It’s a difficult thing to ask a draft pick to jump straight from junior hockey to the NHL, and only a select few are able to do it with any success. Last season saw Auston Matthews, Patrik Laine, Matthew Tkachuk and Jakob Chychrun play the whole season for their respective clubs, while six others including Jesse Puljujarvi made their debuts at some point. Each found various levels of success but most were either in the running for this year’s Calder Trophy or are among those expected to compete for next year’s. 
This year, Nico Hischier and Nolan Patrick were the consensus top-2 picks heading into the draft and ended up going to two Metropolitan Division teams who could use their help. New Jersey and Philadelphia will both provide ample opportunity for the youngsters to make an impact, but there are some others that could make the difficult jump.
Florida has been clear that they’ll give Owen Tippett the chance to break camp with the team, and the 10th-overall pick already possesses an NHL-level shot that could provide some immediate success. Tippett was injured in the World Junior Summer Showcase and didn’t play today for Canada, but doesn’t expect to miss much time. Lias Andersson impressed the New York Rangers organization at development camp, and already has experience playing in a professional league in Sweden. He showed off today in a loss to Team USA at the Showcase, scoring two goals and generally looking a step ahead of his competition despite being one of the younger players on the ice. Andersson was selected seventh overall and could make the jump to help New York’s center depth right away.
Even the last pick of the first round, Klim Kostin has a shot of playing in the NHL this season after he’s told the St. Louis Blues that he doesn’t want to play in the WHL where his junior rights are owned. Kostin turned just about every head in the building during development camp with a game that seemed ready to not only keep up but dominate at the professional level. After losing his entire season to injury in 2016-17, Kostin already looks like one of the steals of the draft and St. Louis took no time in signing him to his entry-level contract.
So who will make the biggest impact from this draft class in 2017-18? Will it be one of the top two star prospects, or a surprise in training camp? If Tkachuk had been in most other years, his 48 point 18-year old season would have been viewed as an outstanding accomplishment (it still was, even if overshadowed by Matthews and Laine). Vote below on who you think will have the biggest season, and leave why in the comments!
Included are all the first-round picks, but be sure to mention any middle round players you think could make the jump. Remember, even those who are headed for junior or college could make an impact at the end of the year or in the playoffs like Charlie McAvoy this season.
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