The much-anticipated 2013 NHL Draft has now come and gone, and the dust has cleared on what turned out to be a fairly exciting day for the Dallas Stars. However, what was promised to be a crazy day of wheeling and dealing turned relatively quiet on the trade front, with a few very notable exceptions.
The drama of the first round began when defenseman Seth Jones slipped to the Nashville Predators in the No. 4 spot, with the Florida Panthers jumping at the chance to pick Sasha Barkov No. 2 overall. Then came a run of picks where teams selected based on need instead of true BPA, and suddenly Valeri Nichushkin had somehow slipped all the way to the No. 9 spot.
The Vancouver Canucks looked to have jumped at the chance, trading Cory Schneider to the New Jersey Devils for the pick ahead of the Stars but instead of grabbing the dynamic power forward, the Canucks inexplicably selected center Bo Horvat instead.
I’m sure Jim Nill and company couldn’t get to the podium fast enough. Mike Modano proudly announced the selection of Valeri Nichushkin out of the KHL and the Stars suddenly have that elite, blue-chip prospect the organization has needed for quite some time.
The rest of the draft, while void of trades, was certainly interesting for the Stars and at times a bit controversial. Once again the Stars overlooked what some to be considered easy picks to make, and reached more than a bit by selecting Remi Elie in the second round.
Overall, it was clear the Stars were going for players with potential and upside, rather than safer and more proven picks, with an emphasis on skilled and sizable left wingers.
We’ll have much, much more on the draft tomorrow. Here is the full rundown of all of the picks for the Dallas Stars on Sunday:
First Round, 10th overall — Valeri Nichushkin, LW/RW, Dynamo (KHL)
First Round, 29th overall — Jason Dickinson, LW/C, Guelph Storm (OHL)
Second Round, 40th overall — Remi Elie, LW, London Knights (OHL)
Second Round, 54th overall — Philippe Desrosiers, G, Rimouski (QMJHL)
Third Round, 68th overall — Nicklas Hansson, D, Rogle (SEL)
Fourth Round, 101st overall – Nicholas Paul, LW, Brampton (OHL)
Fifth Round, 131st overall — Cole Ully, LW, Kamloops (WHL)
Fifth Round, 149th overall – Matej Paulovic, LW, Farejstad (SEL)
Seventh Round, 182nd overall — Aleksi Makela, D, Ilves (SM-Liiga)