This article is part of our NHL Draft series.
With the sports world paused due to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, we decided to take a look back and redo the first round of several past NHL Entry Drafts. Each article will feature a brief summary of who the team selected at the time, and who we believe they would select now in hindsight.
Part 6 – featuring the class of 2016, is below...
(Note: team needs are not taken into account at the time of selection)
1- Toronto Maple Leafs: Auston Matthews (F, ZSC-Switzerland), Original Pick: Matthews: This was an easy pick for the Leafs. Matthews turned down both the NCAA and CHL and spent his draft year playing in the Swiss league.
2- Winnipeg Jets: Matthew Tkachuk (F, London-OHL), Original Pick: Patrik Laine (F, Tappara-Liiga): Laine is one of the best goal scorers in the world but he's notoriously streaky. I'd prefer the all-around game of Tkachuk. It's close.
3- Columbus Blue Jackets: Laine, Original Pick: Pierre-Luc Dubois (F, Cape Breton-QMJHL): Laine is better than Dubois but the PLD selection has worked out just fine for the Jackets. He's their No. 1 center.
4- Edmonton Oilers: Dubois, Original Pick: Jesse Puljujarvi (F, Karpat-Liiga): Puljujarvi was always expected to go third. There's a legendary rumor that if that was indeed the case, Edmonton had a deal in place to send this pick to the Rangers for Ryan McDonagh, at which point New York would have selected Clayton Keller. Yet once Columbus pulled a fast one, the Oilers
