Everything you need to know about the draft picks and trades from the first day of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, held in Sunrise, Florida, is here:
#1 Overall Pick
All season, it’s been the battle between Canadian Connor McDavid and American Jack Eichel to be the first man selected – by the Edmonton Oilers – in this year’s entry draft, though most pundits lent in McDavid’s direction. So it was no surprise when the kid widely touted as the next superstar of the NHL was handed the blue and orange Edmonton jersey as the number one overall pick.
It’s not a stretch to say that McDavid, who has very few – if any – chinks in his armour, from the OHL’s Lake Erie Otters, is the most hyped draft pick since McDavid’s hockey idol, Sidney Crosby, was selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins.
We now know that Crosby turned around the fortunes of the ailing Pennsylvanian squad, and it’ll be interesting to see whether McDavid can do something similar for an Edmonton franchise that’s welcomed plenty of prodigious talent into their club in recent years – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle and Nail Yakupov, for starters – yet has failed to lift themselves from the bottom of the NHL heap.
Typically, McDavid professed his pleasure to be a part of the Oilers squad, and new general manager Peter Chiarelli said that the Oilers were “lucky to have” McDavid. The Oilers haven’t made the playoffs since 2006. That’s a long time ago.
Even longer ago now is the Edmonton heyday, when Wayne Gretzky led the Oil to five Stanley Cup titles in seven seasons between 1984 and 1990. McDavid will need to be something approaching Gretzky-good to drag the Oilers out of this morass. Good luck, Connor. You’ll need it!
#2 Overall Pick
Buffalo welcomed Bostonian Jack Eichel to their recently-beleaguered franchise with the second pick. The Sabres are definitely in need of a talent like Eichel’s up forward. The Boston University Terrier product had a huge year in the NCAA in 2014-15, scoring 71 points (23 of them on the power play) with a plus-51 rating. He became only the second freshman to win the Hobey Baker Award for the best player in NCAA Division 1 hockey, and seems like he’ll be a major success at the NHL level, too. After years of hell, Buffalo fans are certainly hoping that’s the case.
#3 Overall Pick
There was talk that the Arizona Coyotes might have traded their third overall pick, and there was no real consensus on who the third round selection would be used on. The Coyotes decided to keep the pick and used it to draft Dylan Strome, who happens to be Connor McDavid’s OHL teammate, and is a budding star in his own right. A big, strong centre, who had a stellar year as McDavid’s running mate, Strome is the younger brother of Ryan, who plays with the New York Islanders.
Boston trades Milan Lucic
The new general manager in Boston, Don Sweeney, had a busy day at the draft. He moved on fan favourite Milan Lucic to Los Angeles for Kings goalie Martin Jones, defensive prospect Colin Miller and a third round pick.
Lucic, a hard-nosed power forward, was definitely a fan favourite in Boston, and helped deliver the Bruins their Stanley Cup championship in 2011. He only scored 18 goals and 26 assists last season, despite playing the entire 82-game slate, and that may have been part of the reason Sweeney moved Lucic on.
The Bruins will look a lot different without Lucic, a key part of the Boston squad for eight largely-successful years, but Los Angeles will benefit greatly from his presence.
Boston trades Dougie Hamilton
It was a busy day for the Bruins down in Florida, and if Lucic’s trade wasn’t entirely unexpected, this one was. Most thought that Hamilton, a former ninth overall draft pick, would be the young defenceman around whom the Bruins would build their team after Zdeno Chara retires. Instead, Hamilton is out the door, headed to Calgary for a trio of draft picks, including a first rounder: the fifteenth.
Reviews were mixed on this from the hockey world, but as one observer pointed out the trade that sent Phil Kessel to Toronto for Tyler Seguin and Dougie Hamilton is now a nothing trade. Seguin plays in Dallas now, and Hamilton is on his way to Canada as well. The Bruins seem to love developing young players to move them on.
Ryan O’Reilly traded from Colorado to Buffalo
The long-time Avalanche centre is heading north-east to Buffalo alongside winger Jamie McGinn, in exchange for a second-round pick and three current players, all young up-and-comers. So much for Colorado GM Joe Sakic saying that re-signing O’Reilly was his “first priority”. Apparently, the Avs priorities have since changed, and now O'Reilly heads to Buffalo, where he will be a big part of their offensive puzzle, probably showing Jack Eichel what the NHL is all about.
Mike Fisher re-signs in Nashville
Carrie Underwood will be happy that her husband is remaining in the Music City for a further two years and $8.8 million. Fisher bounced back from a ruptured Achilles injury that saw him miss the first twenty-one games of the season, and finished with 19 goals and 20 assists in 59 games. He’s a great physical presence in the hockey town they like to call Smashville.
Senators trade goalie Robin Lehner to Buffalo
Pretty solid outcome for both teams here. The Sens obtained another first round pick and Buffalo may very well have picked up their starting goalie for the 2015-16 season. David Legwand was a part of the deal, and it was a successful mission for Buffalo, prior to selecting Jack Eichel with their second overall draft pick, with general manager Tim Murray declaring that Lehner was their “number-one target.”
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