Forwards dominate top of draft
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 there.
Glass was selected by the expansion Vegas Golden Knights with their first pick on Friday night, going No. 6 overall as part of a parade of forwards at the top of the NHL draft. The 18-year-old Canadian center had 32 goals and 62 assists in 69 games last 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 wing 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.
The 18-year-old Hischier is the highest drafted Swiss player in NHL history. He had 38 goals and 86 points in 57 games with Halifax of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League this past season.
Hischier fits in nicely with general manager Ray Shero’s desire to put a faster team on the ice. New Jersey is coming off its worst season in nearly three decades, finishing with a 28-40-14 record.
But Hischier is just over 6 feet tall and listed at 179 pounds, so he will need to put on more muscle to succeed in the NHL.
The 18-year-old Patrick, a Winnipeg, Manitoba, native whose father, Steve, and uncle, James, played in the NHL, held the top spot in the NHL Central Scouting Department’s final rankings in April. He sustained a sports hernia last summer that hampered him during his season with Brandon of the Western Hockey League, but he finished with 20 goals and 46 points in 33 games.
Oshie signs 8-year deal with Capitals
The Washington Capitals re-signed right wing T.J. Oshie to a an eight-year, $46 million contract. Oshie was set to be an unrestricted free agent.
The 30-year-old forward tied Alex Ovechkin for the team lead with 33 goals last season. That was a career high, and he had 56 points despite playing only 68 games.
“T.J. is an invaluable member of our team and we felt it was imperative for us to re-sign him in a competitive free agent market,” Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan said. “T.J. is a highly competitive player with a tremendous skill set; he epitomizes the kind of player our team must have in order for us to continue to put ourselves in a position to compete in this league.”
Blackhawks deal for Dublin’s Murphy
The Chicago Blackhawks’ big trade before the draft was picking up wing Brandon Saad and goaltender Anton Forsberg from the Blue Jackets. But before that, they made a deal with the Arizona Coyotes, trading defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson for defenseman Connor Murphy and forward Laurent Dauphin.
Murphy is a promising young defenseman who had two goals and a career-high 15 assists in 77 games last season. The 24-year-old grew up in Dublin, where he played with the Ohio AAA Blue Jackets.
“I just have nothing but exciting feelings going to a great organization,” Murphy said. “It means a lot to me that (Chicago general manager) Stan Bowman has put the trust in the trade, believing that I can help the team.”