EHE Concludes Day 1 of Entry Draft
2016-07-25
BUFFALO – Sunday was finally the turn of excitement for those teams who floundered this past season. After sitting back and watching teams battle it out for two months over the Stanley Cup, teams looking to improve their rosters were finally given the opportunity at the EHE Entry Draft in Buffalo.
The first four of five rounds were held as teams jockeyed for position to get the best prospects possible. To little surprise, Arizona-native Auston Matthews was selected first overall by the host-team Buffalo Sabres, who acquired the pick a month ago. Fans were given another opportunity to cheer in short matter when the Sabres chose forward Pierre-Luc Dubois just three picks later.
There were no big surprises among the first ten selections, though some would consider Alex Nylander falling 9th overall to Tampa Bay as a slight surprise.
Here are some other notable happenings from this year's draft:
Sam Steal?
Another surprise drop was that of forward Sam Steel, who also went to the Lightning. Steel had the potential to be selected in the first round, yet fell all the way to 45th overall. It was only when the disgusted 18-year-old showed off the patented "Blue Steel" look that Lightning general manager Justin Hill was scared (or turned on) enough to select the Alberta native.
Cholowski Continues to Rise
As further evidence of the belief that the player pool was wide open after the top ten were selected, defenseman Dennis Cholowski of the BCHL was chosen by the Washington Capitals at 16th overall. Cholowski's stock had risen all season, placing at 39 on TSN's midseason rankings before climbing to 25 by the end of the season.
OOOOOOOH!!!
Perhaps the biggest commotion of the day was caused when the New York Rangers selected towering defenseman Phil Myers during round three, with the 78th selection. The buzz about the draft floor seemed to be that many teams had chosen to "wait too long" on the Myers pick and general manager Martins Auzins caught them napping. Predators general manager Eric Wolf had just arrived moments earlier, reeking of both alcohol and shame, and was so upset with the pick that he threw his hot coffee at a child over at the St. Louis Blues table.
"It wasn't my newborn, so I didn't care," said Blues general manager Shaun Stephens.
Seriously. Why are all these little kids always running around the draft floor?
WHOOOOO!?!
One risk that immediately failed was when the Flyers acquired pick 61 from the Sabres and attempted to select Brett Jasper, a 28-year-old UPS driver from West Seneca, NY. Built like a fire hydrant at 5-foot-8, 265 pounds, Jasper was in the middle of the concessions line when he heard his name called.
"People were telling me I had just gotten taken in the draft and I was like, 'What?'" Jasper said in an interview with Darren Dreger. "All I wanted was a refill on my pop. It was very confusing."
The Flyers were penalized for their invalid selection but eventually ended up with the player they intended to select – Jesper Bratt, who was just as surprised to be selected as Brett Jasper.
Saving the Best For Last
In what easily was actually the biggest news of the day, New York Islanders forward Sean Collins signed with Kunlun Red Star of the Kontinental Hockey League.
When asked of this devastating blow to the Islanders roster, general manager Tony Chiu said, "We had a player named Sean Collins?"
He joins Sean P. Collins and Sean R. Collins as the latest player named 'Sean Collins' to pretty much have an irrelevant pro hockey career in North America.
The final round of the draft is expected to conclude by Tuesday, before everyone sits around and waits a month for the lousy EHE commissioner to declare the start of free agency.