The first round of the 2022 NHL Draft was completed last night, and the Dallas Stars took Lian Bichsel when they picked 18th overall. It matched Defending Big D’s pick for them at the same spot of the SB Nation mock draft, so three stars for the crew here that helped me make that choice (I am nothing without you.)
But the real fireworks were in the trades that were made. The Central Division featured heavily, though the Stars were pretty mum on the trade front. Here’s a recap of everything we saw go down yesterday as we wait for rounds two through seven to get underway today at 10 AM CDT on NHL Network:
- Alexander Georgiev was acquired by the Colorado Avalanche from the New York Rangers in return for their 2022 third and fifth round picks and a 2023 third round pick. That means Darcy Kuemper, 32 years old and a fresh Stanley Cup winner, will be hitting the open market. The goalie carousel is almost as active this season as the coaching one.
- The Chicago Blackhawks made a head-scratching trade in which they sent Alex DeBrincat to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for tonight’s 7th overall pick, as well as a 2022 second round and 2024 third round pick.
- The Arizona Coyotes traded up to the 11th overall pick by sending the San Jose Sharks their 27th pick in the first round and two 2022 second round picks (34 and 45).
- The Montreal Canadiens traded defenseman Alexander Romanov and a 2022 fourth round pick to the New York Islanders in exchange for the 13th overall pick last night.
- The Canadiens then flipped that 13th pick and a 2022 second round pick to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for Kirby Dach.
- Petr Mrazek and the 25th overall pick was shipped off by the Toronto Maple Leafs to the Blackhawks in exchange for a 2022 second round pick.
- The Edmonton Oilers did a little cap dump when they sent Zack Kassian, the 29th overall pick, a future second round pick, and a future third round pick to the Coyotes in exchange for the 32nd overall pick./
Montreal sure gave their fans in attendance a whole lot to discuss, and I’m not just talking about the trades they made. They decided to take Juraj Slafkovsky with the first pick in the draft when everyone — including their own fanbase — had spent a whole boatload in marketing that Shane Wright was the “Wright Choice”.
Fun fact: the Colorado Avalanche own just two picks in this draft, in the sixth and seventh rounds. Keep an eye out to see if the GM of the year Joe Sakic makes a move to get them an earlier pick or if they just decide to basically sit out the entire draft instead.