2017 NHL Draft: Recapping the First Round

31 Sentences, One Recap

The New Jersey Devils chose dynamic and made Nico Hischier the number-one pick.

Nolan Patrick became the easiest draft choice in Philadelphia Flyers history once Nico was gone.

The Dallas Stars kept the third pick and took a player most everyone expected they would in Miro Heiskanen.

The rise of Cale Makar saw him go fourth overall to the Colorado Avalanche.

The Vancouver Canucks addressed their need at center by selecting Elias Pettersson.

Cody Glass became an instant trivia answer when he became the Vegas Golden Knights first-ever pick.

Lias Andersson became the New York Rangers’ pick that was part of the Derek Stepan trade.

The Buffalo Sabres ignored the Combine results and took the upside of Casey Mittelstadt.

The Detroit Red Wings wanted size and drafted one of the biggest prospects available in Michael Rasmussen.

It took 10 picks, but our first OHL player came off the board when the Florida Panthers invested in Owen Tippett.

Owen Tippett
Owen Tippett now makes his NHL home in south Florida. (Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)

Gabriel Vilardi took an unexpected fall, but landed in a great spot with the Los Angeles Kings.

Although Martin Necas had dinner with the Red Wings, it was the Carolina Hurricanes that gave Necas the ultimate treat.

Vegas doubled down on their need at center and took one of the smartest players available in Nick Suzuki.

The Tampa Bay Lightning got a nice jolt on their defense when they took Callan Foote.

In their 80th pick of the first round (actually just their third), Vegas got a great defender with upside in Erik Brannstrom.

Jusso Valimaki fell out of the top-15 and the Calgary Flames wasted no time in adding a potential top-four defenseman.

The Toronto Maple Leafs committed grand larceny by adding Timothy Liljegren to an already talented young core.

The Boston Bruins wanted a complete defenseman and they got one when they selected Urho Vaakanainen.

Josh Norris’ rise saw him land in the mouth of a shark (the San José Sharks, that is.)

The St. Louis Blue took a smooth center in Robert Thomas.

Robert Thomas, London Knights, OHL, 2017 NHL Draft
Robert Thomas is not singing the Blues after St. Louis made him the 20th overall pick. (Terry Wilson/OHL Images)

The New York Rangers apparently needed centers and landed their second one of the round in Filip Chytil.

Kailer Yamamoto became instant fantasy gold when the Edmonton Connor McDavid’s selected him.

Lost in the drama in the desert, the Arizona Coyotes landed one of the faster risers in the draft in Pierre-Olivier Joseph.

In Kristian Vesalainen, the Winnipeg Jets landed a high-upside winger who is both big and skilled.

Hope Ryan Poehling’s french is in good order after the Montreal Canadiens addressed a need a center by taking him.

It took a trade to do it, but the Dallas Stars might have one of the best goalie prospects in their system now in Jake Oettinger.

The Flyers also doubled down at center and took one of the better playmakers available in Morgan Frost.

The Ottawa Senators also went to the center well and took a player in Shane Bowers who some had in their top-20.

Henri Jokiharju had the night of his life when Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane came on stage to announce his name to the United Center crowd.

The Nashville Predators said thank you very much when Eeli Tolvanan fell to them.

The St. Louis Blues had to give Ryan Reaves up, but traded up 20 spots as a result and landed the ultra-talented Klim Kostin.

Stay tuned Saturday for all day coverage of the last six rounds of the NHL Draft.