Previewing the NHL Draft Through Texas Stars Tinted Glasses

Brett Ritchie's brother, Nick, is expected to go in the first round tonight.
(Credit: Josh Rasmussen/Texas Stars)
All hockey eyes are on Philadelphia tonight as the first round of the NHL Draft will kick off tonight at 7:00 PM. This year's crop of talented youngsters were mostly born in 1996 (!) but will take a few years to make their way to the professional ranks.

By way of figuring out when players drafted tonight will start having an impact on the Texas Stars, here's a quick look at the breakdown of when this year's squad was drafted.

(Note: I've left out a number of free agent and veteran players like Fortunus, Morin, Mueller, etc.)

Player Year Round Overall Rookie? Late season add
Cameron Gaunce 2008 2 50
Scott Glennie 2009 1 8
Curtis McKenzie 2009 6 159 Yes
Jack Campbell 2010 1 11
Patrik Nemeth 2010 2 41
Jamie Oleksiak 2011 1 14
Brett Ritchie 2011 2 44 Yes
Matej Stransky 2011 6 165 Yes
Jyrki Jokipakka 2011 7 195 ^
Radek Faksa 2012 1 13 Yes Yes
Branden Troock 2012 5 134 Yes Yes
^ - Jokipakka wasn't a rookie because of his time in Europe, but this was his first year in the AHL.

So if you look at this chart, you can expect that players drafted this year in the 2014 Draft will start to filter into the AHL as ATOs in 2016 and have a bigger impact in 2016-17.

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