11 times top-10 draft picks were traded in the salary cap era

With the Stanley Cup finally hoisted, the hockey world now shifts its focus to the NHL Draft, where the top young players in the world finally find out which teams will call their names.

Part of the magic of the draft is also the trades that happen, as it’s the best time for teams to acquire pieces or move on from players to create cap space for free agency. With each draft also come rumours that teams drafting at the top may trade those picks, but rarely does that actually happen. In fact, it’s only happened 11 times in the salary cap era.

So as this year’s draft approaches with the possibility of teams moving top picks, let’s look back at the other times it’s happened in the salary cap era, and how things turned out for both teams involved. We’ll only be looking at trades involving picks where the team knew precisely positions they were drafting in though, meaning any time between the lottery and the draft.

2005: Atlanta Thrashers (8th overall)

Trade: Atlanta Thrashers trade a 2005 first-round pick (#8) to the San Jose Sharks for a 2005 first-round pick (#12), second-round pick (#49) and seventh-round pick (#207)

Context: With this trade being an instance of a team trading down in the draft for more picks, there isn’t really much of a story here. The Thrashers had multiple players on the board that they wanted and needed more picks to get it done, but didn’t need the eighth pick to do so, so they dangled it for more picks. The Sharks likely had their eyes on a player that they wanted to get, but weren’t sure they’d get him at #12, so they obliged to trade up with the Thrashers at the 2005 draft.

Result: The Sharks used their freshly acquired top-10 pick to select Devin Setoguchi, who went on to play four seasons as a top-six forward for the team. However, the opportunity arose for the Sharks to swing a deal with the Minnesota Wild to get a top defenseman in Brent Burns, and Setoguchi ended up as part of the return, a trade that the Sharks will certainly take in hindsight.

The Thrashers didn’t use the 12th pick, instead opting to trade down once more with the New York Rangers to get picks #16 and #41. The Thrashers used the four new picks they now had to select Alex Bourret, Ondrej Pavelec, Chad Denny and Myles Stoesz, with Pavelec being the only player to get any NHL experience of that group, playing 10 seasons with the team.

2007: St. Louis Blues (9th overall)

Trade: St. Louis Blues trade a 2007 first-round pick (#9) to the San Jose Sharks for a 2007 first-round pick (#13), second-round pick (#44), and a 2008 third-round pick

Context: Much like the first trade, this is another instance of a team in the Blues not really seeing anything they’re liking at the ninth pick, and opting to move down four spots in order to get a couple more draft picks. The Sharks once again appeared to have their eye on someone, and ensured that they got him by moving up.

Result: The Sharks certainly got their guy at ninth overall. They used the Blues’ pick to draft Logan Couture, who went on to have a lengthy career with San Jose, playing 933 regular season games and 116 playoff games across 15 seasons in the NHL, including six as captain. Injury problems plagued the end of his career, and only a couple months ago, he officially announced his retirement.

The Blues didn’t get a player quite at the level of Couture, but they did select Lars Eller with the 13th overall pick. Eller has had a lengthy career in the NHL, but he only played seven games in St. Louis. The Blues used the 44th pick to draft Aaron Palushaj, who didn’t play in St. Louis, and the 2008 third to select Ian Schultz, who never played in the NHL.

Funny enough, all three players were eventually dealt to the Montreal Canadiens, with Palushaj moving there at the 2010 trade deadline for Matt D’Agostini, and Eller and Schultz being packaged in the same deal for Jaroslav Halak the following offseason.

2008: New York Islanders (5th & 7th overall) & Nashville Predators (9th overall)

Trades: New York Islanders trade a 2008 first-round pick (#5) to the Toronto Maple Leafs for 2008 first-round pick (#7), third-round pick (#68), and a 2009 second-round pick

New York Islanders trade a 2008 first-round pick (#7) to the Nashville Predators for a 2008 first-round pick (#9) and second-round pick (#40)

Context: Much like the other instances of trading down a pick, there’s only so much backstory that we know, but we can assume that one team wants more picks, and one team wants a specific player. In full rebuild mode, the Islanders wanted more picks, and were looking to move pick #5 to do so, and Leafs interim GM Cliff Fletcher really wanted Luke Schenn. A deal between the two worked there, and then the same can probably be said for the Predators also trading up in the draft.

Result: The Leafs did end up drafting Schenn with the fifth overall pick, and the defenseman went on to play four season with the team before he was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers for James van Riemsdyk in 2012. Schenn did return to the Leafs in 2023, helping the team to their first playoff series win in almost 20 years.

The Predators used the seventh overall pick to take Colin Wilson, who went on to play eight seasons with Nashville as a middle-six forward. He was then traded to the Colorado Avalanche in 2017 for a fourth-round pick.

The Islanders did what they set out to achieve with the trades, and didn’t stop there by moving pick #69 to the Chicago Blackhawks for picks #72 and #102. Overall, they selected Josh Bailey, Aaron Ness, Jyri Niemi and David Ullstrom with the four new picks. Only Bailey made a career of himself in the NHL, becoming a solid top-six forward for 15 seasons with the Islanders.

As for the 2009 second, New York used it to move up from #26 to #16 to #12 in the 2009 draft, where they selected Calvin de Haan. Interestingly enough, the two players picked at #16 and #26 were Nick Leddy and Kyle Palmieri, who have since played for the Islanders.

2011: Columbus Blue Jackets (8th overall)

Trade: Columbus Blue Jackets trade a 2011 first-round pick (#8), third-round pick (#68) and Jakub Voracek to the Philadelphia Flyers for Jeff Carter

Context: Despite the fact that the Flyers were coming off a stretch of playoff appearances in 15 of their previous 16 seasons and a Cinderella run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2010, they were looking to change things up in the summer of 2011. They needed to retool, particularly by improving their goaltending, and in order to make the cap space for that, they elected to move on from two of their top players in Mike Richards and Jeff Carter (whose party lifestyle had gotten on the wrong side of head coach Peter Laviolette).

The Blue Jackets were looking to turn around their franchise, having only made the playoffs once in their 10-season history up to that point. One of their biggest needs was a first-line center to play with Rick Nash, so when Carter became available, they took the opportunity to upgrade there the day before the 2011 draft, sending the eighth-overall pick, a third-round pick from that draft, and a former first-round pick in Voracek.

Result: To say this trade didn’t work out for the Blue Jackets would be an understatement. Not only did it not turn around the team, as they finished with a league-worst record of 29-46-7 that season, Carter didn’t even survive the season in Columbus. Injuries plagued his season, and he underwhelmed when healthy with just 25 points in 39 games, before they moved on from him at the 2012 trade deadline, reuniting him with Richards by dealing him to the Los Angeles Kings.

For the Flyers, this and the Richards trade did a great job of retooling their lineup. With the Carter trade alone, Voracek became one of the most productive players in the league during his time in Philadelphia, and then they used the eighth overall pick to select Sean Couturier, who was one of the best two-way centers in the league in his prime. Nick Cousins was the other draft pick, although he only played three seasons in Philly before becoming a journeyman.

2012: Carolina Hurricanes (8th overall)

Trade: Carolina Hurricanes trade a 2012 first-round pick (#8), Brian Dumoulin and Brandon Sutter to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Jordan Staal

Context: Staal was entering the final year of his contract in 2012, and while the Penguins had offered him a 10-year contract to keep him around as the third-line center behind Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, Staal declined in search of a scoring role. Instead of taking the gamble on going for one more Stanley Cup before losing him for nothing in 2013, they opted to deal him to another team to get assets in return.

The Hurricanes had missed the playoffs for three straight seasons and needed to make a move. So what better move to make than reunite Jordan with his older brother Eric, who was the captain of the team at the time? The two teams made the deal on draft day, with the Penguins getting the eighth overall pick, a roster player in Sutter and a defensive prospect in Dumoulin in return.

Result: 13 years later, Staal remains with the Hurricanes, and has also held the captaincy for the past six seasons. He never became the scoring center that he wanted to be, but he did become an elite shutdown center, receiving Selke votes in 11 of his 13 seasons so far with the Canes, including finishing second in 2024.

The Penguins completely whiffed on the eighth overall pick in what was a very weak 2012 draft, selecting Derrick Pouliot. He wasn’t the worst defenseman taken in the top 10 that year, but he never amounted to anything more than a depth defenseman, especially in Pittsburgh, where he played just 67 games before being dealt to the Vancouver Canucks.

The Pens can’t complain about the other pieces of the deal though: Dumoulin proved to be a key cog to their blueline for the 2016 and 2017 Cup wins, and while Sutter only lasted three seasons, he was dealt for Nick Bonino in 2015, who also played an important role in the Cup wins.

2013: New Jersey Devils (9th overall)

Trade: New Jersey Devils trade a 2013 first-round pick (#9) to the Vancouver Canucks for Cory Schneider

Context: The Devils were seeing the Martin Brodeur era come to an end and needed to start searching for a replacement. While they had missed the playoffs in two of the prior three seasons, a Cinderella run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2012 had general manager Lou Lamoriello believing the team was a contender, and they needed to find a solution to their looming goalie problem.

Thankfully, the Canucks had a goalie problem of their own: they had too many good ones. Schneider wanted to be a full-time starting goaltender, and he wasn’t going to be one in Vancouver sharing the crease with Roberto Luongo. So it made perfect sense for the Devils and Canucks to make a deal at the draft and solve each other’s goalie problems, and in return, Vancouver got the ninth overall pick.

Result: This deal probably would have been a better one if the Devils’ top scorer in Ilya Kovalchuk didn’t retire about a month later. That suddenly shifted the Devils from a playoff team to one in need of a rebuild, but Schneider at his best was so good that it kept them in the murky middle. After three seasons of elite level goaltending, Schneider fell off a cliff and was mediocre for four more seasons before New Jersey bought out the final two years of his contract.

The Canucks used the ninth overall pick to draft Bo Horvat, who certainly had an impact on the franchise. He eventually became a top-two center for Vancouver and was consistently good for 20 goals and 50 points at minimum. He was even given the captaincy for the final four seasons of his tenure before he was dealt to the Islanders at the 2023 trade deadline.

2017: Arizona Coyotes (7th overall)

Trade: Arizona Coyotes trade a 2017 first-round pick (#7) and Tony DeAngelo to the New York Rangers for Antti Raanta and Derek Stepan

Context: The Coyotes had found themselves outside the playoff picture for five straight seasons, and were looking to shake things up and finally turn their trajectory around. They were already in need of a first-line center, and after dealing Mike Smith to the Calgary Flames, they needed a starting goaltender as well. The Rangers were still about a year away from sending out their infamous rebuild letter, but it was clear that they were beginning to move on from the core.

So on the day of the first round of the 2017 draft, Arizona swung for the fences and got their first line center and starting goaltender in the same deal, acquiring the consistent Stepan and a great backup looking for a starting role in Raanta. In return, the Rangers got the seventh overall pick of the draft, and a blueline prospect in DeAngelo.

Result: Stepan had a solid first season with the Coyotes but took significant steps back in the following two seasons before departing for free agency in 2020. Raanta lasted one season longer before also going to free agency in 2021, but he put up strong performances with the Coyotes. If not for injury problems throughout his tenure, he probably would have been the starter they had hoped for.

The Rangers selected Lias Andersson with the seventh overall pick, who would end up being one of many top picks that they’d miss on during their “rebuild.” Andersson played just 66 games with New York before he was dealt to the Kings for a 2020 second-round pick (which wound up being a much more impactful player for the Rangers in Will Cuylle).

Despite the bust with the pick, New York actually got the most impactful seasons out of any player in this trade with DeAngelo. He proved to be a solid offensive defenseman, but his off-ice antics resulted in him getting bought out.

2021: Vancouver Canucks (9th overall)

Trade: Vancouver Canucks trade a 2021 first-round pick (#9), a 2022 second-round pick, a 2023 seventh-round pick, Jay Beagle, Loui Eriksson and Antoine Roussel to the Arizona Coyotes for Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Conor Garland

Context: The Canucks had a disappointing 2020-21 season after a surprise run to the second round in the 2020 playoffs and were really hoping to get back to that level again. Their roster needed some new additions, both up front and on the back end. As for the Coyotes, they were back in rebuild mode and looking to save some money and move on from Ekman-Larsson’s deal.

The two parties came to an agreement on draft day, and Vancouver took on Ekman-Larsson’s contract in return for Arizona taking a bunch of their bad contracts that only had a year left on them. To sweeten the deal, the Canucks also got a rising top-six forward in Garland, while the Coyotes got three draft picks, including the ninth pick in the draft that night.

Result: The Ekman-Larsson portion of the deal went about as horribly as most people expected it to. He played two seasons in Vancouver in a role that he just wasn’t cut out for anymore, and the Canucks ultimately bought out the remaining four years of his contract in 2023. Garland has turned out much better for Vancouver, as he remains with the team as a top-six two-way forward.

As for the Coyotes, they used the ninth overall pick to select Dylan Guenther, so they will certainly take their end of the trade. Through three NHL seasons and 148 games, he has already become a premier top-six forward for the now-Utah Mammoth with 51 goals and 110 points, highlighted by his breakout season in 2024-25 with 27 goals and 60 points in 70 games.

The Coyotes dealt the 2022 second-rounder to the Wild for Jack McBain, who has become a solid bottom-sixer for Arizona/Utah the past three seasons. They also dealt the 2023 seventh-round pick for a seventh in 2022, which they used to select Adam Zinka, who has yet to touch the pros.

2022: Ottawa Senators (7th overall)

Trade: Ottawa Senators trade a 2022 first-round pick (#7), second-round pick (#39), and a 2024 third-round pick to the Chicago Blackhawks for Alex DeBrincat

Context: The Senators had just completed what was their fifth consecutive season outside of the playoffs, and with a young core now established, it felt like a few big moves would put them on the cusp of the postseason. Meanwhile, the Blackhawks’ contention window had slammed shut, and they were in rebuild mode. As they started looking to move on from core pieces, DeBrincat was one of the top assets.

And so, “Hot Pierre Summer” began with a bang, as Sens GM Pierre Dorion sent three picks to the Blackhawks for DeBrincat on the day of the 2022 draft, including their seventh overall pick, in hopes of adding some goal-scoring talent to the roster. However, the DeBrincat trade did come with some risk, as the winger was in the final year of a three-year contract and set to be a restricted free agent at the end of the season.

Result: The Senators also traded for Cam Talbot and signed Claude Giroux to complete their blockbuster offseason. While they did improve from previous seasons, Dorion’s bold moves did not pay off, as Ottawa finished six points outside of a playoff spot. DeBrincat had a down season, and to put salt on the wound, he was not interested in re-signing with the Sens. Ottawa eventually traded him to the Detroit Red Wings the following summer.

The Blackhawks wound up using the 2022 seventh overall pick on defenseman Kevin Korchinski, who has struggled to consistently crack Chicago’s blueline. That said, he does have 17 points in 92 NHL games thus far. They used the other two picks to draft Paul Ludwinski and A.J. Spellacy, who have yet to reach the NHL.