No surprise: Dahlin goes No. 1 to Buffalo
Carolina selects Svechnikov at No. 2 before teams go off the board in NHL draft
DALLAS — The draft has become one of the most highly-anticipated days on the NHL calendar in the league’s salary-cap era.
Unlike the trade deadline and the start of free agency, teams have often made big splashes with deals involving star players or high picks. That didn’t happen Friday night. The Buffalo Sabres did the expected by selecting Swedish defenceman Rasmus Dahlin with the No. 1 pick, but none of the trade chatter on the floor of American Airlines Center ever metastasized into a blockbuster deal.
“It was a very quiet day on the phone,” said Ottawa Senators general manager Pierre Dorion, who has been rumoured to be taking calls about captain Erik Karlsson.
“Very quiet,” Montreal Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin added. “I don’t know why.”
Considered far and away the class of the 2018 talent pool, Dahlin had seven goals and 13 assists in 41 games for Frolunda of the Swedish Hockey League in 2017-18.
“It’s amazing to finally put on the Buffalo Sabres’ jersey,” said the slick 18-year-old. “I’ve been there twice. I love that city.”
The second Swedish-born player selected first overall after Mats Sundin was the top choice of the Quebec Nordiques in 1989, Dahlin also was named his country’s top junior hockey player last season.
The 6-foot-3, 185-pound Dahlin was the top blueliner at the 2018 world junior championship in Buffalo, registering six assists in seven games. He also played twice for his country as a 17-year-old at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. “I’m so excited at the moment,” he said. The Carolina Hurricanes, selecting second, took Russian-born Barrie Colts winger Andrei Svechnikov.
Montreal, the first Canadian team to step to the microphone, took Finnish centre Jesperi Kotkaniemi with the No. 3 selection.
“He’s getting more mature, he’s getting more confident,” Bergevin said. “He’ll get stronger.”
The Ottawa Senators then selected Boston University winger Brady Tkachuk, the son of ex-NHLer Keith Tkachuk and brother of Calgary Flames winger Matthew Tkachuk, at No. 4.
“The father had an illustrious NHL career. We’ve seen the brother play,” Dorion said. “Adding a third Tkachuk to the NHL family, it’s good for the NHL and it’s even better for the Ottawa Senators.”
The Arizona Coyotes scooped up the first Canadian-born player in the draft, grabbing Barrett Hayton of Peterborough, Ont., with the fifth pick. The centre plays for the OHL’s Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.
When asked about being the top Canadian picked, Hayton said, “I haven’t really thought of it that much yet, but it’s a tremendous honour.”
At No. 6, the Detroit Red Wings landed Halifax Mooseheads winger Filip Zadina, who had a message for teams that passed on him.
“I’m telling my agent if they will pass on me, I will fill their net with the puck,” the Czech-born Zadina said. “Yeah, it’s just I want to prove (to) them that they have done, like, (a) bad decision.”
New Toronto Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas, in his first draft in the top job, traded down, sending the No. 25 pick to the St. Louis Blues for the No. 29 selection as well as the No. 76 pick in the third round. With the No. 29 pick, the Leafs took Swedish defenceman Rasmus Sandin from the Greyhounds, the junior team Dubas managed before coming to Toronto.
“We took the player that our scouts had as the best on our board,” Dubas said. “They’re the ones that do the work all year in the rink every single day from September through the end of May.”
After trading the 22nd selection to the New York Rangers for the No. 26 and 58 picks, the Senators used their second first-round spot to secure defenceman Jacob BernardDocker from Okotoks of the Alberta Junior Hockey League.
The Flames and Winnipeg Jets did not have first-round picks.
Prior to the start of the draft, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman presented the 2017-18 Humboldt Broncos with the E.J. McGuire Award of Excellence.
The Broncos were on their way to Nipawin for a Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League playoff game on April 6 when their bus collided with a truck, resulting in the deaths of 16 people, including 10 players.
Created in 2015, the annual award is given by the league to a draft candidate who exemplifies commitment to excellence through strength of character, competitiveness and athleticism.
“From this tragedy, the hockey world has come to learn more about the Humboldt Broncos organization and players, their role in the fabric of their community, and their commitment to the pursuit of excellence both on and off the ice,” Dan Marr, director of NHL Central Scouting, said. “The stories we have heard about those who were lost and those who continue to heal have been truly inspirational and serve as great examples of all the characteristics this award was meant to recognize.”
The final six rounds of the draft will be held today, starting at 8 a.m. PT.
The only trade of the day with current NHL players came before the draft.
The Colorado Avalanche acquired goalie Philipp Grubauer and defenceman Brooks Orpik from the Washington Capitals for the 47th pick.
The move clears salary-cap space for the Stanley Cup champion Capitals to try to re-sign key pending free agents, including blueliner John Carlson.
“You don’t like trading away good people, but it’s what we had to do to move forward with the team,” Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan said Friday night. “It’s hard to do, but we had to create some room to sign some players.”
Shedding Orpik’s $5.5-million salary in the final year of his contract and dealing Grubauer before he earned more as a restricted free agent gives Washington more than $20 million in cap space.
It’s needed because Carlson and Michal Kempny can become unrestricted free agents July 1, and playoff hero Devante Smith-Pelly and top-line winger Tom Wilson will get raises as RFAs.
Carlson, who led all defenceman in scoring in the regular season and in the playoffs, is expected to cost $8 million-plus per season on a long-term deal.
The Capitals would have struggled to fit that under the $79.5-million ceiling without a move like this.
“We’re going to do our best to sign John,” MacLellan said.
“Hopefully we can close the deal here over the next 24 hours,” he added.