TAMPA – When you think back to the 2015 NHL Draft, it was all going to be so simple. Connor McDavid to Edmonton, Jack Eichel to Buffalo and Stanley Cup dreams for the Oilers and Sabres by, oh, 2018 or 2019.
It obviously hasn't worked that way.
McDavid just made the Western Conference final this season for the first time, and Edmonton was swept by Colorado. Eichel, of course, has never played a playoff game in either Buffalo or Vegas.
And a draft that featured all sorts of good talent after the first two picks had yet to produce a Cup champion out of any of its first-round selections.
Colorado winger Mikko Rantanen finally changed that narrative Sunday night in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup final, when the Avalanche beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 2-1, to win the title in Amalie Arena.
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Taken at No. 10 that year out of the Finnish league, Rantanen was the Avalanche's top-scoring forward in the playoffs with 25 points. He had no goals in the first five games of the final, but led his club with eight assists.
The Avalanche had a chance to wrap up the Cup at home on Friday night but Tampa Bay pulled out a 3-2 win to send the series back to Florida.
"It was the first time for all the guys being in that position," Rantanen said Sunday after the Avs' pregame skate. "For sure there are nerves. Everybody can say there's not but everybody had a little nerves since it was the first time. The second time is going to be easier. We've been quick learners the whole postseason after losses."
As the NHL heads to Montreal next week for the 2022 draft – the Lightning and Avalanche will be there less than 10 days after completing their seasons – the 2015 gathering held in Sunrise, Fla., remains instructive of how teams and fanbases looking for instant fixes often get disappointed.
There were plenty of good players selected in the first round but no Cup winners in the first six seasons. There have been two in the second round, as Tampa Bay defenseman Erik Cernak went to Los Angeles at No. 43 before being traded to the Lightning in 2017 and St. Louis defenseman Vince Dunn (No. 56) won the Cup with the Blues in 2019.
Anthony Cirelli of Tampa Bay went in the third round at No. 72 overall and is one of a handful of Lightning players who skated in their 71st playoff game in the last 22 months Sunday night.
As for the heralded top 10, they have all become established NHLers, although No. 3 pick Dylan Strome moved on to Chicago from Arizona before that happened.
No complaints about Nos. 4-9 in Toronto's Mitch Marner, Calgary's Noah Hanifin (traded from Carolina), New Jersey's Pavel Zacha, Philadelphia's Ivan Provorov, Columbus' Zach Werenski, or San Jose's Timo Meier. All of them were taken before Rantanen.
And there was plenty to take later in the first round as well in New York Islanders star Mathew Barzal (16), Winnipeg's Kyle Connor (17), Ottawa's Thomas Chabot (18), Vancouver's Brock Boeser (23), Philadelphia's Travis Konecny (24) and Islanders' Anthony Beauvilier (28) all went in the first round. The second round included Carolina's Sebastian Aho (35) and Dallas' Roope Hintz (49), who lost in the 2020 final to the Lightning.
McDavid and Eichel dominated pre-draft talk and they were joined by Marner, Hanifin and Strome for activities like a trip to the Cup final in Chicago -- where Eichel visited with Tampa Bay captain Steven Stamkos -- and batting practice at Marlins Park prior to a Miami Marlins game.
"It was a good draft, really good as it turned out," Rantanen said when asked by The Buffalo News to reminisce earlier in the series. "Looking back, we had a lot of good players in our group in the top 10 outside of that to even the top 20 and 30. A lot of good guys. And some with second- and other-round picks. It was great. I don't think about getting overlooked too much by those two. McDavid and Eichel got their recognition there, and it was earned for what they had done playing the right way."
Rantanen led the Avs during the regular season in goals (36) and points (92) and is exactly a point-a-game player for his career with 408 points in 408 regular-season games. That point total is third among his draft class behind only McDavid (697) and Marner (455).
In case you were wondering, Aho is fourth at 401 and Eichel fifth at 380. Rantanen is fourth in goals at 165, sitting 12 ahead of Eichel and behind only McDavid (255), Aho (182) and Connor (178).
Cirelli is tied for 20th in points among 2015 draftees in both goals (66) and points (159). He laughed when the subject of the draft was brought up to him, recalling the circus atmosphere of that weekend in South Florida.
"It was a crazy time and a pretty special moment. It doesn't matter where you go in the draft," Cirelli said. "Just to be able to hear your name called is super special. It's something in the past now, but I was excited to be drafted and to go in the third round. I wasn't around those top guys but it didn't matter where it was and I was thankful and happy that it was Tampa."
Rantanen plays a physical game but has shown his versatility, too, in moving to center in spots while Nazem Kadri was out of the lineup. He said Colorado's breakthrough postseason of 2022 was built in part from the experience of three straight second-round losses.
"When you lose three years in a row in the same spot, you've got to look in the mirror and have a chat with the guys who have been around and see what can we do differently in the playoffs,” Rantanen said. “One thing I’ve noticed is a short memory. After a win or loss, we’ve been moving on quicker. It feels like in previous years maybe we were too excited for the wins.”
