It was no surprise to anyone, that after the draft, Rasmus Dahlin and Andrei Svechnikov were one and two (did you see our draft preview?), while the third placed Canadiens opted for Kotkaniemi, the 18-year old Centre out of the Finnish Liiga, and is easily compared to Anze Kopitar. American, Brady Tkachuk, from Boston, was drafted fourth by the Senators, as fifth, sixth, and seventh picks were Barrett Hayton (Arizona Coyotes), Filip Zadina (Detroit Red Wings), and the University of Michigan Defenseman, Quinn Hughes (Vancouver Canucks). Boqvist, Kravtsov, and Bouchard, were taken by the Blackhawks, Ragers, and Oilers, respectively.
There wasn’t much surprise in the draft, but then there are always those sleeper players that will surprise us during the season, and we look forward to having looks of “Ohhhh” and thoughts of “how did we miss him” when the season gets on the way.
It is now time for Dahlin to start a new phase in his career, and justify all the attention (such are the demands and pressures of the NHL), and for the teams to turn their attention to the chess game of free agency.
Free Agency
The suspense was over before we could all get really sweaty, John Tavares hit free agency, refusing to re-sign with the Islanders, and then as if to drop a hint, went back home to Toronto and waited for the big contract to come from none other than the Maple Leafs. It was kind of him to spare our nerves, but don’t we love suspense… After being the captain of Islanders for the last four years, the Toronto native decided it was time to come back home. The 27-year old Centre met with the Islanders and five other teams but ultimately fell for his home team, citing his childhood dream and their status as championship contenders as his reason for signing, turning down bigger contracts from other teams.
It’ll be five years for Riemsdyk, his new relationship with the Flyers. For GM Ron Hextall to go out and get this deal means the Flyers are serious about their push this season (the Sixers are not the only sports team in Philly). Averaging 25 goals and 49 points, Riemsdyk will be a great plus to a team that is gravely in need of shooting, and some power play threat.
Ryan O’Reilly will probably have some regrets and bad feelings against the Sabres, who traded him to the Blues for three forwards and two draft picks (at least he fetched quite a price there). Second in the NHL last season in face-off winning percentage, the 27-year old will join a team that thinks it has every chance of going all-in now, and will relish the opportunity to be part of that.
Nikita Kucherov re-signed with the Lightning, an eight-year, $76 million contract that will definitely make clear how much the Tampa Bay Lightning believe in him and how much they expect from him as well.
Many more moves and deals will go down in the off-season, but as said earlier… only time will tell.
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