Devils take Swiss forward No. 1
Canadian center becomes Vegas’ first selection
CHICAGO — Cody Glass played in a youth hockey tournament in Las Vegas when he was 10. His Junior Steelers team finished a disappointing second.
He is looking forward to many more games in Sin City.
Glass, a Canadian, was selected by the expansion Vegas Golden Knights with their first pick Friday night, going No. 6 overall as part of a parade of forwards at the top of the NHL draft.
Glass, 18, had 32 goals and 62 assists in 69 games as a center in the past season for the Portland Winterhawks of the Western Hockey League.
“I didn’t really see that as a hockey place when I went there, but now, with the new team and the fans and season tickets sold out, I think hockey will be unbelievable,” Glass said.
“Just being there and walking down the Strip, it’s something that’s really nice. You don’t see too much of that in Winnipeg.”
The first NHL draft in Chicago began with another 18-year-old forward, with Swiss center Nico Hischier going No. 1 overall to the New Jersey Devils. The Philadelphia Flyers then grabbed Nolan Patrick at No. 2.
Ten of the top 13 picks were listed as centers. Defensemen Miro Heiskanen (No. 3 overall to Dallas) and Cale Makar (No. 4 to Colorado) and right winger Owen Tippett (No. 10 to Florida) were the exceptions.
Vegas also opted for another forward prospect with its second of three picks in the first round, taking Nick Suzuki at No. 12 before selecting Swedish defenseman Erik Brannstrom with the 15th pick.
Hischier, 18, is the highest drafted Swiss player in the NHL history.
He had 38 goals and 86 points in 57 games with the Halifax Mooseheads of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League this past season. on more muscle to succeed He spent the previous in the NHL. two seasons in the Swiss pro “I love hockey,” he said. league, where he was “It’s my biggest goal to play coached by current Ottawa in the NHL. I’m so happy.” Senators coach Guy Patrick, a Winnipeg, Manitoba, Boucher. native whose father
Hischier fits in nicely Steve and uncle James with general manager Ray played in the NHL, held the Shero’s desire to put a faster top spot in the NHL Central team on the ice. New Jersey Scouting Department’s final is coming off its worst season rankings in April. in nearly three decades, Patrick, 18, sustained a finishing with a 28-40-14 sport hernia in summer record. 2016 that hampered him
But Hischier is just over 6 during his season with feet tall and listed at 179 Brandon of the Western pounds, and will need to put Hockey League, but he finished with 20 goals and 46 points in 33 games.
“Once we gathered all the information, we felt comfortable that if he was there for us, we were going to take him,” general manager Ron Hextall said.
Meanwhile, the St. Louis Blues acquired center Brayden Schenn from the Flyers in the first round.
In exchange, Philadelphia received the Blues’ firstround pick this year, a conditional first-round pick in the 2018 draft and third-year forward Jori Lehtera.