No. 1 Matthews leads U.S. selections
Arizona-born center feels ‘excitement’ after he is taken by Toronto
On the heels of the NHL expanding into Las Vegas, the Toronto Maple Leafs pinned their future on Arizona-born center Auston Matthews with the first pick in the NHL draft.
The 18-year-old from Scottsdale sparked an international-themed parade to the podium Friday night that featured a draft-record 12 Americans selected in the first round. The Finns made a big splash, too, with three of the top five picks.
“Twenty years ago, I certainly didn’t think I’d be sitting here,” Winnipeg Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff said, referring to whether he ever envisioned a player from Arizona going first in the draft.
Cheveldayoff started the Finnish run by drafting forward Patrik Laine with the No. 2 pick. Edmonton took forward Jesse Puljujarvi at No. 4, and Vancouver selected defenseman Olli Juolevi fifth.
“It was a first certainly to see how dominant all three of those were at the world juniors,” Cheveldayoff said of the Finnish team that won the championship in January. “I wouldn’t say that was their coming out party, but I think it was when everyone went, ‘Aha, these guys are legit players.”
Amid chants of “Go Leafs, Go!” Matthews became the seventh American-born player to be selected No. 1, and first since the Chicago Blackhawks chose Patrick Kane with the top pick in 2007. “My heart was beating. It was very nerve-wracking,” Matthews said. “Once they called my name, it was definitely a sigh of relief and a lot of excitement.”
The Detroit Red Wings gained salary-cap relief by trading veteran star Pavel Datsyuk’s contract to the Arizona Coyotes.
Datsyuk plans to return home to Russia to play in the Kontinental Hockey League. He has a year left on his pact and will count $7.5 million against Arizona’s salary cap. The Coyotes obtained the No. 16 pick, used to select defenseman Jakob Chychrun, with Datsyuk in exchange for the No. 20 pick, a second-round pick (No. 53 overall) and forward Joseph Vitale. Detroit took defenseman Dennis Cholowski at No. 20.
The Calgary Flames addressed their biggest need entering the NHL draft weekend by acquiring goalie Brian Elliott in a trade with the St. Louis Blues for their second-round pick this season. Besides acquiring the 35th overall pick in this year’s draft, the Blues get a conditional third-round selection in 2018.
The Stars have resigned defenseman Jordie Benn to a three-year contract, keeping the brother of high-scoring Dallas forward Jamie Benn out of free agency.