5 major takeaways from the NHL Draft
This year's NHL draft featured its usual share of noteworthy selections, but the major storylines from the weekend had little or nothing to do with the picks themselves.
With the two-day event in the books, here's a handful of observations:
Opening night was a dud
The first round transpired without much drama.
In the days leading up to the draft, there was trade chatter involving the likes of Ryan O'Reilly, Jeff Skinner, and Craig Anderson, so it was surprising to see no players dealt during the opening round, and only the swap involving Philipp Grubauer and Brooks Orpik in the hours before.
Couple that with the fact the first two picks Friday night (Rasmus Dahlin by the Sabres and Andrei Svechnikov by the Hurricanes, respectively) were virtual locks for weeks - nearly two months, in the case of the former - and the first round didn't quite deliver in terms of intrigue.
Sure, there were a few surprises when it came to the rest of the picks on opening night, as several teams made off-the-board choices and passed on top prospects, but the excitement simply wasn't there.
Day 2 was way more fun
While Day 1 lacked fireworks, the action picked up Saturday, beginning with the Los Angeles Kings landing Ilya Kovalchuk on a three-year deal and culminating with the blockbuster trade between the Calgary Flames and Hurricanes involving Dougie Hamilton, Elias Lindholm, and Noah Hanifin.
There were also some excellent names selected, and some history made, as Liam Kirk became the first player born and trained in England to be drafted by an NHL club.
What Friday night lacked in subplots and major developments, Saturday had in spades.
Kovalchuk's deal may have opened the floodgates
After reportedly meeting with four teams - the Boston Bruins, San Jose Sharks, Vegas Golden Knights, and Kings - Kovalchuk's camp quickly settled on L.A. on Saturday morning.
While the Kovalchuk signing was followed by the aforementioned major move, there may be more coming now that the veteran sniper's market value has been established.
A few GM’s on the Draft floor believe many of the trade possibilities have been stalled in waiting on Tavares and Kovalchuk decisions.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) June 23, 2018
John Tavares still has a decision to make, of course (more on that later), but the first big domino fell Saturday before the second round of the draft got underway, and it would only make sense for more to fall in short order.
Should've seen another Flames trade coming
Flames general manager Brad Treliving has made big trades at or shortly before the draft in each of the last four years, acquiring Travis Hamonic from the New York Islanders in 2017, Brian Elliott from the St. Louis Blues in 2016, and Hamilton from the Bruins in 2015, before sending him to the Hurricanes on Day 2 in 2018.
Whether or not the Flames emerge as the winners of the deal, Calgary's GM showed once again that he's not afraid to pull the trigger on sizable transactions at draft time.
Islanders keep moving in the right direction
Tavares' future is still priority No. 1 for Lou Lamoriello and the Islanders' brass, and, as expected, the superstar forward is going to talk to a handful of other clubs during the upcoming free-agency interview period.
That's largely out of the Islanders' hands (even though they're reportedly planning to meet with him out west), but New York's GM and his staff did well with what they could control this weekend, particularly on Friday night.
They were undoubtedly a winner of Day 1 after landing promising forward Oliver Wahlstrom and highly touted defenseman Noah Dobson with picks No. 11 and 12, respectively. Both players fell right to them, but they still deserve credit for not passing on either, as multiple teams above them inexplicably did.
Day 2 also went well for New York, as it picked Bode Wilde and Blade Jenkins - the 17th- and 26th-ranked North American skaters, by NHL Central Scouting's standards - with the 41st and 134th selections, respectively.
The successful weekend continued an encouraging offseason for the club, following the hiring of Lamoriello and Stanley Cup-winning head coach Barry Trotz. Whether the overhaul and astute drafting convince Tavares to stay remains to be seen, but the 2018 draft was yet another step forward for the Islanders.
(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)