Two-man race for No. 1 in NHL draft
Devils likely to choose between Patrick, Hischier
BUFFALO Seven years after Taylor vs. Tyler, we present Nolan Vs. Nico.
Back in 2010, there was little to choose between the top two projected picks in that year’s NHL entry draft. Both Windsor’s Taylor Hall and Plymouth’s Tyler Seguin posted 106 points in their final junior hockey seasons. It can’t get any closer than that.
The Edmonton Oilers opted to take Hall first, leaving the Boston Bruins to pick Seguin. Hall would eventually be dealt to New Jersey and Seguin to Dallas, both deals engineered by current Oilers general manager Peter Chiarelli.
Now we supposedly have the tightest race for the top spot since that Hall-Seguin showdown. The scouts will tell you that. So will personnel directors. Even the press.
This time it’s Brandon’s Nolan Patrick, the injury-plagued centre who had 46 points in 33 games, and Halifax’s Nico Hischier, who had 86 points in 57 games for the Mooseheads.
Patrick and Hischier were just boys of 11 when Hall and Seguin were drafted.
“For sure, I heard about Taylor Hall and Tyler Seguin but I didn’t really follow the draft that much,” said Hischier, who, to be fair, was living in his native Valais in southern Switzerland in 2010.
Patrick is quite aware of the efforts of some to turn Nolan-Nico into “Taylor-Tyler 2.0.”
“I’ve heard that quite a bit,” Patrick said Friday at the NHL draft combine in Buffalo. “I was younger when I was watching that (2010) draft ... obviously Nico’s a great player and he’s ranked where he is for a reason, so whatever happens I won’t be surprised.”
Interestingly, with the New Jersey Devils having won the draft lottery, either Patrick or Hischier will likely be Hall’s teammate.
“Yeah, that could happen,” Patrick said.
And if and when it does, whether it’s Nolan or Nico, Taylor Hall is excited about it.
He’s excited for the team and for the fans. When the Devils jumped up from No. 5 to No. 1 in the lottery in April, it created a buzz in the community and delighted general manager Ray Shero.
“It’s huge. I think that when Ray came in here, one of his mandates was to bring more excitement to the team,” Hall said. “Along with becoming a winning hockey team, it’s the effort to make it a more relevant hockey team.”
Having lived through the Taylor vs. Tyler experience, Hall was asked if he had any words of wisdom for Patrick and Hischier.
“I’d just say enjoy the process,” Hall said. “It was definitely a relief when the draft finally came and you knew where you were going to go and spend your career there. Looking back on it, I wish I would have had more fun with it.
“I think Tyler and I were pretty anxious about the whole thing. And with people comparing us and always being together before the draft, we developed kind of a special bond. We became friends over it.”
Shero told his staff to forge ahead with their research as if the pick will not be traded. If Shero does hold on to the No. 1 selection, either Nolan or Nico will be getting plenty more advice from Taylor in the months and years ahead.