The Montreal Canadiens could make the first real move in the NHL draft with the third overall pick.
If everything goes as expected in Big D on Friday night
http://www.jetsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-chris-herndon-jersey , play-making Swedish defenseman Rasmus Dahlin will be the first overall pick by
the Buffalo Sabres. Russian forward Andrei Svechnikov will then go to
Carolina.
”Obviously Rasmus and Andrei deserve it, they’re unbelievable players,” American prospect Brady Tkachuk said Thursday. ”From the third (pick) on, it’s
just whatever the team wants, so we’ll see what happens. But it’s going to be
pretty exciting to be a part of.”
So the real draft action should begin when Montreal goes on the clock.
The Canadiens will have their choice of the other top prospects like right wing Filip Zadina, who’s playing in the Quebec league, and Tkachuk, the left
wing from Boston University who is looking to follow father Keith and brother
Mathew into the NHL. Maybe Finnish center Jesper Kotkaniemi.
Plenty of other top defensemen will also be on the board, including Adam Boqvist, Quintin Hughes, Noah Dobson and Evan Bouchard.
”The most important is going to be tomorrow when Montreal goes on the stage, and they will say my name or not
Carlton Davis Color Rush Jersey ,” Zadina said. ”I’m just glad I can be there in the top five, top six players. It’s unbelievable.”
Or maybe the Canadiens, who have 10 picks in the seven-round draft over two days, make a deal and let another team move into that slot.
Trevor Timmins, Montreal’s assistant general manager, expects GM Marc Bergevin’s to be ringing.
”We’re ready to go,” Timmins said Thursday. ”The list is never set in stone until we go head to the draft from the hotel here, but we’re confident of the
prospects that we like … right from that third overall pick to the last pick we
make on Saturday.”
Timmins said centers, offensive defensemen and scoring wingers have the highest asset value on the Canadiens draft board, and that all are needs in
their organization.
Ottawa has the fourth pick, and No. 22, and team officials were going through scenarios again Thursday.
”It was one of the best meetings I’ve had with scouts in 20 years talking about what we plan on doing at (No.) 4
Cheap Lamar Jackson Jersey , what possibilities are at 22, how these players will impact our organization moving forward,” Senators GM Pierre Dorion
said. ”We’re just excited. We suffered this year. There’s no doubt we suffered
as a team with the number of losses. But the one good thing is we know we’re
getting a really good player here.”
Arizona, Detroit, Vancouver, Chicago, the New York Rangers and Edmonton hold the final picks in the top 10. The New York Islanders, who on Thursday hired
Stanley Cup champion coach Barry Trotz, then have consecutive picks before the
draft-hosting Dallas Stars select 13th.
The draft at the American Airlines Center comes 25 years after the former Minnesota North Stars moved to bring NHL hockey to Dallas.
Coyotes GM John Chayka said he has five players who would fit his team in the fifth spot.
”We understand that there’s a variety of outcomes that could exist and then we’re going to have a plan in place that accounts for any of the iterations of
what could occur,” Chayka said. ”It’ll be an interesting draft. I’m sure
there’ll be opportunities to move up and opportunities to move down and
opportunities to stay and take the pick.”
While general managers and team officials did their final prep for the draft, several of the top prospects took part in other activities in the Dallas
area.
The prospects first were at a youth hockey clinic with several players from the Dallas Stars. There was then a media availability at Reunion Tower, more
than 500 feet above the ground. That vantage point overlooks the city and next
to the open lot where once stood Reunion Arena
Minkah Fitzpatrick Color Rush Jersey , the home of the Stars when the won the Stanley Cup in 1999.
Dahlin said he wasn’t feeling nervous about the likelihood of having his name called first Friday night.
”I haven’t actually thought about it so much yet,” Dahlin said. ”It’s crazy to be here actually, I can’t believe it. … Sometime in the near future I will
stop and think what I am going through. I’m just trying to enjoy this time as
much as I can.”
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AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno contributed to this report.
—
Nikita Kucherov reached a personal milestone and helped the Tampa Bay Lightning move closer to clinching the top spot in the Eastern Conference.
Kucherov became the second player in the NHL to reach 100 points this season, and the Lightning took a two-point lead in the Atlantic Division by beating the
Buffalo Sabres 7-5 Friday night.
Kucherov scored in the first period and got his 100th point assisting on Dan Girardi’s goal 1:04 into the second that gave Tampa Bay a 4-2 lead.
”It’s something special,” Kucherov said. ”I’ll definitely remember it the rest of my life.”
Edmonton’s Connor McDavid tops the league with 106 points. According to the NHL, this is the first season since 2009-10 with multiple 100-point players.
The Lightning got two goals from Anthony Cirelli, while Yanni Gourde, Brayden Point and Victor Hedman also scored. Alex Killorn had three assists and Andrei
Vasilevskiy stopped 27 shots.
Tampa Bay can wrap up the division title and the best record in the East with a win in its season finale Saturday night at Carolina, or a loss by second-place
Boston in either of its final two games.
”Is there anything else that needs to be said?” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. ”Win a hockey game, win the division.”
The Lightning played their second consecutive game without center Steven Stamkos (lower-body injury), who is expected to be back for the playoffs.
Casey Mittelstadt and Alexander Nylander each got his first NHL goal for the last-place Sabres. The Elias Sports Bureau says it was first time two Buffalo
players got their first goals in the same game since May 3, 1995
Youth Sam Darnold Jersey , when Curtis Brown and Wayne Primeau accomplished the feat.
Jason Pominville, Jordan Nolan and Kyle Okposo also scored for Buffalo, and Chad Johnson had 27 saves.
”We made too many mistakes,” Mittelstadt said.
After Girardi scored, Buffalo got goals from Pominville, Nolan and Okposo, during a power play, to go ahead 5-4 after the second period.
The Lightning rallied on third-period goals 47 seconds apart by Cirelli (6:15) and Point (7:02) in taking a 6-5 advantage. Hedman added an
empty-netter.
”We didn’t play well in the second and came back in the third, and played the right way,” Kucherov said.
Sabres center Jack Eichel called the blown lead ”frustrating.”
”I thought, maybe, we got a little passive
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The teams combined for five goals in the opening 9:40 of the game. Gourde, who put Tampa Bay up 3-2, set team records for goals (25) and points (64) by a
rookie.
Cirelli and Kucherov also had first-period goals for the Lightning, while Mittelstadt, on the power play, and Nylander scored the Buffalo goals.
NOTES: Gourde’s goal was his first in 14 games. … This was the 22nd time in 81 games that Buffalo (16-1-5) led after two periods.
UP NEXT
Sabres: Close out the regular season Saturday night at Florida.
Lightning: Will look to extend their franchise-record breaking road win total to 26 against the Hurricanes.
.
