Top five late-round steals from the 2016 NHL Draft
Man, we’re getting old.
Remember the Auston Matthews vs. Patrik Laine debate? Good times. One of them turned out a little better than the other. Of the 211 players taken in 2016, 14 of them have managed to get more than 300 points, and four – Matthews, Matthew Tkachuk, Alex DeBrincat and Clayton Keller – have managed to break past the 500-point mark. The next one to do so? They’re on this list.
The 2016 draft was quite solid. Beyond the names listed above, we also saw Pierre-Luc Dubois, Adam Fox, Tage Thompson, Jordan Kyrou, Mikhail Sergachev, Jakob Chychrun, Charlie McAvoy, and Filip Hronek all become high-impact NHLers. The goaltending side of things hasn’t fully panned out, but Filip Gustavsson, Joseph Woll, Connor Ingram and Carter Hart have all gone on to have NHL careers.
Last week, we took a look at the top steals from the 2017 NHL Draft. We’ve also examined the best late-round picks from the 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 NHL Drafts over the past year. Today, we’re looking at players taken in the second half of the 2016 selection process – pick No. 106 and later – who have gone on to carve out solid careers:
Michael Eyssimont, LW (Boston Bruins)
Drafted 142nd overall, fifth round (by the Los Angeles Kings)
Eyssimont has bounced around homes quite frequently over his career since first turning pro in 2018. Eyssimont spent the first four years of his pro career with Los Angeles’ AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign, but never made it up to the big leagues. He finally go this first taste of NHL hockey the following year with Winnipeg as a reward for his breakout campaign with the Manitoba Moose.
The Littleton, Colo., native started the 2022-23 season with Winnipeg, got claimed off waivers by San Jose in January, and was traded to Tampa Bay in March. He wasn’t overly productive anywhere he played, but he proved he could be an impact NHLer in the right role. Eyssimont built a reputation for being fearless. He’s as energetic as they come, and seemed like a perfect fit for a team’s bottom six, but with the skill to push himself up the lineup if needed.
Today, he plies his trade with the Bruins, where he currently maintains a role on the team’s fourth line. There’s nothing special about his puck game, but he’s tracking for around 25 points for the second time in his career (and would have had even more had he not dealt with an injury). His speed and physicality make him intriguing, and he does it all at a cap-friendly $1.45 million.
Ross Colton, LW (Colorado Avalanche)
Drafted 118th overall, fourth round (by the Tampa Bay Lightning)
Colton took the patient route to the NHL. After kicking off his junior career playing prep hockey, Colton spent two seasons with the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders. He scored 35 goals and 66 points in his final year before heading off to the NCAA. Colton was a solid goal scorer in junior, but still felt like a long shot to ever have an NHL career.
But things quickly changed at the University of Vermont. He had 28 goals in two seasons before turning pro in 2018. In 131 games played, Colton registered 26 goals and 76 points for a 0.58 points-per-game average – solid numbers, but nothing overly special. Colton spent two years in the AHL, where he put up solid numbers in a top-six role. He’d eventually crack the Lightning in 2020-21, and he’d go on to put himself in the NHL’s history books by scoring the championship-winning goal in the 2021 Stanley Cup final.
Colton has since become a solid middle-six contributor. He had a career-best 40 points with Colorado in 2023-24. He’s set to surpass the 30-point mark for the fourth time in six seasons. Heck, he would have easily broken 40 had he stayed healthy last year. Throughout it all, Colton has managed to play a solid energy-forward role, showing a willingness to hit everyone in sight. At $4 million per season, Colton is definitely worth every penny for the Avs.
Jesper Bratt, LW (New Jersey Devils)
Drafted 162nd overall, sixth round
He was a 5-foot-10 forward, and the big knocks against Bratt in 2016 were that he struggled defensively and rarely engaged physically. For a smaller player, both those traits could be death knells. Even internationally, he was often overshadowed by fellow Swedes Alex Nylander, Lias Andersson and Elias Pettersson. Bratt played nearly a full season in the second-tier Swedish league, which was impressive. But it still felt like he was a far cry from ever cracking the NHL.
But the Devils clearly saw something in him. Bratt had 22 points in 46 games in his second season in the Allsvenskan, only to make the Devils full-time the following season while just 19. Not many draft picks make it to the NHL two years after getting selected – let alone sixth-round picks. Bratt was a consistent 30-point player throughout the first four years of his NHL career before breaking through for a 73-point campaign in 2021-22. He matched that total the following year and has crept up each season since, including a career-best 88 points in 2024-25.
Bratt is the highest-paid player on this list, with the speedy winger set to make $7.875 million per season until 2031. He primarily anchors New Jersey’s top right wing spot alongside star center Jack Hughes. Together, they create a terrifying dynamic duo (when Hughes is healthy). Bratt is the perfect example of a team betting high on skill and not letting a tape measure do all the scouting work for you.
Brandon Hagel, LW (Tampa Bay Lightning)
Drafted 159th overall, sixth round in 2016 (by the Buffalo Sabres)
Hagel had a solid junior career, playing four years with the WHL’s Red Deer Rebels after originally getting overlooked at the WHL Draft. He had a career-best of 102 points in 2018-19 as a 20-year-old, but the Sabres had already relinquished his draft rights the season prior. The Montreal Canadiens gave him a chance at training camp, but he ultimately was left unsigned. The Chicago Blackhawks then signed him early in his breakout final year before officially turning pro at the conclusion of the campaign.
From there, Hagel spent some time in the NHL, but primarily played in the AHL with the Rockford IceHogs (and even spent time with a second-tier Swiss team, Thurgau, during the COVID-19-impacted 2020-21 campaign). Hagel impressed with Chicago to close out the season, earning him a new contract – and a spot on Canada’s World Championship team, primarily in a depth role. Hagel quickly found himself playing key minutes for the rebuilding Hawks in 2021-22, but was shipped off to the two-time defending champions, the Tampa Bay Lightning, in 2022.
Hagel’s early days in Tampa weren’t promising. But that all changed in 2022-23. It was that season when he scored 30 goals and 64 points, then tallied 75 points the following year. Suddenly, Hagel established himself as one of the most energetic forwards in the league, resulting in a 90-point 2024-25 campaign. Hagel was named to Canada’s 4 Nations team and will now get the chance to chase gold in Italy as a member of the Olympic team this month. Hagel is the definition of a late-bloomer – WHL teams didn’t want him, the NHL club that originally drafted him passed on him, and now he’s set to compete for one of hockey’s biggest prizes.
Noah Gregor, LW (Florida Panthers)
Drafted 111th overall, fourth round (by the San Jose Sharks)
Gregor entered the NHL in 2019 as a bottom-six player and has remained that throughout his career. But for a guy who has struggled to remain a full-time NHLer (he’s currently in the AHL with the Charlotte Checkers), Gregor has played more than 300 games in seven seasons, often at a low cost.
Gregor was a solid junior player, often putting up excellent numbers wherever he played. His breakout season came in 2018-19 with Prince Albert, where he posted 43 goals and 88 points. Still, Gregor was going to have to figure out how to be a grinder to excel at the next level.
Thankfully for him, his speed and checking-line prowess have allowed him to keep himself in the big leagues ever since. Offense has often been hard to come by. But Gregor has proven – on a couple of PTO deals, especially – that he can grind it out and work hard every single shift. That’s all you can ask for from a guy taken 111th overall.
Other notables (with team that drafted them): Vincent Desharnais, D (Edmonton Oilers, 183rd overall); Brandon Duhaime, RW (Minnesota Wild, 106th overall); Beck Malenstyn, LW (Washington Capitals, 145th overall)
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