It was an extremely busy week for the NHL
as the league released the 1,271-game 2017/18 schedule, announced its annual
award winners and held both the Expansion and Entry Drafts. We’ll recap
everything but the schedule over the next few weeks just in case you missed any
of the action. The seven-round amateur Entry Draft was held in Chicago on June
23-24 and we take a look at the first round below along with the players’
regular-season stats from 2016/17.
2017 NHL Entry Draft
1. The New Jersey Devils selected centre Nico
Hischier of Switzerland with the first overall pick. He played with Halifax in
the QMJHL last season with 38 goals and 48 assists in 57 games. Hischier
becomes the highest-drafted Swiss player ever.
2. Philadelphia Flyers took centre Nolan
Patrick of Brandon in the WHL. He scored 20 goals and 26 assists in 33 games in
2016/17 and has 205 points in 163 career junior contests. He also racked up 30
points in 21 playoff games last year and was the WHL’s playoff MVP.
3. The Dallas Stars took Finnish defenceman
Miro Heiskanen of HIFK and he scored five goals and five assists last season in
37 games.
4. Colorado Avalanche drafted defenceman Cale
Makar from Brooks of the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) after he was named
the best defenceman in Canadian Junior Hockey and the AJHL last season. Makar scored
35 goals and 100 assists in a total of 111 games last campaign.
5. The Vancouver Canucks selected Swedish
centre Elias Pettersson from Timra of the nation’s second division after he
scored 19 goals and 22 assists in 43 games last season.
6. The Vegas Golden Knights chose centre Cody
Glass from Portland of the WHL after scoring 32 goals and 62 assists in 69
contests.
7. The New York Rangers added Swedish
centre/winger Lias Andersson, from HV71 after scoring nine goals and 10 assists
in 42 outings last season. The Rangers traded forward Derek Stepan and
goaltender Antti Raanta to the Arizona Coyotes for the draft pick and
defenceman Anthony DeAngelo.
8. The Buffalo Sabres took American centre Casey
Mittelstadt from the Green Bay Gamblers of the USHL after he racked up 21 goals
and 43 assists in 25 games and was named All-USA Player of the Year for the
second consecutive year.
9. Detroit Red Wings selected centre Michael
Rasmussen from Tri-City of the WHL after playing 50 games last season and
scoring 32 goals and 23 assists.
10. The Florida Panthers chose right-winger
Owen Tippett from Mississauga of the OHL after scoring 44 goals and 31 assists
in 60 games last year.
11. The Los Angeles Kings took centre Gabriel
Vilardi from Windsor of the OHL after he contributed 29 goals and 32 assists in
49 contests last year.
12. Carolina Hurricanes chose centre Martin
Necas from Brno of the Czech Republic after playing 41 games last year with
seven goals and eight assists.
13. The Vegas Golden Knights took centre Nick
Suzuki from Owen Sound of the OHL after scoring 45 goals and 51 assists in
2016/17.
14. Tampa Bay Lightning chose defenceman Callan
Foote from Kelowna of the WHL after scoring six goals and 51 assists in 71
outings last season. He’s the son of former NHL star Adam Foote.
15. The Vegas Golden Knights selected
Swedish defenceman Erik Brannstrom from HV71 after he tallied a goal and five
assists in 35 contests last year.
16. The Calgary Flames drafted Finnish
defenceman Juuso Valimaki from Tri-City of the WHL after he scored 19 goals and
42 assists in 60 games.
17. The Toronto Maple Leafs chose Swedish
defenceman Timothy Liljegren from Rogle after scoring a goal and four assists
in 19 games last year.
18. The Boston Bruins took defender Urho
Vaakanainen from JYP in Finland after he posted a pair of goals and four
assists in 2016/17.
19. The San Jose Sharks picked up centre Joshua
Norris from the USA Under-18 team after he scored 23 goals and 28 assists in 52
contests last season.
20. St. Louis Blues took centre Robert
Thomas from London of the OHL after he scored 16 times and added 50 assists in
66 games last year.
21. The New York Rangers added centre Filip
Chytil from Zlin of the Czech Republic after scoring four goals and four
assists in 38 outings last campaign.
22. The Edmonton Oilers chose right-winger Kailer
Yamamoto from Spokane of the WHL after he scored 42 goals and 57 assists in 65
games last season. The 5-foot-7-inch Yamamoto has scored 227 points in his 190
WHL games.
23. The Arizona Coyotes selected defenceman
Pierre-Olivier Joseph from Charlottetown of the QMJHL after he played 62 times
last season and scored six goals and 33 assists.
24. Winnipeg Jets took winger Kristian
Vesalainen from Frolunda in Sweden after he tallied a goal and five assists in
26 contests last year.
25. The Montreal Canadiens drafted college
centre Ryan Poehling from St. Cloud State of the NCHC after he posted seven
goals and six assists in 35 games as the youngest player in the NCAA.
26. The Dallas Stars took goaltender Jake
Oettinger from Boston University. He posted a save percentage of 92.7 last
season along with a 2.11 goals-against average and a record of 21-10-3 in 35 games.
He was the second-youngest NCAA player last season.
27. The Philadelphia Flyers selected centre
Morgan Frost from Sault Ste. Marie of the OHL after he chipped in with 20 goals
and 42 assists in 67 outings last year. The Flyers traded forward Brayden
Schenn to St. Louis for this draft pick.
28. Ottawa Senators added centre Shane
Bowers from Waterloo of the USHL after he scored 22 goals and 29 assists in 60
contests.
29. The Chicago Blackhawks chose Finnish
defenceman Henri Jokiharju from Portland of the WHL after scoring nine goals
and 39 assists in 71 games last season.
30. The Nashville Predators selected
Finnish right-winger Eeli Tolvanen from Sioux City of the USHL after he scored 30
goals and 24 assists in 52 games.
31. The St. Louis Blues finished the first
round by taking Russian forward Klim Kostin from Dynamo Moscow of the KHL. Kostin
played just 18 games last season due to shoulder surgery. The Blues traded Ryan
Reaves to Pittsburgh for the draft pick.
Labels: Ian Palmer