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.