Predicting The NHL's Next First Rounder Traded From the 2018 Draft Class

The 2018 NHL Entry Draft was a fairly good one with a lot of top talent being drafted. But like every draft, there has already been movement among the first rounder just five years later. Picks haven't panned out and others have been moved due to different situations. We're going to look here at a few players drafted in round one of the 2018 draft that could be traded next.

Liam Foudy

The Columbus Blue Jackets are filled with tons of talented young players that are vying for spots on the team this season, and Liam Foudy appears to be on the outside looking in. He is no longer exempt from waivers, so that means a team could pick him up for free if he doesn't make the team out of training camp. Foudy has played 89 games in the NHL and is 23 years old, but a whole list of young players like Kirill Marchenko, Kent Johnson, Cole Sillinger, Adam Fantilli, Yegor Chinakhov, Dmitri Voronkov, and Emil Bemstrom are all arguably ahead of him. The team won't have much time to decide to trade him unless they opt to keep him as an extra until he's moved.

Adam Boqvist

A similar situation could arise on the Blue Jackets' defense. There are a numerous number of defenders in the system that now have NHL experience because of last season's long list of injuries. Adam Boqvist has already been traded once from the Chicago Blackhawks to the Blue Jackets, but he could be moved again in the next year or two. The team signed Damon Severson who is the top RD now. Behind him should be Boqvist or Adam Peeke for the time being. Once David Jiricek comes into the NHL and takes over as a top-four defenseman on the right side, both could arguably be gone. Boqvist has the talent to be a top-four defenseman, but space is limited in Columbus.

Joe Veleno

As a former first round pick with sub-par center depth in the organization, there was a lot more expected from Joe Veleno. To this point and the foreseeable future, he looks to be stuck on the fourth line with Dylan Larkin, J.T. Compher, and Andrew Copp as the top three centermen. Even beyond them, Marco Kasper and Nate Danielson will surpass him soon enough. It might be better to slot in a veteran on the fourth line and move Veleno while he still has any value.