NHL Draft: Habs and Hawks make biggest moves on Day 1
Anthony Scultore
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The NHL Draft was loaded with excitement and that was due in large part to two teams. Host Montreal Canadiens and the Chicago Blackhawks were the biggest movers and shakers on Thursday night.
Just prior to the draft, the Blackhawks traded away young star Alex DeBrincat to the Ottawa Senators for the 7th overall pick, a second-round pick in this year’s draft plus a third-round selection in 2024. They used the first-round pick on defenseman Kevin Korchinski.
“It was a pretty monumental day and huge land shift for the Blackhawks organization,” Davidson said. “It’s almost the unofficial start of where we’re headed and our ascension there.”
NHL Draft Day One full of trades
Montreal kicked off the actual draft by upsetting some of their fanbase by select Slovakian winger Juraj Slafkovsky overly highly-touted center Shane Wright, who fell to the Seattle Kraken at 4.
“We went through a heck of an exhaustive preparation and review of the players, and listen, there were a lot of good hockey players,” Habs GM Kent Hughes said. “We felt he was the best player for us what we are trying to accomplish.”
The Canadiens decided to kick the draft into high gear by making two trades announced at the same time by commissioner Gary Bettman that sent the fans at the Bell Centre into a frenzy.
First, they traded the rights to defenseman Alexander Romanov to the New York Islanders for their 13th overall pick. This past season, he posted 13 points in 79 games. The 22 year-old was chosen by the Habs in the 2018 Draft (second round).
Then the Habs and Hawks made a deal together. Montreal sent the freshly acquired 13th overall pick and the 66th overall selection to Chicago for center Kirby Dach.
Dach, 21, was selected third overall in the 2019 Draft but struggled with the Hawks. He scored 26 points 70 games last year. For his career, he has 59 points in 152 games.
“We’re going to invest money in developing hockey players and trying to get the most out of their potential, and we believe Kirby has significant potential,” Hughes said. “And we’re hopeful that with the Montreal Canadiens in this environment, we can bring him along and get him to a point where he’s a pretty special centerman.”
NHL.com
Other notable moves were as follows:
- Arizona Coyotes trade for San Jose Sharks 2022 1st Round Pick (#11) in exchange for a 2022 1st Round Pick (#27), 2022 2nd Round Pick (#34) and another 2022 2nd Round Pick (#45)
- Chicago Blackhawks trade for Petr Mrazek and 2022 first round pick (#25) from the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for a 2022 second round pick (#38)
- Arizona Coyotes trade for Zack Kassian, 2022 1st Round Pick (#29), 2024 3rd Round Pick and 2025 2nd Round Pick from the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for a 2022 1st Round Pick (#32)
NHL Draft First Round Results
- Montreal Canadiens – Juraj Slafkovsky
- New Jersey Devils – Simon Nemec
- Arizona Coyotes – Logan Cooley
- Seattle Kraken – Shane Wright
- Philadelphia Flyers – Cutter Gauthier
- Columbus Blue Jackets – David Jiricek (via Seth Jones trade with Columbus)
- Chicago Blackhawks – Kevin Korchinski (via Alex DeBrincat trade with Ottawa)
- Detroit Red Wings – Marco Kasper
- Buffalo Sabres – Matthew Savoie
- Anaheim Ducks – Pavel Mintyukov
- Arizona Coyotes – Conor Geekie (via draft spot trade with San Jose)
- Columbus Blue Jackets – Denton Mateychuk
- Chicago Blackhawks – Frank Nazar (via Montreal in NYI trade for Alex Romanov)
- Winnipeg Jets – Rutger McGroarty
- Vancouver Canucks – Jonathan Lekkerimaki
- Buffalo Sabres – Noah Ostlund (via Jack Eichel trade with Vegas)
- Nashville Predators – Joakim Kemell
- Dallas Stars – Lian Bichsel
- Minnesota Wild – Liam Ohgren (via Kevin Fiala trade with Los Angeles)
- Washington Capitals – Ivan Miroshnichenko
- Pittsburgh Penguins – Owen Pickering
- Anaheim Ducks – Nathan Gaucher (via Hampus Lindholm trade with Boston)
- St. Louis Blues – Jimmy Snuggerud
- Minnesota Wild – Danila Yurov
- Chicago Blackhawks – Sam Rinzel (via Petr Mrazek trade with Toronto)
- Montreal Canadiens – Filip Mesar (via Tyler Toffoli trade with Calgary)
- San Jose Sharks – Filip Bystedt (via draft spot trade with Arizona)
- Buffalo Sabres – Jiri Kulich (via Sam Reinhart trade with Florida)
- Arizona Coyotes – Maveric Lamoureux (via Zack Kassian trade with Edmonton)
- Winnipeg Jets – Brad Lambert (via Andrew Copp trade with NYR)
- Tampa Bay Lightning – Isaac Howard
- Edmonton Oilers – Reid Schaefer (via Zack Kassian trade with Arizona)
Reference: PuckPedia
