the draft.

All of them have expressed their own skills indivudally and have been relavant starters or 1A-1B goalies for the last 2-4 years which puts them as high-end starters in the league.

This took time, however, as these players only got to this level almost 6 years after they were drafted. This is a testament to how goalies currently will take years to develop into NHL calibre starters and that GMs and Coaches need to be patient with them.

The Fallers from 2015

Jakub Zboril & Zach Senysyhn - first round, 13th and 15th overall pick - Boston Bruins

The Bruins coming into this draft were poised to make a breakout with ther 3 first round picks in the top 15. The Bruins were able to get their picks from trading away both Milan Lucic and Dougie Hamilton, along with there original draft spot to kickstart their new generation.

They originally took the trio of Jakub Zboril, Jake Debrusk and Zach Senyshyn. Debrusk turned into a solid enough player but the other two are beyond awful.

At the time, Zboril and Debrusk picks were seen to be relatively normal pickups for the first round. Senysyhn however was a massive reach at the time as he was projected to go in the 38-44th pick range.

This set him up to fill shoes that were bigger than what he was and it ultimately caused him to become a bust when he didn't reach anything close to what a first round pick should become. Sometimes teams put faith and reach on someone that believe will be "their guy", but when this goes wrong, it looks horrible on the team that took the shot.

Zboril mostly fizzled out due to injuries that limited his overall mobility as a two-way defenseman that it was hard for him to overcome. He showed flashes during his first couple of post-draft year seasons but he could never figure it out.

It's just one of the biggest fumbles in NHL history as this could have set them up for years having 3 bonafide starts. In the end, they ended up with 2 certified busts and one player who is a 40 point player. Just despicable.

Denis Guryanov - first round, 12th overall pick - Dallas Stars

Denis Guryanov is a faller that showed promise in the NHL but just couldn't captivate any sort of this success that he had during his breakout season.

Denis Guryanov at the time of being drafted was a pure goalscorer with one of the best shots in the entire class. He has top end speed that with this combination of his shot was a lethal combo and got some scouts foaming at the mouth. He had one major negative with this that made him because a bust in the long run, poor hockey IQ.

He had all the tools to become an effective scorer, but if you are not able to get yourself into situations that allow you to use these skills, what is the actual point. He struggled with controlling the puck which didn't help with his proccessing issue. He was looking to be a completely pedestrian player until the COVID-19 season.

During the COVID-19 2019-20 NHL Season, Guryanov turned into a different player that what we have seen. He was finding open space and using his lethal shot to become a 20 goal scorer. This was a promising sign that he could become a legit scoring threat in the NHL.

He had 2 seasons where he was generating similar point totals but his goals dropped down to 12 and 11 respectively. His one-dimensonial game was being exposed by teams and after bouncing around to a couple teams he fizzled out and is now barely putting up half a point per game in the KHL.

This ended his NHL career where he was a one-dimensional player who wasn't able to effectively use his one dimension that he was good at. In the redraft he is NR in the top 30.

Yevgeni Svechnikov - first round, 19th overall - Detroit Red Wings

Another player where injuries derailed another players career, Yevgeni Svechnikov has add the tools to be an effective top-6 winger.

Yevgeni has all the tools to be an elite winger in the league. He had the size, the scoring ability and the playmaking skills. Sure, his defensive game was weak but what he was able to do with the puck was stellar. He had some skating issues but he was able to put himself into scoring situations. This means that he should have at least become a top-6 winger in the league right?

Sadly he could not live up to this level and got worse season by season. Why? Injuries.

Injuries are a devasting thing that can ruin the career of some of the best players. I don't think Yevgeni was ever gonna become a top 10 player in the league but his long list of injury issues stunted almost all of his development and effectively killed all his speed.

Yevgeni experienced a neck muscle strain during 2017 that delayed his opening night roster spot. This is a very routine injury that alot of players can come back from. The torn ACL in 2018 however was the full derailment. He needed a full reconstruction surgery which effectively ruined his development completely. He had more lingering injuries during the 2020-21 years and it jsut goes on and on.

This ultimately caused a massive falloff in his play and he could never find any consistency at all. I would label him a top-2 bust in this first round because he quite literally never put up more than 20 points in a season, but it's hard to critique a player who's whole career was derailed by injuries. However, he is a bust and does not even make a redraft for the first two rounds.

Colin White - first round, 21st overall - Ottawa Senators

One of the lesser fallers in this years draft class, Colin White is a player who's skill set was a premium in this draft.

A two-way centre will always go high given the rarity of having one of these in your top-6. He was a seemingly easy pick at the 21st overall pick and honestly it was startin to look like he was going to be a relevant player in the league

His first true season he put up 41 pts in 71 games and he looked promising. This season he was rewarded with a 6 years 4.75 million AAV contract that looked like a great investment on a young player. After this contract however everything fell off.

Alot of his offensive stats were inflated by playing with elite linemates like Bobby Ryan, Brady Tkachuk and Mark Stone. After the trade deadline the likes of Matt Duchene and Mark Stone were traded and his role got elevated even more than before.

After this the Senators thought it would be effective to make him has his own line, so they took him off and put him on the 2nd line with Vladislav Namestnikov and Anthony Duclair. This allowed young Jean-Gabriel Pageau to get the first line reps and gave them two stacked lines in theory.

This, however, cause the demise of Colin White as his offensive skills were exposed and he never was able to get back to his former self even after Pageau was traded to the Islanders at the 2020 NHL Deadline.

However, Colin White was able to stay relevant in this league due to his Hockey IQ and how he is able to provide a skill set that allows him to be relevant in a bottom-6. He has an somewhat effective two-way game and can be used in alot of situations, making him a very versatile player.

This, however, is not what you want from a 19th overall pick. He obviously lacked the scoring touch that would come with a player that has an effective two-way game. He was incredibly inconsistent offensively and honestly only had 1 season where he was any sort of relevance offensively.

In the redraft he is unranked in the first round and he would probably be a mid-round pick in the 2nd round because he can at the most be a 4th line centre that can drive play and provide some decent defensive support.

The 2015 NHL Entry Redraft

Its time for the actual redraft itself. I have only done a first round mock due to the fact that this covers all the relevant sleepers and players that have turned into elite NHL players.

1st: Connor McDavid (F) Edmonton Oilers =
2nd: Mitch Marner (F) Buffalo Sabres +2
3rd: Jack Eichel (F) Arizona Coyotes -1
4th: Kirill Kaprizov (F) Toronto Maple Leafs +131
5th: Mikko Rantanen (F) Carolina Hurricanes +5
6th: Zach Werenski (D) New Jersey Devils +2
7th: Sebastian Aho (F) Philadelphia Flyers +28
8th: Kyle Connor (F) Columbus Blue Jackets +9
9th: Roope Hintz (F) San Jose Sharks +41
10th: Travis Konecny (F) Colorado Avalanche + 14
11th: Matthew Barzal (F) Florida Panthers +5
12th: Dylan Strome (F) Dallas Stars -9
13th: Thomas Chabot (D) Boston Bruins +5
14th: Troy Terry (F) Boston Bruins +134
15th: Anthony Cirelli (F) Boston Bruins +57
16th Joel Eriksson Ek (F) New York Islanders +4
17th: Timo Meier (F) Winnipeg Jets -7
18th: Noah Hanifin (D) Ottawa Senators -13
19th Brock Boeser (F) Detroit Red Wings +4
20th Vince Dunn (D) Minnesota Wild +44
21st: Pavel Zacha (F) Ottawa Senators -15
22nd Rasmus Andersson (D) Washington Capitals +31
23rd Vladislav Gavrikov (D) Vancouver Canucks +138
24th Adil Hill (G) Philadelphia Flyers +52
25th Ivan Provorov (D) Winnipeg Jets -18
26th MacKenzie Blackwood (G) Montreal Canadiens +16
27th Jake Debrusk (F) Anaheim Ducks -13
28th Karel Vejmelka (G) New York Islanders +117
29th Matt Roy (D) Columbus Blue Jackets +165
30th Joey Daccord (G) Arizona Coyotes +169

UNRANKED FIRST ROUND PLAYERS
Lawson Crouse - 11th overall - Florida Panthers
Denis Guryanov - 12th overall - Dallas Stars
Jakub Zboril - 13th overall - Boston Bruins
Zach Senyshyn - 15th overall - Boston Bruins
Yevgeni Svechnikov - 19th overall - Detroit Red Wings
Colin White - 21st overall - Ottawa Senators
Ilya Samsonov - 22nd overall - Washington Capitals
Jack Roslovic 25th overall - Winnipeg Jets
Noah Juulsen - 26th overall - Montreal Canadiens
Jacob Larsson - 27th overall - Anaheim Ducks
Anthony Beauvillier - 28th overall - NY Islanders
Gabriel Carlsson - 29th overall - Columbus Blue Jackets
Nick Merkley - 30th overall - Arizona Coyotes

This mock draft shows the absolute talent from top the bottom that was in this overall draft class. This draft class having elite players in the 20's is pretty insane and just shows the depth that this draft class has.

I have added the list of the unranked first round picks to show some of the blunders but some of these names are good middle-six players like Lawson Crouse, Jack Roslovic and Anthony Beauvillier. The absolute depth in this class is absurd.

This draft class will live in honour as one of or even the best draft classes ever. I feel like the talent up and down is ridiculous and teams that came out with not 1 good player have been slapping themselves in the face, kind of like the Boston Bruins.