The 18-year-old spent his draft year playing pro in Switzlerand where he collected 24 goals and 46 points in 36 games for Zurich SC.
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Peter Ihnacak holds the Leafs rookie record for points in a season (66), though he did so as a 25-year-old in 1982-83.
“I’m pumped”, said Frederic. It’s going to be a learning curve. He also represented the United States in the last two World Junior Championships. “You get so close”.
“Once they called my name it was definitely a sigh of relief”, Matthews said.
“He’s an elite player with an elite drive train”, Toronto coach Mike Babcock said. “You come in, you compete hard and you work hard every day and get better”. “So that helped us in selecting him”.
The Winnipeg Jets followed with the second overall pick and chose Finnish sniper Patrik Laine.
“It was a first certainly to see how dominant all three of those were at the world juniors”, Cheveldayoff said of the Finnish team that won the championship in January. He earned a bronze medal with Team USA at last season’s U-18 World Championship. “I hope that I can maybe do the same some day”, Laine said of the Teemu Selanne connection to the city of Winnipeg. Columbus Blue Jackets: Pierre-Luc DuBois, LW, Canada 4.
Matthews was the first of 12 American-born players drafted in the first round, which Elias notes is an National Hockey League record for Americans selected in the first round of the draft.
Another roar went up when Buffalo used the eighth pick to select forward Alexander Nylander.
At 17, the Nashville Predators selected Boston University commit, Dante Fabbro.
The Leafs started their teardown in January 2015 and hit rock bottom this season, giving them the chance to take Matthews, who has been favourably compared to Hall of Famer Peter Forsberg and retiring Red Wings star Pavel Datsyuk. Kekalainen, who is from Finland, also noted he wouldn’t take a player based on his nationality.
Matthews being selected first overall is just the next step in putting desert hockey on the map.
Three Fins (Laine, Puljujarvi and Juolevi) were selected within the top five – a first in draft history.
There were a couple notable trades completed on the draft floor on Friday night.
The Chicago Blackhawks acquired two second-round picks (39th and 45th overall) from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for gritty veteran forward Andrew Shaw.
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Matthews was considered to be the consensus first overall pick heading into the entry draft, and he goes to a team that desperately needs a goal-scorer and a leader as the Leafs are suffering through one of the longest Stanley Cup droughts in the league.
