Every NHL draft is deemed an immediate success by the team choosing the players, so when Avalanche director of amateur scouting Alan Hepple goes on and on about how well he and his staff performed Friday and Saturday in Vancouver, British Columbia, a grain of salt is required.
And a good amount of patience.
Unlike the NFL or NBA, NHL draftees are all teenagers (17-19) still in the development stage. Only a handful of the 2019 class will play regularly in the NHL next season, and among the 217 players selected through seven rounds at Rogers Place, more than half won’t ever play in the league.