They have plenty of time to prepare, but it will be a rather small group they’ll have to pick from as the top three in this draft is well established.
Advertisement
That would leave Jakob Chychrun and Olli Juolevi as the first options, both of whom played in the Ontario Hockey League this past season.
Alas, the Coyotes will miss out on Matthews, unless they decide to trade down, which is unlikely to happen.
Toronto can breathe a deep sigh of relief as it only had a 20 percent chance at picking first.
The NHL commissioner spoke with Gene Principe in Dallas on Sunday and made sure to note that the league was not looking for any particular outcome, no matter how appealing one might be.
The Leafs have made the playoffs only once in 11 seasons and have not had the first overall selection since 1985, when they drafted Wendel Clark. The Canucks and the Edmonton Oilers, who fell to fourth from second, are the only teams that dropped two spots in Saturday’s lottery spectacle. Edmonton was the biggest loser from the lottery, dropping to the fourth position after another miserable season, but that could make their choice easier, especially if they finally decide to take a player that can help on defense.
The Toronto Maple Leafs, Winnipeg Jets, and Columbus Blue Jackets will receive the top three selections in the 2016 draft. They jumped up four spots. Toronto won the 2016 NHL Draft lottery, and now owns the No. 1 pick. They went from fifth to sixth.
This is the first year that the Hurricanes have selected outside of the top-10 since 2011.
You can read our staff’s thoughts on Auston Matthews here.
Chicago general manager Stan Bowman was keen to acquire Hamhuis, but Quenneville insisted on Ladd, who cost the Hawks their first-round draft pick in June and prospect Marko Dano – assets the Canucks happily would have taken for Hamhuis.
The top three players available are widely considered to be Matthews and Finnish forwards Patrik Laine and Jesse Puljujarvi with Matthews considered to be the front-runner as the top pick. “He’s not the same type of power player his dad was, but he’s one of the smartest players in the draft”. He dazzled with this speed at the World Junior Championships and also had a fantastic year with Tappara in the Finnish Liiga. He has size at 6-foot-3 and over 200 pounds.
He’s considered a threat to score from anywhere on the ice and could have the best one-timer of any player in this draft class. He’s a special talent. The Arizona-born phenom put up 48 points in 24 games with the USNTDP in his D-1 year in 2014-15. While his dad, longtime NHLer and U.S. Hockey Hall of Famer Keith Tkachuk, was more of a goal scorer in his playing days, Matthew is a terrific setup man. He has great vision and makes a ton of plays around the net.
And that can only be good for the game. He is also lauded for his two-way play. Dubois (6-2, 202) was third in the QMJHL with 99 points, fifth with 42 goals, and sixth with 57 assists in 62 games.
Down the road, we’ll look back at 2016 as one of the stronger draft classes. The three of these guys are that good. Right now, that need is defense.
Advertisement
I hope the someone else picks first. The 18-year-old center has been the consensus No. 1 pick for a while now.
