NHL draft produces little fireworks beyond 1st pick

Most of the drama at the first ever draft in Chicago was gone after only one pick.

After weeks of buzz around the Vegas Golden Knights, so-called protection lists, the expansion draft and a flurry of interesting trades, the draft at United Center came and went with only the occasional flurry.

The fireworks finally died down.

• ANALYSIS: NHL draft partially upstaged by torrent of trades

Of highest intrigue beyond the Devils opting for Nico Hischier with the first overall pick in franchise history was Calgary landing 26-year-old defenceman Travis Hamonic from the Islanders. Active on draft weekend in each of the two previous years, the Flames surrendered a first round pick in 2018 and two seconds to add the right-shooting Hamonic on Saturday afternoon.

"He's certainly a guy that we've had our eye on for a while," Calgary GM Brad Treliving said. "At the end of the day you pay a price."

A second round pick in 2008 with three years left on his contract ($3.86 million US cap hit), Hamonic is coming off a troublesome, injury-plagued season with the Islanders, one that saw him play only 49 games while ranking last on the team with a woeful 44 per cent puck possession mark.

The Flames are hoping a return to earlier form will bolster a defence that's topped by Dougie Hamilton and Mark Giordano. Swept in the first round of the playoffs by Anaheim, the Flames also tried to shore up their goaltending by adding Mike Smith from Arizona.

Calgary made a similar attempt in goal at the draft last year, landing Brian Elliott from St. Louis. A year earlier they picked up Hamilton from Boston also for a first and two seconds.

Flurry of activity surrounding expansion draft

Though the Flyers dealt Brayden Schenn to the Blues on Friday, most trades of significance came ahead of Wednesday's expansion draft when teams had limits to protecting their rosters from Vegas. There were more in the immediate aftermath with the Oilers finally parting with Jordan Eberle and the Blackhawks flipping 2016 Calder Trophy winner Artemi Panarin to Columbus for Brandon Saad.

The Oilers, Flames and Canadiens were among the more active teams in recent weeks. Habs GM Marc Bergevin, wearing bright red pants on Day 2 of the draft, notably scored Jonathan Drouin from Tampa and defenceman David Schlemko from Vegas. Also dealing out defensive staple Niklas Hjalmarsson, the Hawks are trying to bolster their roster after two consecutive first round exits.

Buzz was otherwise lacking because of the apparent absence of a generational talent, like Auston Matthews in 2016 or Connor McDavid the year before that.

The draft did see a record number of Finnish first rounders (six) as well as the highest ever pick from France, Alexandre Texier. Yet another Strome brother entered the NHL, too, this time with Philadelphia with Matthew (106th overall) joining Dylan and Ryan, the 23-year-old who was sent to Edmonton in the deal for Eberle.

Six goaltenders were picked in the third round after only two went in rounds 1 and 2.

A dozen new Knights

The Knights made 12 picks in all at their first draft a number of them scooped up at the expansion draft. Among the added selections were Nick Suzuki (13th overall), a centre from London, Ont., who finished fifth in the Ontario Hockey League with 96 points last season, and Erik Brannstrom (15th), a Swedish defenceman who styles his game after Shayne Gostisbehere the runner-up to Panarin for the league's top rookie in 2016.

Maksim Zhukov of Russia became the first ever goalie drafted by the organization at 127th overall.

Klim Kostin, another Russian who topped the NHL's European rankings heading into the draft, slid to the Blues at 31st overall the pick coming by way of a trade with Pittsburgh.

The draft, as it usually is, will be remembered for the selection at the top and in this case, whether the Devils made the right move in opting for Hischier over Nolan Patrick.

Devils get their guy

Shero said the Devils determined Hischier was their guy in the final week to 10 days, opting for the so-called "Swiss McDavid" over Patrick for his upside and ability to make others better. The Devils GM liked what he heard during a lengthy sit-down with Hischier in Switzerland and was impressed with how the potential top-line centre guided the young Halifax Mooseheads to the post-season.

"There's not a lot of room for error here," Shero said. "It's an important thing and you want to be sure."

Recent drafts saw No. 1 overall picks that not only landed in the NHL right away but dominated. Matthews, the most recent example, just captured the first Calder for the Leafs in 51 years while becoming a rare teenage rookie to score 40 goals.

Shero wasn't even certain that Hischier, a rookie in the Quebec Major Junior League, would even play in the NHL in the 2017-18 season.

"Without pushing someone in a direction where maybe they're not comfortable I believe he should be (in the NHL), but at the same time we'll do what's best for him and for us," Shero said.