8 of the top 19 picks in 2019 draft are no longer on the teams that drafted them!

Several trades took place earlier this week before the league’s holiday roster freeze takes effect, and reporter Peter Baugh made the startling realization that eight of the top 19 picks from the 2019 NHL Enrty Draft are no longer on the teams that selected them. Putting up the list on social media, Baugh highlighted the names of the players from that first round that were traded, pointing out that three of the top four picks were moved in the past five years.

Kaapo Kakko, Kirby Dach and Bowen Byran, the second, third and fourth overall picks respectively in 2019, have all been traded since the start of their young careers.

See the full list in Baugh’s tweet, here below:

Kakko was traded on Wednesday evening to the Seattle Kraken in exchange for defenseman Will Borgen, a 2025 third-round pick and a 2025 sixth-round pick. He made his Kraken debut last night after saying goodbye to his Rangers’ teammates and catching a flight to Chicago in time for the game against the Blackhawks.

Selected second overall in the 2019 draft, Kakko had recorded 61 goals and 131 points in 329 career games with New York before the move. He inked a one-year, $2.4 million deal with the Rangers this past spring amidst trade rumours at that time.

Jack Hughes is the 2019 NHL Draft first overall selection, and let’s just say I can’t imagine the New Jersey Devils adding him to Baugh’s list!