The first round of the 2022 NHL draft is in the books, and there were plenty of notable storylines from opening night in Montreal. There were seven trades made Thursday involving eight picks in the first round.
The Detroit Red Wings opted to keep the No. 8 overall pick and drafted Austrian center Marco Kasper, who played last season in the Swedish Hockey League.
Meanwhile, two University of Michigan incoming freshmen were selected in the top 15 picks. Center Frank Nazar was drafted 13th overall pick the Chicago Blackhawks before winger Rutger McGroarty was taken one pick later by the Winnipeg Jets.
The draft continues Friday with rounds 2-7.
11:04 p.m. -- The Edmonton Oilers wrap up the first round by selecting Seattle Thunderbirds winger Reid Schaefer at No. 32. Schaefer is a power forward at 6-foot-3, 213 pounds and is coming off a 58-point season in the WHL.
10:57 p.m. -- Six U.S. NTDP players are off the board as Isaac Howard becomes the latest to get drafted. The 5-foot-10 winger led the team with 82 points last season and heads to the Tampa Bay Lightning at No. 31 overall. The Wisconsin native is committed to play at Minnesota-Duluth next season.
10:48 p.m. -- NHL draft history has just been made. With the 30th pick, the Winnipeg Jets select Finnish center Brad Lambert. He is the 17th player selected in the first round who was born outside of North America, the most in draft history. He had two goals and two assists in 25 games last season in the Finnish Elite League.
10:40 p.m. -- Another trade is announced in a salary-shedding move for the Edmonton Oilers. They trade pick No. 29, a 2024 third-rounder, a 2025 second-rounder and winger Zack Kassian to the Arizona Coyotes for pick No. 32. With the 29th pick, the Coyotes select 6-foot-7 defenseman Maveric Lamoureux from the QMJHL. He recorded four goals and 20 assists last season in 54 games. Arizona has made three picks in the first round: center Logan Cooley at No. 3 and center Conor Geekie at No. 11.
10:38 p.m. -- The Buffalo Sabres made their second selection of the night and drafted center Jiri Kulich from the Czech Republic. He had nine goals and five assists in 49 games in 2021-22 in the top Czech pro league.
10:32 p.m. -- Another Swedish players goes in the first round as the San Jose Sharks grab center Filip Bystedt at No. 27. The 6-foot-3 left-handed shot had 49 points in 40 games last season in the Swedish junior league.
10:23 p.m. -- Huge night for Slovakia who produced the first two picks of the draft and added another at No. 26. Winger Filip Mesar, who had eight goals and eight assists in 37 games last season in the Slovak Extraliga, is headed to the Montreal Canadiens.
10:14 p.m. -- The Chicago Blackhawks just acquired their third pick of the first round. They traded for the No. 25 pick and goalie Petr Mrazek to the Toronto Maple Leafs for pick No. 38. Chicago drafted a Minnesota high school defenseman Sam Rinzel, who also is committed to the University of Minnesota. Chicago also picked at No. 7 and No. 13 after trading away Kirby Dach and Alex DeBrincat.
10:11 p.m. -- The Minnesota Wild just got a steal at No. 24, according to ESPN’s Meghan Chayka. They select winger Danila Yurov from Russia. He did not record a point in 21 games in the KHL last season.
10:04 p.m. -- Winger Jimmy Snuggerud becomes the fifth U.S. NTDP player selected in the first round, going to the St. Louis Blues at No. 23 overall. The Golden Gophers commit had 24 goals and 39 assists in 59 games last season.
9:57 p.m. -- With their second pick of the first round, the Anaheim Ducks draft center Nathan Gaucher out of the Quebec Remparts in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. He stands 6-foot-3 and had 31 goals and 26 assists in 66 games last season.
9:51 p.m. -- The Pittsburgh Penguins go defense at No. 21, selecting 6-foot-4 Owen Pickering from the Swift Current Broncos of the WHL. The Manitoba native had 33 points in 62 games last season.
9:46 p.m. -- At No. 20, the Washington Capitals select Russian forward Ivan Miroshnichenko. ESPN analyst Meghan Chayka called him the most talented player in the draft. Miroshnichenko missed most of the 2021-22 season, however, because of a non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma diagnosis.
9:39 p.m. -- A lot of international flavor here in the middle of the first round. The Djurgarden program in Sweden produces its third pick of the night as winger Liam Ohgren goes to the Minnesota Wild at No. 18.
9:32 p.m. -- The Dallas Stars add some size to their blue line, drafting 6-foot-5, 216-pound defenseman Lian Bichsel with the No. 18 pick. He was born in Switzerland but played last season in the Swedish Hockey League.
9:22 p.m. -- With the 17th overall pick, the Nashville players select forward Joakim Kemell from the Finnish Elite League. Kemell had 15 goals and eight assists in 39 games last season.
9:13 p.m. -- Back-to-back Swedish players off the board here in the middle of the first round as center Noah Ostlund goes to the Buffalo Sabres at No. 16. Ostlund was teammates with Lekkerimaki with the Djurgarden junior program last season.
9:06 p.m. -- The Vancouver Canucks selected winger Jonathan Lekkerimaki out of Sweden with the No. 15 pick.
9:01 p.m. -- The Wolverines have produced back-to-back picks here in the first round as incoming freshman forward Rutger McGroarty heads to the Winnipeg Jets at No. 14. The 6-foot-1, 204-pound Nebraska native also played with the U.S. development program last season and had a team-high 35 goals. Michigan has now had seven players drafted in the first round over the past two years.
STORY: Forward Rutger McGroarty becomes second Michigan Wolverine selected in first round of 2022 NHL draft
8:52 p.m. -- Michigan’s hockey program produced five first-round picks in the 2021 draft and now has its first in the 2022 draft. The Chicago Blackhawks selected incoming freshman center Frank Nazar at No. 13. Nazar is the third U.S. NTDP product to get selected Thursday. The Detroit native had 70 points in 56 games last season.
“This is unreal,” Nazar said in an interview with ESPN on the draft floor in Montreal. “It’s like you’re in a dream and you’re not going to end up waking up. This is amazing.”
STORY: Michigan signee Frank Nazar selected in first round of 2022 NHL draft
8:45 p.m. -- With their second pick of the first round, the Columbus Blue Jackets draft another defenseman at No. 12 with Denton Mateychuk from the Moose Jaw Warriors in the WHL.
8:36 p.m. -- The San Jose Sharks trade the No. 11 pick to the Arizona Coyotes for picks No. 27, 34 and 45. With the No. 11 pick, the Coyotes select 6-foot-3 center Conor Geekie. He is the second player drafted from the Winnipeg Ice on Thursday, joining Matthew Savoie at No. 9. Geekie’s brother, Morgan, currently plays for the Seattle Kraken.
8:31 p.m. -- Russian defenseman Pavel Mintyukov, who played for the Saginaw Spirit in the OHL last season, heads to the Anaheim Ducks at No. 10 overall. Although Saginaw struggled last season, Mintyukov put up impressive numbers, registering 17 goals and 45 assists in 67 games.
8:25 p.m. -- The Buffalo Sabres selected Michigan defenseman Owen Power with the No. 1 overall pick last year. They went with a center with their first pick this year, nabbing Matthew Savoie at No. 9. Savoie is only 5-foot-9 but put up gaudy numbers last season for the Winnipeg Ice in the WHL, finishing with 35 goals and 55 assists in 65 games.
8:19 p.m. -- The Detroit Red Wings select a center with the eighth overall pick: Marco Kasper. The 6-foot-1 left-handed shot was born in Austria but has played professionally in Sweden the past two years. He had seven goals and four assists in 46 games last season for Rogle BK Angelholm.
“He probably cold play all three forward positions but we drafted him as a centerman,” general manager Steve Yzerman said on the ESPN telecast after the pick. “We think he has underrated skill and believe he has the ability to play in our top six one day. We have high hopes for him.”
8:12 p.m. -- Back-to-back defensemen off the board as the Chicago Blackhawks select Kevin Korchinski at No. 7. The 6-2 left-handed shot had four goals and 61 assists in 67 games last season for the Seattle Thunderbirds in the Western Hockey League. The Red Wings are on the clock.
8:05 p.m. -- The Columbus Blue Jackets go defense with the No. 6 pick, drafting David Jiricek out of the Czech Republic. The 6-foot-3 right-handed shot had 11 points in 29 games last season playing in the Czech Extraliga.
7:59 p.m. -- Another U.S. NTDP product goes early as the Philadelphia Flyers select winger Cutter Gauthier at No. 5. The Boston College commit had 34 goals and 31 assists in 54 games last season.
7:52 p.m. -- Shane Wright is finally off the board. The two-way center goes to the Seattle Kraken at No. 4. The Ontario native had 94 points in 63 games last season for the Kingston Frontenacs in the Ontario Hockey League. This is the second straight year Seattle has drafted a center in the top five. It selected Michigan’s Matty Beniers at No. 2 in 2021.
7:48 p.m. -- Montreal is stealing the show at the draft so far. The Canadiens trade defenseman Alexander Romanov and the 98th pick in this year’s draft to the New York Islanders for pick No. 13 tonight. They then traded picks No. 13 and 66 to the Chicago Blackhawks for Kirby Dach, the No. 3 overall pick in 2019. Dach, 21, had 26 points in 70 games last season. The Seattle Kraken are on the clock with the No. 4 pick.
7:42 p.m. -- Three picks in and Shane Wright is still available. The Arizona Coyotes go with U.S. National Team Development Program center Logan Cooley at No. 3. Cooley is the first of many NTDP players expected to get drafted in tonight’s first round. He finished second on the team with 75 points last season in 51 games and is committed to play at the University of Minnesota next season.
7:34 p.m. -- Whoa. Another surprise. The New Jersey Devils select another Slovakian with the No. 2 pick, this one a defenseman: Simon Nemec. No major outlets had Nemec going in the top three in their latest mock drafts. The 6-foot, right-handed shot has played in the Slovak Extraliga the past three seasons and had one goal and 25 assists in 39 games last season.
7:24 p.m. -- It only took one pick for the first surprise of the night. The Canadiens select forward Juraj Slafkovsky, the MVP from the 2022 Olympics representing Slovakia, over center Shane Wright, who some believed was the No. 1 overall prospect in the draft. Slafkovsky, who stands 6-foot-4, recorded five goals and five assists in 31 games last season in the Finnish Elite League. The New Jersey Devils are now on the clock.
7:20 p.m. -- The Montreal Canadiens are on the clock with the first overall pick in front of their home crowd.
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PREDRAFT UPDATES
4:20 p.m. -- The first blockbuster deal of the day has been finalized. The Chicago Blackhawks have traded 24-year-old forward Alex DeBrincat, who had 41 goals and 37 assists in 82 games last season, to the Ottawa Senators for the No. 7 and No. 39 overall picks in the 2022 draft and a third-round pick in 2024.
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Holiday fireworks might not be over yet.
The 2022 NHL draft begins at 7 p.m. Thursday in Montreal, and rumors are swirling before the Canadiens are on the clock with the No. 1 overall pick.
Experts believe this is one of the most unpredictable drafts in recent years, which could lead to a flurry of activity during Thursday’s first round. Several stars are reportedly on the trade block, including Alex DeBrincat, J.T. Miller, Blake Wheeler and Vladimir Tarasenko. Plus, some teams picking in the top 10 appear willing to trade their selection for immediate help, most notably the New Jersey Devils at No. 2.
The Detroit Red Wings are slated to pick at No. 8, but could general manager Steve Yzerman have something else in the works?
Continue to refresh this page as MLive will be providing live updates throughout Thursday’s first round.
Plus, the University of Michigan could be well-represented in the first round once again. It set an NCAA record last year with five first-round selection, including four in the top five picks, and it is likely to have two more this year: incoming freshmen Frank Nazar and Rutger McGroarty. Fellow incoming freshman Seamus Casey, who was teammates with Nazar and McGroarty at the U.S. National Team Development Program last season, has and outside chance of hearing his name called in the top 32 picks but is projected as an early day two selection.
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