When Do We See the 2017 Draft Class in Cedar Park?

Nicholas Caamano (Credit: Andy Nietupski/Texas Stars)

In June, we saw the hockey world focus on Chicago, Illinois, for the NHL Draft. Next year, Dallas will be the host for the 2018 Entry Draft.

There were a lot of exciting names in the draft pool for Dallas this season, including D Miro Heiskanen and G Jake Oettinger. However, when will those players be expected in Cedar Park?

To figure out when players are expected to hit the AHL, let's take a look at when the Texas Stars 2016-17 squad was drafted.

(Note: I've left out a number of free agent, veteran and/or non-prospect players)

Name	Year	Round	Overall	Rookie	Late season add?
Mark McNeill	2011	1	18
Mattias Backman	2011	5	146
Matej Stransky	2011	6	165
Ludwig Bystrom	2012	2	43
Gemel Smith	2012	4	104
Branden Troock	2012	5	134
Jason Dickinson	2013	1	29
Remi Elie	2013	2	40
Dillon Heatherington	2013	2	50
Philippe Desrosiers	2013	2	54
Cole Ully	2013	5	131
Julius Honka	2014	1	14
Denis Gurianov	2015	1	12	Yes
Chris Martenet	2015	4	103	Yes	Yes
Nicholas Caamano*	2016	5	146	Yes	Yes

* - Caamano is not expect to come back for the full year next year and will instead play in the OHL and return as an ATO next spring.

So if you look at this chart, you can expect that players drafted this year in the 2017 Draft will start to filter into the AHL as ATOs in 2019 and could have a bigger impact in 2019-20.