It was an extremely busy week for the NHL as the league released the 1,271-game 2017/18 schedule, announced its annual award winners and held both the Expansion and Entry Drafts. We’ll recap everything but the schedule over the next few weeks just in case you missed any of the action. The seven-round amateur Entry Draft was held in Chicago on June 23-24 and we take a look at the first round below along with the players’ regular-season stats from 2016/17.
2017 NHL Entry Draft
1. The New Jersey Devils selected centre Nico Hischier of Switzerland with the first overall pick. He played with Halifax in the QMJHL last season with 38 goals and 48 assists in 57 games. Hischier becomes the highest-drafted Swiss player ever.
2. Philadelphia Flyers took centre Nolan Patrick of Brandon in the WHL. He scored 20 goals and 26 assists in 33 games in 2016/17 and has 205 points in 163 career junior contests. He also racked up 30 points in 21 playoff games last year and was the WHL’s playoff MVP.
3. The Dallas Stars took Finnish defenceman Miro Heiskanen of HIFK and he scored five goals and five assists last season in 37 games.
4. Colorado Avalanche drafted defenceman Cale Makar from Brooks of the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) after he was named the best defenceman in Canadian Junior Hockey and the AJHL last season. Makar scored 35 goals and 100 assists in a total of 111 games last campaign.
5. The Vancouver Canucks selected Swedish centre Elias Pettersson from Timra of the nation’s second division after he scored 19 goals and 22 assists in 43 games last season.
6. The Vegas Golden Knights chose centre Cody Glass from Portland of the WHL after scoring 32 goals and 62 assists in 69 contests.
7. The New York Rangers added Swedish centre/winger Lias Andersson, from HV71 after scoring nine goals and 10 assists in 42 outings last season. The Rangers traded forward Derek Stepan and goaltender Antti Raanta to the Arizona Coyotes for the draft pick and defenceman Anthony DeAngelo.
8. The Buffalo Sabres took American centre Casey Mittelstadt from the Green Bay Gamblers of the USHL after he racked up 21 goals and 43 assists in 25 games and was named All-USA Player of the Year for the second consecutive year.
9. Detroit Red Wings selected centre Michael Rasmussen from Tri-City of the WHL after playing 50 games last season and scoring 32 goals and 23 assists.
10. The Florida Panthers chose right-winger Owen Tippett from Mississauga of the OHL after scoring 44 goals and 31 assists in 60 games last year.
11. The Los Angeles Kings took centre Gabriel Vilardi from Windsor of the OHL after he contributed 29 goals and 32 assists in 49 contests last year.
12. Carolina Hurricanes chose centre Martin Necas from Brno of the Czech Republic after playing 41 games last year with seven goals and eight assists.
13. The Vegas Golden Knights took centre Nick Suzuki from Owen Sound of the OHL after scoring 45 goals and 51 assists in 2016/17.
14. Tampa Bay Lightning chose defenceman Callan Foote from Kelowna of the WHL after scoring six goals and 51 assists in 71 outings last season. He’s the son of former NHL star Adam Foote.
15. The Vegas Golden Knights selected Swedish defenceman Erik Brannstrom from HV71 after he tallied a goal and five assists in 35 contests last year.
16. The Calgary Flames drafted Finnish defenceman Juuso Valimaki from Tri-City of the WHL after he scored 19 goals and 42 assists in 60 games.
17. The Toronto Maple Leafs chose Swedish defenceman Timothy Liljegren from Rogle after scoring a goal and four assists in 19 games last year.
18. The Boston Bruins took defender Urho Vaakanainen from JYP in Finland after he posted a pair of goals and four assists in 2016/17.
19. The San Jose Sharks picked up centre Joshua Norris from the USA Under-18 team after he scored 23 goals and 28 assists in 52 contests last season.
20. St. Louis Blues took centre Robert Thomas from London of the OHL after he scored 16 times and added 50 assists in 66 games last year.
21. The New York Rangers added centre Filip Chytil from Zlin of the Czech Republic after scoring four goals and four assists in 38 outings last campaign.
22. The Edmonton Oilers chose right-winger Kailer Yamamoto from Spokane of the WHL after he scored 42 goals and 57 assists in 65 games last season. The 5-foot-7-inch Yamamoto has scored 227 points in his 190 WHL games.
23. The Arizona Coyotes selected defenceman Pierre-Olivier Joseph from Charlottetown of the QMJHL after he played 62 times last season and scored six goals and 33 assists.
24. Winnipeg Jets took winger Kristian Vesalainen from Frolunda in Sweden after he tallied a goal and five assists in 26 contests last year.
25. The Montreal Canadiens drafted college centre Ryan Poehling from St. Cloud State of the NCHC after he posted seven goals and six assists in 35 games as the youngest player in the NCAA.
26. The Dallas Stars took goaltender Jake Oettinger from Boston University. He posted a save percentage of 92.7 last season along with a 2.11 goals-against average and a record of 21-10-3 in 35 games. He was the second-youngest NCAA player last season.
27. The Philadelphia Flyers selected centre Morgan Frost from Sault Ste. Marie of the OHL after he chipped in with 20 goals and 42 assists in 67 outings last year. The Flyers traded forward Brayden Schenn to St. Louis for this draft pick.
28. Ottawa Senators added centre Shane Bowers from Waterloo of the USHL after he scored 22 goals and 29 assists in 60 contests.
29. The Chicago Blackhawks chose Finnish defenceman Henri Jokiharju from Portland of the WHL after scoring nine goals and 39 assists in 71 games last season.
30. The Nashville Predators selected Finnish right-winger Eeli Tolvanen from Sioux City of the USHL after he scored 30 goals and 24 assists in 52 games.
31. The St. Louis Blues finished the first round by taking Russian forward Klim Kostin from Dynamo Moscow of the KHL. Kostin played just 18 games last season due to shoulder surgery. The Blues traded Ryan Reaves to Pittsburgh for the draft pick.