Re: Draft class comparison: 2017 vs 2018
2018 is too far IMO; a lot of things can happen from now until then. As for 2017, the draft class is a good one IMO. Nolan Patrick is the Matthews of the bunch and Eeli Tolvanen could be the Laine to a lesser extent. You will have Max Comtois that has drawn comparaisons to PL Dubois and Tim Liljegren who should be the top offensive D-man from the class.
I think the top 5-8 players should be solid picks for their respective teams; afterwards, it gets a bit cloudy. Usually players will emerge before the draft so I'm not too worried about the talent coming from this class. If anything, players worldwide are becoming better and better and are starting to play (and even dominate) early on in the pros.
Here's Bob McKenzie's draft review for 2017... it's a bit dated but it gives you a good idea of who will be on the board early on:
http://www.tsn.ca/mckenzie-s-pre-sea...draft-1.567410
In regards to your question, unless you are rebuilding, take the earlier draft and work your way to getting some picks in 2018 during the 2017 season.
Keeper league 14 teams (H2H, 20 active players keep 16 NHLers, 16 minors)
Scoring Cats: G-A-PTS-PPG-PPA-(+/-)-HITS-BLK-SHP-SOG-FOW-GWG / W-L-SVS-SV%-GAA-SO
C- Crosby, Barzal, Bennett, Schmaltz, Cooley, Novak
W- Forsberg, Batherson, Nichuskin, Tuch, Konecny, Maccelli, Sharangovich, Bertuzzi, Neighbours, Reichel, Holloway
D- Carlson, Rielly, Klingberg
G- Hellebuyck, Demko, Merzlikins, Vejmelka
Minors:
F: Fantilli, Bourgault, Perreault, Cowan, Ohgren, N. Foote, Goyette, Iskhakov, Denisenko, Tracey
D: Simashev, Willander, Lambos
G: Schmidt, Rodrigue, DiPietro, Gaudreau, McKay