When looking at previous drafts, it often takes three to five years to have a good feel for how everything played out. The best players will have a few NHL seasons under their belts, while most of the others will have at least signed their contracts and begun to play.
But there is some information to be gleaned from a player's "draft-plus-one" season too. You hope to see development and growth and you look for signs of progression in the areas of weakness. And you can see how others are doing in relation to a player's development. That's kind of what we're doing here.
This is by no means a definitive rendering of the 2018 draft, but it's a very early progress report. With that in mind, let's take a look back at last June, regrading each first-round pick and handing out a do-over, if necessary.
1. Buffalo Sabres: Rasmus Dahlin, D
Regrade: A
Redraft: Rasmus Dahlin, D
The Sabres landed the cornerstone defenseman they have lacked for years, and Dahlin delivered one of the best performances by an 18-year-old rookie defenseman the league has ever seen.
2. Carolina Hurricanes: Andrei Svechnikov, RW
Regrade: A
Redraft: Andrei Svechnikov, RW
As one of the younger players in the league, Svechnikov scored 20 goals and seemed to get better as the season progressed.
3. Montreal Canadiens: Jesperi Kotkaniemi, C
Regrade: B+
Redraft: Brady Tkachuk, LW