BURKE: Winners and Losers From Day One of the NHL Entry Draft

VANCOUVER — Don’t let anyone ever tell you that grading a team’s Draft, whether in real time or the moments afterwards, is a fool’s errand.

It’s about extracting the most possible value from every pick at one’s disposal, and an evaluation of each selection can only occur from the environment in which it occurred. The best way for one to sum this up would be with the ever-evolving science of game theory.

Simply put: the Dallas Stars wouldn’t have looked like geniuses selecting Jamie Benn second overall in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, even accounting for the fact that 12 years later he’s that class’ second-most productive player. The Stars are savants because they made that pick not a second earlier than they had to do it.

As I attempt to divine the day’s winners, it’s with that modus operandi