With the NHL Draft over for another year, we thought we’d offer a few quick notes from this past weekend.
TRADES ON TRADES
The NHL was abuzz with trade activity leading up to the ceremony with some moves carrying a level of significance that wasn’t necessarily expected. Here’s a breakdown of Friday’s trade activity.
- Arizona traded defenceman Connor Murphy and centreman Laurent Dauphin to Chicago for defenceman Niklas Hjalmarsson.
- Arizona then traded defenceman Anthony DeAngelo and the 7th overall pick in this year’s draft to NY Rangers for Derek Stepan and Antti Raanta.
- Chicago traded former Calder winner Artemi Panarin, winger Tyler Motte and NY Islanders’ 6th-round pick in Friday’s NHL Draft (170th overall) to Columbus for returnee Brandon Saad, goaltending prospect Anton Forsberg and Columbus’ 5th round pick in 2018.
- Chicago then traded its 1st-round pick (26th overall) to Dallas for Anaheim’s 1st-round pick in 2017 (previously acquired, 29th overall) and Dallas’ 3rd-round pick in 2017 (70th overall).
- Columbus remained active as they sent winger Dante Salituro to Minnesota for centreman Jordan Schroeder.
- Philadelphia moved Brayden Schenn to St. Louis for Jori Lehtera, St. Louis’ 1st-round pick in the draft (27th overall) and a conditional 1st round pick in 2018.
- Pittsburgh moved Oskar Sundqvist and its 1st round pick in the Draft (31st overall) to St. Louis for tough guy Ryan Reaves and St. Louis’ 2nd-round pick (51st overall).
NICO HISCHIER MAKES HISTORY
By going first overall, Nico Hischier becomes the highest drafted Swiss player in the league’s history. Hischier was also the highest drafted player that was not born in North America since the Oilers took Nail Yakupov first overall in 2012.
The Swiss list:
- 1st overall – Nico Hischier NJD (2017)
- 5th overall – Nino Niederreiter NYI (2010)
- 9th overall – Timo Meier SJS (2015)
- 11th overall – Kevin Fiala NSH (2014)
- 13th overall – Sven Baertschi CGY (2011)
RECORD NUMBER OF FINNS SELECTED IN FIRST ROUND
Six Finnish-born prospects were chosen on Friday night – Miro Heiskanen (#3, Dallas), Juuso Valimaki (#16, Calgary), Urho Vaakanainen (#18, Boston), Kristian Vesalainen (#24, Winnipeg), Henri Jokiharju (#29, Chicago) and Eeli Tolvanen (#30, Nashville) – which is a new record for Finns in the first round of the NHL Draft. The previous mark of five was set in 2002.
The breakdown of the first round by birthplace:
- Canada (11)
- Finland (6)
- USA (6)
- Sweden (4)
- Czech Republic (2)
- Russia (1)
- Switzerland (1)
WHERE DID THEY COME FROM?
In total, 14 different leagues were represented in the first round of the 2017 NHL Draft with the 31 selections coming from:
- WHL: 7
- OHL: 5
- SWEDEN: 4
- CZREP, FINLAND, QMJHL, USHL: 2
- AJHL, H-EAST, HIGH-MN, NCHC, NTDP, RUSSIA, SWEDEN-2: 1
All these picks don’t matter….what matters id that the Oilers wont be picking FIST overall for years to come
Agreed, I hope we someone good at 32 next year.
Ummm, if the Oilers pick 32 next year (and assuming its their own pick) but not first, that means they finished with the worst record in the league but lost the draft lottery. I am hoping you meant they pick 31…
I cannot understand calgary paying such a high price for Hamonic? The future looks bleak.
I don’t agree…theyve got a great group of dmen that will be tough to play against. Decent contracts to boot. I’d say it makes them a better team, although I’m not sold on the Mike Smith deal. They don’t have prospects which will impact their future, but they believe in the present…theyre going to be a good team.
The Goaltending was not the problem last year it was defense. Hamonic has to have a back bounce year to be of any help, and he sucked last year, and ( personal problems have plagued him). Smith was another bad deal and will be shell shocked by Christmas. No playoffs for the flames for a long time with this team. Good news is that Burke will lead them to the promised land Quebec or Seattle.
Chicago traded their “rookie of the year”.
Yeah, he was getting too old:)
only 1 russian in 1st round. russia factor strikes again