“Boston’s an unbelievable city – great place, great people. Happy to be staying there”.
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Starting with Columbus selecting Pierre-Luc Dubois at No. 3, only three Canadian-born players were taken among the top 10 picks. The 25 points were most among Terrier defensemen.
The 17-year-old played for the Windsor Spitfires in 2015-16, leading all Ontario Hockey League defenders with 17 goals in his rookie season. McAvoy was fellow Bruins prospect Matt Grzelcyk’s defense partner at BU.
From the Toronto side, the success or failure of the trade will ultimately depend on how well players like Kapanen, Rychel, Greenway and the yet-to-be used draft picks pan out, but the return now still looks a heck of a lot better than the one the team initially received the day the trade was made. I said, and still believe, that burning down the entire program may not always be the best way to rebuild.
Since winning the draft lottery on April 30, the Leafs have insisted that their top pick would be just one piece of a much larger puzzle. “I like Edmonton and I’m very excited to go there”.
“Luke is a versatile two-way forward that can play center and wing. Good up the middle, back and forth, good 200-foot game”. At 6-foot-2, 216 pounds, he has the potential to become the Maple Leafs’ first true franchise center since Mats Sundin departed in 2008. Vanek’s disappointing two-year stint with Minnesota ended with 39 goals, 54 assists and a minus-15 rating in 154 games. He earned a bronze medal with Team USA at last season’s U-18 World Championship.
Three players from the British Columbia Hockey League (Jost, Fabbro and Cholowski) were selected in the opening round – a first in NHL Draft history. That may become a possibility for the 18 year old, who became the first Leaf picked No. 1 since Wendel Clark in 1985.
“My heart was beating as I was walking up there, but very nerve-racking”, admitted Matthews.
The Leafs went on to have a terrible season, but were rewarded with the number one pick in this year’s NHL Entry Draft. “Very nerve-racking. Once they called my name, it was definitely a sigh of relief”.
The 18-year-old, born in California and raised in Scottsdale, sparked an international-themed parade to the podium Friday night that featured a draft-record 12 Americans selected in the first round.
NHL Central Scouting ranked the 6-2, 210-pound play-maker as its top draft-eligible prospect, and he’s also a natural center, a top-line position that’s hard to fill.
Forgoing junior hockey, Matthews spent his draft year in Switzerland, scoring 24 goals and 46 points in 36 games for Zurich SC, the Swiss league’s top regular season team. The Leafs finished last in the National Hockey League this season with a 29-42-11 record.
Lightning General Manager Steve Yzerman said his approach hasn’t changed.
The Flames then got their goalie, acquiring Brian Elliott from the St. Louis Blues for the No. 35 pick in the draft and a conditional third-round pick in 2018.
Detroit is now the obvious choice with the Red Wings making room on their roster with the recent trade of Pavel Datsyuk.
Notable picks from the second half of the first round included defenseman Jakob Chychrun (16th overall, Arizona) and center Henrik Borgstrom (23rd overall, Florida).
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Rounding out the top 10, the Arizona Coyotes took center Clayton Keller at No. 7, the Buffalo Sabres took forward Alexander Nylander at No. 8, the Montreal Canadiens took defenseman Mikhail Sergachev at No. 9 and the Colorado Avalanche took center Tyson Jost at No. 10.
