Oil Kings’ Jarry, Lazar selected.
Goaltenders Jarry chosen by Penguins, Comrie by Jets
Newark, N.J. — There were times when Curtis Lazar had to remind himself to exhale, but he figured draft day would be like that.
The Edmonton Oil Kings forward was selected 17th overall by the Ottawa Senators in Sunday’s NHL draft at the Prudential Center. His teammate, goaltender Tristan Jarry, went 44th overall to the Pittsburgh Penguins while Eric Cromie, who honed his skills in Edmonton stopping shots by his brothers Paul and Mike, was selected with the 59th pick by the Winnipeg Jets.
“Absolute shock, there’s no other way to put it. You forget to breathe, it’s so exciting,” said Lazar.
During a pre-draft interview, Senators general manager Bryan Murray asked the forward if he could handle the pressure and Lazar assured him he could. He’s anxious to get a chance to play for a Canadian team.
“The draft year is behind us now,” said Lazar. “I can move on with my career and get some guidance from the organization. It has been quite hectic going from playing to the combine to here, but it’s worth it in the end.
“Now I can get more specific in my training and get ready to make that jump to the pro level.”
It got even more hectic when Lazar was stranded in Toronto for a couple of days. His flight took off and circled New York on Thursday night but was rerouted back to Canada because of a storm. He finally arrived late Friday.
“My dad was probably hoping I didn’t make it so he could have gone on stage, but I made it,” he said. “I’m really enjoying it a lot.”
Lazar had no shortage of players in the Oil Kings dressing room to lean on when it came to the draft experience. Last June, defenceman Griffin Reinhart (New York Islanders), forward Henrik Samuelsson (Phoenix Coyotes) and winger Mitch Moroz (Edmonton Oilers) were selected within the first 32 picks.
“I owe my teammates a lot,” said Lazar. “You look at the drafted guys on our team who have gone through this. Having those guys as resources helped me to get to where I am.”
Jarry had a chance to play regularly this past season when Oil Kings starter Laurent Broissoit (Calgary Flames prospect) was at the Canadian world junior team selection camp.
“It’s going to be a great experience,” Jarry said about joining the Penguins organization. “I came here not expecting too much. This will be great in the long run. It’s hard not to get excited about it when you think about (Sidney) Crosby and (Evgeni) Malkin and (Marc-Andre) Fleury.”
Comrie, meanwhile, is just back on the ice after missing all but 37 games with the TriCity Americans of the Western Hockey League to have both his hips repaired.
“When they called my name, that was the most fun experience of the draft. I was trying to stay even-keeled the whole time and I thought I had done a good job. I was really happy to hear it was Winnipeg,” said the goalie.