Ten years. That’s usually how long it takes to really know if a draft class was a total bust or a gold mine. Looking back at the 2014 NHL Draft held at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, it feels weird. It was a draft defined by "safe" picks at the top that didn't always pan out and absolute superstars hiding in the middle rounds.
Honestly, the 2014 NHL Draft was kind of a mess for scouts.
If you remember the hype, it was all about Aaron Ekblad, Sam Reinhart, and Sam Bennett. The "Big Three." Everyone thought Ekblad was a franchise-altering defenseman who would play 25 minutes a night for two decades. While he’s been good, he hasn't exactly been Nicklas Lidstrom. Meanwhile, a skinny kid from the Czech Republic and a point-per-game winger from Vancouver’s system were waiting to actually take over the league.
The First Round Flip-Flop
The Florida Panthers took Aaron Ekblad first overall. It made sense then. It makes sense now, mostly. He won the Calder. But the real story of the top five is the "Sam" era. Sam Reinhart went second to Buffalo, and Sam Bennett went fourth to Calgary. For years, both were labeled as "fine but not great." Then, funnily enough, they both ended up in Florida later in their careers and finally looked like the players they were supposed to be in 2014.
Leon Draisaitl was the third pick.
At the time, some scouts worried about his foot speed. They thought he was a "product" of a good junior team. Imagine thinking that now. Draisaitl is arguably the best player from the entire 2014 NHL Draft class, racking up Hart, Art Ross, and Ted Lindsay trophies. He’s the guy who turned the Edmonton Oilers from a joke into a perennial contender. If we redid this today, he goes number one. No question. No hesitation.
Then you have the Michael Dal Colle situation at number five. The Islanders took him, and he just... never clicked. He’s the cautionary tale of this draft. A high-skill winger who dominated junior but couldn't find the pace of the pro game. It happens. But when it happens in the top five, it hurts for a decade.
The Absolute Steals of the 2014 NHL Draft
You can’t talk about this year without mentioning David Pastrnak. He went 25th overall to the Boston Bruins.
Twenty-four teams looked at "Pasta" and thought, "Eh, maybe later."
The Bruins got a perennial 50-goal scorer at the end of the first round. It’s arguably one of the best value picks of the last twenty years. He has more goals than almost anyone else in this class by a mile. He plays with a flair that most of the guys taken ahead of him just don't have. He’s pure electricity.
But the real "how did everyone miss this" award goes to Brayden Point.
He was drafted in the third round, 79th overall, by the Tampa Bay Lightning. Point is a two-time Stanley Cup champion and one of the most clutch playoff performers of his generation. Scouts thought he was too small. They were wrong. He’s the engine that drove the Tampa dynasty.
Viktor Arvidsson at 112th and Igor Shesterkin at 118th also make the scouts look a bit silly. Shesterkin, specifically, has become one of the premier goaltenders in the world. Getting a Vezina winner in the fourth round is basically like finding a winning lottery ticket on the sidewalk.
Why the Defensemen Failed to Launch
This draft was supposed to be deep on the blue line. Beyond Ekblad, you had Haydn Fleury (7th), Tony DeAngelo (19th), and Julius Honka (14th).
Most of them struggled.
Fleury never became the top-pair guy Carolina envisioned. Honka eventually headed back to Europe. It’s a reminder that projecting teenage defensemen is basically a coin flip. The physical demands of the NHL are so much higher for D-men that many of these kids just hit a wall.
Interestingly, the best defensemen from the 2014 NHL Draft weren't even the highest-rated ones. Devon Toews went 108th overall. Think about that. Toews is now a top-tier defender who helps run the show in Colorado, and he was a fourth-round afterthought. Brandon Montour went 55th. Gustavo Forsling went 126th.
The lesson? If you're drafting a defenseman, maybe wait until the second or third round. The "sure things" at the top are rarely sure.
The Vancouver Canucks and the Jake Virtanen Mistake
We have to talk about the Vancouver Canucks at pick number six. They took Jake Virtanen.
Local kid. Power forward. Fast.
The problem? Nikolaj Ehlers went 9th and William Nylander went 8th.
Canucks fans still have nightmares about this. Imagine Nylander or Ehlers in a Canucks jersey during the Elias Pettersson era. Virtanen’s career fizzled out due to a mix of inconsistent play and off-ice issues, while Nylander became a superstar in Toronto. This single pick set the Canucks' rebuild back by at least three years. It's the perfect example of a team drafting for "need" and "grit" instead of pure, unadulterated skill.
Draft Trends and the Shift in Scouting
The 2014 class was right on the edge of the NHL’s speed revolution.
Before 2014, teams still obsessed over size. After 2014, they started looking for guys like Johnny Gaudreau (who was 2011, but the influence was felt by '14). You see it in the success of Point and Pastrnak. These aren't huge guys. They are fast, high-IQ players.
Teams that clung to the old "big and heavy" philosophy—like the Canucks with Virtanen or the Coyotes with Brendan Perlini (12th)—got burned. The teams that looked for skating and vision won big.
2014 Career Leaders (As of 2024/25)
- Leon Draisaitl: Over 800 points and a massive lead in the points race.
- David Pastrnak: The goal-scoring king of the class.
- Sam Reinhart: Finally hit his stride as a premier goal scorer.
- Brayden Point: The playoff hero with the rings to prove it.
- Nikolaj Ehlers: One of the most underrated transition players in hockey.
What We Learned from the 2014 Class
The 2014 NHL Draft taught us that the "consensus" is often a trap. The media creates a narrative around the top three or five players, and GMs often feel pressured to follow that script.
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The successful teams in 2014 were the ones who looked at the edges.
They found the Russians who were "too risky" like Shesterkin. They found the small guys who "couldn't hold up" like Point. They found the college kids who needed time like Toews.
If you're looking for actionable insights on how to evaluate talent based on this draft, look at the gap between junior production and skating mechanics. The guys who failed from this draft usually had the production but lacked the elite edge-work required for the modern game.
Actionable Steps for Hockey Fans and Analysts:
- Check the "Second Team" Effect: If you’re evaluating a player who seems like a bust (like Sam Bennett was in Calgary), look at their underlying metrics. Bennett always had the tools, just the wrong system.
- Value Hockey IQ Over Size: Whenever you're looking at prospects, remember the 2014 lesson: the 6'3" guy who can't read the play (Virtanen) will always lose to the 5'10" guy who anticipates it (Point).
- Goalies are Voodoo: Never, ever spend a high first-round pick on a goalie when you can find an Igor Shesterkin in the fourth round.
- Re-evaluate After Age 24: Many players from this draft, like Reinhart and Forsling, didn't hit their peak until their mid-to-late 20s. Patience is a skill that most NHL GMs don't have, but the ones who do (like Florida) reap the rewards.
The 2014 NHL Draft wasn't the strongest in history, but it was certainly one of the most lopsided in terms of where the talent was hidden. It’s a masterclass in why scouting is the hardest job in sports.