NHL free agency is now underway, but let's take a look back at what happened last weekend in Philadelphia at the 2014 NHL Entry Draft. Here are three winners and three losers of this year's draft.

Winners

Anaheim Ducks

The Ducks were part of the day's biggest trade as they acquired Ryan Kesler from the Vancouver Canucks. Kesler is a star who will thrive alongside the likes of Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry.

To make things even better, Anaheim used the tenth overall pick (which it acquired last season from the Ottawa Senators) to select winger Nicholas Ritchie, who had seemingly fallen further than many experts thought he would.

Buffalo Sabres

There is obviously little doubt that the Sabres are in a rebuilding phase, but they made all the right moves toward the right direction over the weekend.

With the second overall pick, Buffalo selected one of the top prospects in the draft in center Sam Reinhart (as expected).

The second and third rounds, however, were where the Sabres made their presence known. Buffalo selected left winger Brendan Lemieux with the first pick of round two, which was clearly a steal as he was expected to go in round one. The Sabres also got another steal near the end of round three when they selected defenseman Brycen Martin, who some experts believed would go in the late first round or early second.

Also, the Sabres decided to load up on more picks in rounds two and three, selecting center Robert Cornel and goaltender Jonas Johannson in those rounds, respectively.

Buffalo has a long way to go before becoming a contender, but it definitely took steps in the right direction on draft weekend.

Vancouver Canucks

Plenty of people criticized the Canucks for not getting a great return for the aforementioned Kesler. However, Vancouver knew that the return would be limited anyway since Kesler had made it clear that he would nix any trade not sending him to either Anaheim or Chicago.

For Kesler, the Canucks received underrated winger Nick Bonino, defenseman Luca Sbisa and the 24th overall pick in this year's draft. With that pick, the Canucks selected center Jared McCann, who some draft experts had going in the top ten.

Also, the Canucks picked talented winger Jake Virtanen with the sixth overall pick and managed to grab the draft's top goaltender in the second round as Boston College's Thatcher Demko somehow fell past round one.

Basically, the Ducks got somewhat of an entire future line (Bonino-McCann-VIrtanen) with all sorts of potential, plus a defenseman (Sbisa) in return for one player who wanted out anyway.

Losers

James Neal

Neal was traded to the Nashville Predators from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Patric Hornqvist and Nick Spaling. He was in a great spot as a winger in Pittsburgh playing next to superstar Evgeni Malkin. However, he will not have the same type of supporting cast as a Predator.

In addition to the likelihood of showing up less often on the scoresheet, Neal's chances of winning a Stanley Cup have significantly decreased. Pittsburgh has a decent shot at having a long playoff run as well as a pretty easy path through the playoffs. Nashville, on the other hand, has an extremely tough road as Chicago, St. Louis, Dallas, Minnesota and Colorado are all division opponents who seem to be a cut above the Predators right now.

Colorado Avalanche

Colorado made the only real head-scratcher of a pick in the first round this year, selecting center Connor Bleackley 23rd overall.

Bleackley has the tools to become a solid player, but he was expected to go much lower in the draft and was definitely not supposed to be taken before players like Joshua Ho-Sang, Adrian Kempe or Jared McCann.

To take him this high, the Avs must have seen something they really liked in Bleackley. However, they probably still could have landed him by trading down, gaining more assets and selecting him in the second round.

Winnipeg Jets

Another big day for trades, another quiet front in Winnipeg.

Jets fans were excited about getting their NHL team back three years ago, but the front office has hardly made any big moves in either the trade market or free agency. Jets fans are starting to realize that this team is still just the Atlanta Thrashers with nicer uniforms, louder fans and a much tougher division.

Winnipeg made a good selection in Nikolaj Ehlers with the ninth overall pick, but once again failed to take advantage of the day and make a big, important move.