NHL RE-ENTRY DRAFT SIMULATION (2023-2026)

In the last simulation, we left off with the simulation of the 2022-23 season, we will start of this simulation at the 2023 draft.

2023 Draft results

DET-Connor Bedard
SEA-Matvei Michkov
CAR-Adam Fantilli
DAL-Brayden Yager
NYR-Kalan Lind
CHI-Nate Danielson
TOR-Hunter Brustewicz
CBJ-Dalibor Dvorsky
LA-Mikhail Gulyayev
VGK-Ondrej Molnar
OTT-Noah Elriden
BOS-Dominik Petr
COL-Riley Heidt
FLA-Jesse Nurmi
ANA-Arttu Karki
FLA-Lukas Dragicevic
CHI-Zoehn Ziemmer
COL-Connor Levis
CGY-Felix Lundgren
WSH-Emil Jarventie
EDM-Valtteri Lehtosaari
TB-Jacob Sagadin
NJ-Otto Stenberg
WPG-Ludvig Andersson
DAL-Axel Sandin Pellikka
WSH-Alex Ciernik
NSH-Daniil But
MIN-Samuel Sisik
PHI-Noah Berger
VAN-Cam Squires
SJ-Colby Barlow
BUF-Eetu Levanen

Retirements

Henrik Lundqvist
Pekka Rinne
Duncan Keith
Joe Pavelski
Mark Giordano
Jimmy Howard
David Backes
Mike Green
Derek Stepan
Tyler Bozak
Leo Komarov

Buyouts

DAL-Tom Wilson
NYR-Kyle Turris
SEA-Nikita Zaitsev

Trades:

ARI trades Cam Fowler to SEA for JT Compher, Matt Grzelyck, 1st round pick 2025
COL Trades Pavel Buchnevich to TOR for Frank Vatrano, 2nd round pick 2024
BUF trades Alexandre Texier, Emil Benstrom, 2nd round pick 2024 to NJ for Jonas Brodin, Connor Brown
CGY trades Roope Hintz to NSH for 1st round pick 2025
CAR trades Adam Henrique, Anthony Mantha to the LA for Sam Reinhart, Jesper Bratt
CHI trades Elias Lindholm, Gabriel Vilardi to BUF for Nino Neiderreiter, 1st round pick 2024
CBJ trades Dylan Strome, Kevin Lebanc to the ANA for Alex Kerfoot, 1st round pick 2026
DAL trade Peyton Krebs, Cody Glass to MTL for Jason Zucker, Josh Brook
DET trade Jacob Silfverberg, Ty Foerster to VAN for Conor Geekie, 1st round pick 2025
LA trades Anthony Mantha to NYR for Cal Foote, 1st round pick 2024
MTL trade Jusse Annunen to WSH for 2nd round pick 2024, 2nd round pick 2025
TB trade Issac Belliveau to VAN for 1st round pick 2024
WSH trade Daniil Chayka, Chris Tierney, Anthony Beauvillier to SEA for Victor Olofsson, Michael McLeod, 1st round pick 2026

2023 Free Agent Signings

BOS-Vladislav Namestnikov
Brenden Dillon
Andrej Sekera
BUF-Robby Fabbri
Nick Cousins
CAR-Niklas Hjalmarsson
CHI-Kyle Turris
CBJ-Erik Gustafsson
Drake Cagguila
DAL-Brandon Montour
EDM-James Neal
Zack Smith
FLA-Eric Staal
Petr Mrazek
LA-Alex Galchenyuk
MTL-Jason Demers
Kevin Connouton
NJ-Pascal Francouz
MacKenzie Weegar
NYR-Jared McCann
OTT-Brett Connolly
PHI-Justin Braun
PIT-Joel Armia
SJ-Devan Dubnyk
Tyler Ennis
SEA-Tanner Pearson
STL-Derek Ryan
TB-Ilya Mikheyev
TOR-Alex Aiffalo
VAN-Sean Kuraly
Vinny Hinostroza
VGK-Erik Haula
Michal Kempny
Aaron Dell
Brendan Lemieux
WSH-Nick Jensen

The Changes made in the offseason will have a major effect on the 2023-24 season.

2023-24 Season Simulation:

Eastern Conference

Atlantic

1. Detroit Red Wings
2. Buffalo Sabres
3. Montreal Candiens

Metropolitan

1. Philadelphia Flyers
2. New Jersey Devils
3. Washington Capitals

WC1-Columbus Blue Jackets
WC2-Tampa Bay Lightning

-------------------

Missing the playoffs:

Carolina Hurricanes
New York Islanders
Florida Panthers
Pittsburgh Penguins
Toronto Maple Leafs
New York Rangers
Ottawa Senators
Boston Bruins

Western Conference

Central

1. Minnesota Wild
2. Winnipeg Jets
3. Colorado Avalanche

Pacific

1. San Jose Sharks
2. Vancouver Cancuks
3. Calgary Flames

WC1-Vegas Golden Knights
WC2-Seattle

-------------------

Missing the playoffs:

St.Louis Blues
Arizona Coyotes
Edmonton Oilers
Anaheim Ducks
LA Kings
Chicago Blackhawks
Dallas Stars
Nashville Predators

Playoffs:

1st round

DET vs TB: DET wins 4-2
PHI vs CBJ: CBJ wins 4-3
BUF vs MTL: BUF wins 4-2
NJ vs WSH: NJ wins 4-2
SJ vs SEA: SJ wins 4-1
MIN vs VGK: VGK wins 4-3
WPG vs COL: COL wins 4-2
VAN vs CGY: VAN wins 4-2

2nd round

DET vs BUF: DET wins 4-3
NJ vs CBJ: NJ wins 4-2
SJ vs COL : SJ wins 4-2
VAN vs VGK: VGK wins 4-3

3rd round

DET vs NJ: DET wins 4-2
SJ vs VGK: SJ win 4-2

Stanley Cup:

Detroit Red Wings win the Stanley cup in 6 games over the San Jose Sharks

Retirements

David Krejci
Alex Edler
Dustin Brown
Brian Elliott
Anton Khudobin
Curtis McElhinney
Jaroslav Halak
Cory Schneider
Kyle Okposo

Buyouts

TB-Jeff Skinner


This brings us to the 2024 draft, where teams will get to choose prospects that weren't drafted in the 2020 draft

2024 Prospect draft

NSH-Emil Andrae
PIT-Jeremie Poirier
EDM-William Villeneuve
BOS-Ozzy Wiesblatt
OTT-Lukas Reichel
NYR-Carter Savoie
TOR-Jake Neighbours
DAL-Helge Grans
FLA-Kasper Simontaival
CHI-Brendan Brisson
LA-Jean-Luc Foudy
DET (ANA)-Eemil Viro
ARI-Roni Hirovonen
CAR-Artur Akhtyamov
STL-Lukas Cormier
NYI-Zion Nybeck
MIN (SEA)-Tyler Kleven
NJ (TB)-Yan Kuznetsov
CBJ-Jack Thompson
COL-Luke Evangelista
CGY-Theodor Niederbach
WPG-Sean Farrell
WSH-Tyler Tullio
NJ-Tristen Robins
MTL-Justin Sourdif
MIN-Thomas Bordeleau
PHI-Theo Rochette
LA (VAN)-Yegor Chinakhov
VGK-Amir Garayev
CHI (BUF)-Max Glotzl
SJ-Jaromir Pytlik
DET-Antonio Stranges

Trades:

ANA trade Shayne Gostisbehere, 1st round pick 2026 to NSH for Aidan Hreschuk, Pavel Zacha
CGY trade Jake Oettinger to DAL for 1st round pick 2025
CBJ trade Jack Thompson to TOR for Morgan Frost, 2nd round pick 2025
DAL trade Barrett Hayton to NJ for Justin Cote
DAL trade Jordan Dumais to MIN for 1st round pick 2025
FLA trades Alex Nylander to CGY for 2nd round pick 2025
NYR trade Teuvo Teravainen to Tampa Bay Lightning for Noel Gunler, 1st round pick 2026
NYR trade Carter Savoie to the Nashville Predators for 2nd round pick 2025, 2nd round pick 2026
PIT trade Dmitry Orlov, Joel Armia to SJ for Oliver Bjorkstrand, Jaromir Pytlik
OTT trade Andreas Athanasiou, Lukas Reichel, Nick Holden to ARI for Carl Hagelin, JT Compher, 1st round pick 2026
SJ acquire Jacob Larsson for NJ for 3rd round pick 2025
WPG trade Frederik Andersen to ARI for Mikko Koskinen, 1st round pick 2025

2024 Free Agent Signings

ANA-Jack Campbell
ARI-Marco Scandella
BUF-Thomas Greiss
CAR-Marcus Johansson
CBJ-Chris Driedger
EDM-Nikita Zadorov
LA-Jonathan Bernier
MTL-Martin Jones
NJ-Nick Foligno
Jake McCabe
NYI-Matt Grzelcyk
Jack Campbell
Julien Gauthier
NYR-Brayden McNabb
OTT-Patrick Nemeth
Jimmy Schuldt
SEA-Tyler Myers
SJ-Mats Zuccarello
TOR-Mikael Granlund
Darcy Kuemper
Jayce Hawryluk
TB-Antoine Roussel
VGK-Jordan Schwartz
Josh Anderson
Warren Foegele
WPG-Jeff Skinner

The Changes made in the offseason will have a major effect on the 2024-25 season.

2024-25 Season Simulation:

Eastern Conference

Atlantic

1. Detroit Red Wings
2. Buffalo Sabres
3. Montreal Canadiens

Metropolitan

1. Columbus Blue Jackets
2. Philadelphia Flyers
3. New Jersey Devils

WC1-Carolina Hurricanes
WC2-Tampa Bay Lightning

-------------------

Missing the playoffs:

New York Islanders
Washington Capitals
Toronto Maple Leafs
Florida Panthers
Pittsburgh Penguins
Ottawa Senators
New York Rangers
Boston Bruins

Western Conference

Central

1. Colorado Avalanche
2. St.Louis Blues
3. Dallas Stars

Pacific

1. San Jose Sharks
2. Vancouver Canucks
3. Calgary Flames

WC1-Vegas Golden Knights
WC2-Seattle

-------------------

Missing the playoffs:

Arizona Coyotes
Edmonton Oilers
Anaheim Ducks
Minnesota Wild
Winnipeg Jets
LA Kings
Chicago Blackhawks
Nashville Predators

Playoffs:

1st round

DET vs TB: DET wins 4-1
CBJ vs CAR: CBJ wins 4-1
BUF vs MTL: BUF wins 4-2
PHI vs NJ: NJ wins 4-3
SJ vs SEA: SJ wins 4-2
COL vs VGK: COL wins 4-2
STL vs DAL: STL wins 4-2
VAN vs CGY: CGY wins 4-2

2nd round

DET vs BUF: DET wins 4-3
CBJ vs NJ: CBJ wins 4-2
SJ vs CGY : SJ wins 4-2
COL vs DAL: COL wins 4-2

3rd round

DET vs CBJ: DET wins 4-2
SJ vs COL: SJ win 4-2

Stanley Cup:

Detroit Red Wings win the Stanley cup in 6 games over the San Jose Sharks

Retirements

Patrice Bergeron
Blake Wheeler
Zach Parise
Ryan Suter
Ryan Getzlaf
Eric Staal
Jonathan Quick
Marc-Andre Fleury
Corey Crawford
James Neal
Paul Stastny
Patric Hornqvist
Nick Foligno
Anton Stralman
Niklas Hjalmarsson
Marc Staal
Kyle Turris
Artem Anisimov
Kris Russell
Matthew Perreault
Michael Grabner
Patrick Maroon
Jay Beagle
Brad Richardson

This brings us to the 2025 draft, where teams will get to choose prospects that weren't drafted in the 2021 draft.

2025 Prospect Draft

NYR-Ryder Korczak
BOS-Matthew Kneis
ARI-Isak Rosen
CGY (from NSH)-Jere Virolainen
DAL (from MIN)-James Malatesta
OTT-Sean Behrens
PIT-Peter Reynolds
CHI-Zack Stringer
LA-Simon Robertsson
FLA-Sebastian Cossa
TOR-Liam Dower Nilsson
WPG-Graham Sward
ANA-Zach Dean
EDM-Dylan Duke
WSH-Logan Mailloux
NYI-Justin Janicke
WPG (From SEA via ARI)-Chase Stillman
TB-Daniil Lazutin
CAR-Evan Nause
VGK-Wyatt Johnson
CGY (from DAL)-Cameron MacDonald
NJ-Alex Geci
CGY-Cole Huckins
STL-Alexander Palchik
MTL-Samuel Helenius
PHI-Tyler Boucher
COL-Finlay Williams
DET (from VAN)-Oscar Plandowski
CBJ-William Eklund
BUF-Jack O'Brien
SJ-Eric Alarie
DET-Ryan Winterton

Trades:

ARI trades Jonathan Drouin, Andreas Athanasiou to VGK for Vitaly Kravtsov, 2nd round pick 2026
BUF acquires Cole Huckins from CGY for 2nd round pick 2027
CGY trades Neal Pionk, Jordan Greenway to MIN for Tomas Tatar, 2nd round pick 2026
CHI trades Kevin Hayes, Nate Danielson, Max Glotz to BUF for Gabriel Vilardi, Jack O'Brien, 2nd round pick 2026
COL trades Tyler Johnson to BUF for 5th round pick 2027 (COL retains 25% of Johnson's contract)
CBJ trades Oscar Klefbom, Alex Killorn to NYR for Alex DeBrincat, 2nd round pick 2026
DET acquires Alexander Romanov from CAR for 1st round pick 2026
EDM trade Rasmus Ristolainen, Nick Schmaltz to TB for Nate Schmidt, Max Domi
FLA trades Damon Severson, 1st round pick 2026 to NYR for Kalan Lind, Darnell Nurse
FLA trades Sebastian Cossa to OTT for 2nd round pick 2026, 2nd round pick 2027
LA trade Adam Henrique, Alex Galchenyuk to NSH for Daniil But, 2nd round pick 2026
MIN trades Brian Dumoulin to TOR for 2nd round pick 2026
NSH trade Jordan Staal to COL for Finlay Williams, 2nd round pick 2026
NJ trades Kyle Palmieri, Rickard Rakell, Otto Stenberg, 1st round pick 2026 to NSH for Lucas Raymond, Alex Tuch, Eeli Tolvanen
OTT trade Torey Krug, Kailer Yamamoto to TB for Nils Hoglander, 1st round pick 2026
OTT trade Ondrej Palat to PHI for Viktor Arvidsson
TOR trade Keith Yandle, Alex Aiffalo to PIT for Andreas Johnsson, 1st round pick 2026
TOR trade Darcy Kuemper to NSH for 3rd round pick 2027
SJ trade Brock Nelson, Gustav Nyquist to VAN for Robert Thomas, 2nd round pick 2026
WSH trade Sami Vatanen, Michael McLeod to MTL for Justin Sourdif, 1st round pick 2027
WPG trade Dante Fabbro to CBJ for Alex Kerfoot

Buyouts

BUF-Kevin Hayes

2025 Free Agent Signings

ANA-Adam Lowry
ARI-Ben Bishop
BOS-Tony DeAngelo
Dan DeKeyser
Riley Nash
Marcus Sorensen
CGY-Josh Manson
CAR-Erik Gustafsson
CHI-Justin Schultz
COL-Cam Atkinson
Kasperi Kapanen
Jordan Martinook
Matt Roy
Dylan DeMelo
EDM-Ryan Graves
Johan Larsson
Zemgus Girgensons
FLA-Dominik Kubalik
Nick Leddy
LA-Frank Vatrano
MIN-Ryan Kuffner
Chandler Stephenson
NSH-Teddy Blueger
NJ-Conor Garland
Marcus Foligno
NYR-Frederik Andersen
OTT-Alex Stalock
PHI-Kevin Lebanc
Sam Lafferty
SJ-Will Butcher
SEA-Kevin Hayes
Evgeni Dadonov
TOR-Christian Dvorak
James Reimer
Josh Archibald
WSH-JG Pageau
Antti Raanta
Jason Demers
WPG-Ben Chiarot
Brendan Lemieux

The Changes made in the offseason will have a major effect on the 2025-26 season.

2025-26 Season Simulation:

Eastern Conference

Atlantic

1. Detroit Red Wings
2. Buffalo Sabres
3. Montreal Canadiens

Metropolitan

1. Columbus Blue Jackets
2. New Jersey Devils
3. Carolina Hurricanes

WC1-Toronto Maple Leafs
WC2-Florida Panthers

-------------------

Missing the playoffs:

Tampa Bay Lightning
New York Islanders
Washington Capitals
New York Rangers
Philadelphia Flyers
Pittsburgh Penguins
Boston Bruins
Ottawa Senators

Western Conference

Central

1. Winnipeg Jets
2. St.Louis Blues
3. Dallas Stars

Pacific

1. San Jose Sharks
2. Vancouver Canucks
3. Calgary Flames

WC1-Vegas Golden Knights
WC2-Seattle

-------------------

Missing the playoffs:

Arizona Coyotes
LA Kings
Edmonton Oilers
Anaheim Ducks
Minnesota Wild
Chicago Blackhawks
Colorado Avalanche
Nashville Predators

Playoffs:

1st round

DET vs FLA: DET wins 4-1
CBJ vs TOR: CBJ wins 4-1
BUF vs MTL: BUF wins 4-2
NJ vs CAR: NJ wins 4-2
SJ vs SEA: SJ wins 4-2
WPG vs VGK: VGK wins 4-2
STL vs DAL: STL wins 4-2
VAN vs CGY: VAN wins 4-2

2nd round

DET vs BUF: DET wins 4-2
CBJ vs NJ: CBJ wins 4-2
SJ vs CGY : SJ wins 4-2
WPG vs STL: WPG wins 4-2

3rd round

DET vs CBJ: DET wins 4-2
SJ vs WPG: SJ win 4-2

Stanley Cup:

San Jose Sharks win the Stanley cup in 6 games over Columbus Blue Jackets

After simulation through 5 seasons, the landscape of the NHL has completely changed and there are two dominant teams in the NHL,
The San Jose Sharks and Detroit Red Wings, both teams got have met in the Stanley cup finals every year each of the last 3 years,
with the Red Wings winning 2 Stanley cups and the Sharks winning one of the matchups.