NHL Draft First Round Recap: The Top16 Picks, Trades and Surpises!
1. The Colorado Avalanche selected Nathan McKinnon from Halifax as was expected and as they have been stating for the last couple of weeks. Dynamic offensive presence who will score a ton of goals in the Mile High city.
2. The Florida Panthers bypassed Seth Jones and took Finnish centre Aleksander Barkov. Bit of a wildcard, but will be a 2-way centre that adds to depth up the middle.
3. The Tampa Lightning took Jonathan Druoin. Replacement for St. Louis when he does hang em up. Drouin-Stamkos will be deadly
4. Seth Jones finally goes to the Nashville Predators. That is now a very deep and impressive blue line with Weber, Josi, Ellis, Klein and now Jones.
5. Carolina Hurricanes select Elias Lindholm. He is at least a year away as he has a contract in Sweden.
6. Calgary Flames get the centre they haven’t had in decades in Ottawa 67’s centre Sean Monahan at #6. Too late for Iginla.
7. The Oilers finally take a top end defenseman in Darnell Nurse. First defenseman they have taken with their first pick since 1999.
8. The Sabres went European again in big, hard-shooting defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen. He will be a power play cannon on the point. They just need a quarterback to get him the puck.
TRADE!: The Devils trade the #9 pick to Vancouver for Cory Schneider in a huge move that solves the Canucks goaltending woes, if not the unexpected way.
9. The Canucks took Bo Horvat from the London Knights. Gritty centre with offensive upside who compares to Mike Richards or Patrice Bergeron.
10. Dallas selected big rugged winger Valery Nichushkin. He was a wildcard until he got his release from his KHL club. He will play in the NHL or go back to Russia next season.
11. Philadelphia stepped up and chose big defenseman Samuel Morin as their answer to losing Chris Pronger to his eye/head injuries. Morin is 6’7″ and can fight, hit and play.
12. Phoenix (or Seattle, or KC, or…) drafts Max Domi from London. His dad played for the franchise when it was in Winnipeg. Tie’s son, way more skilled.
TRADE!: The Islanders trade former 1st round pick to Minnesota for Cal Clutterbuck and a 3rd round pick.
13. Winnipeg opts for defenseman Josh Morrissey from Prince Albert. With Trouba from last year and Morrissey this year, the Jets blue line will be in good shape.
14. Columbus selected Alexander Wennburg from the Swedish Elite League. Solid 2 way player who projects as a 3rd liner, which may be surprising that he goes at this spot.
15. The New York Islanders went for defense again, with hard shooting blueliner Ryan Pulock from Brandon. He can wire the puck, but it will be a young Isles blue line for a while.
16. Buffalo stepped up for the second time in the draft and after taking Ristolainen at #8, they go big blueliner Nikita Zadorov from London. He is the third Knight chosen in the to 16 picks and makes the Sabres a very imposing blue line with Myers, Ristolainen and Zadorov.
17….Ottawa…check back for a full post on the lucky new Senator…