The 2022 NHL Draft brought some surprises: The Montreal Canadiens selected Juraj Slafkovsky with the first pick, while the Chicago Blackhawks traded their way to three first-round selections as they intensified their rebuild. The Athletic has the draft covered with pick analysis, top prospect news, trade grades and more.
The Athletic NHL Staff
Summary
The 2022 NHL Draft brought some surprises: The Montreal Canadiens selected Juraj Slafkovsky with the first pick, while the Chicago Blackhawks traded their way to three first-round selections as they intensified their rebuild.
The Athletic has the draft covered with pick analysis, top prospect news, trade grades and more.
(Photo: Eric Bolte / USA Today)
NHL Draft provides Slovakian hockey with historic moment
At the 2022 draft, Juraj Slafkovsky and Simon Nemec became the highest-selected Slovakians in NHL history.
(Photo: Eric Bolte / USA Today)
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Sabres NHL Draft takeaways
The Sabres didn't make a trade so they drafted 11 players, including a big Finnish goalie and a flier from Florida.
(Photo: Eric Bolte / USA Today)
What are the Maple Leafs getting in their 2022 NHL Draft picks?
By the time the Maple Leafs left the NHL Draft in Montreal on Friday night they had turned their original three picks into five and now have a few more prospects to add to a recently thinned-out cupboard.
“Obviously the more tickets, sometimes that’s better, right?” said Leafs director of amateur scouting Wes Clark at the conclusion of the draft on Friday.
2022 NHL Draft winners and losers from Day 2
How did each team do in the 2022 NHL Draft? Our Scott Wheeler gives a detailed look.
(Illustration: John Bradford / The Athletic; Dave Sandford, David Kirouac / Icon Sportswire / Getty Images)
Darcy Kuemper, Cam Talbot and the rest of the goalie market after the NHL Draft
The goalie carousel is getting some clarity. Kind of.
Marc-Andre Fleury stayed in Minnesota, Ville Husso went to Detroit, Alexander Georgiev to Colorado and Vitek Vanecek to New Jersey.
That leaves two high-profile UFAs in Jack Campbell and Darcy Kuemper with Toronto, Edmonton, Washington and maybe Buffalo looking for starting netminders.
(Photo: Sam Navarro / USA Today)
Blue Jackets’ NHL Draft stays quiet
The Blue Jackets came into this year’s NHL Draft with high expectations, not just with the new crop of prospects they’d select, but in the bold trades that GM Jarmo Kekalainen wanted to make.
The only trade Kekalainen made during the two days occurred mid-way through the day on Friday, and it wasn’t exactly a blockbuster: The Jackets traded a fifth-round pick in 2023 to San Jose in exchange for a fifth-round pick in this year’s draft, No. 138 overall.
Kekalainen’s “restart” felt more like a “rebuild” this week in Bell Centre, as none of the players added to the organization are expected to make an impact anytime soon. It wasn’t for a lack of trying, though.
(Photo: Eric Bolte / USA Today)
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Shane Wright addition brings Kraken’s future into focus
Shane Wright had barely been a Seattle Kraken prospect for all of five minutes when Troy Bodie felt his iPhone buzzing.
He checked his phone and saw he had a text message. The message itself was a request from someone asking Bodie, the Kraken’s director of hockey and business operations, if he could possibly pass along Wright’s number when he got the chance.
That someone who made the request? It was Kraken center Matty Beniers, and all he wanted was to be among the first in the organization to start building a relationship with Wright.
(Photo: Eric Bolte / USA Today)
Ondrej Palat, draft picks and more
The Lightning accomplished what they wanted to during the two-day NHL Draft, which was to add some skilled offensive players to their prospect pool.
Colorful first-round pick Isaac Hudson, third-rounder Lucas Edmonds and sixth-rounder Connor Kurth are interesting in their own way (more on that later).
But judging by how often GM Julien BriseBois was darting around the Bell Centre the last couple of days, he’s also been laying the groundwork for what could be a very busy week or two for his offseason.
Alex DeBrincat on trade to Senators: 'Hopefully we can do something special'
“I didn’t necessarily see this coming. I know it was a possibility, but I think I was ready to be in Chicago for a long time,” DeBrincat told reporters during a Zoom media conference on Friday afternoon. “That was kind of the way I thought about it.”
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The Red Wings’ Ville Husso trade, and 12 thoughts on Detroit’s NHL Draft
Twelve thoughts on Detroit's NHL draft:
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Wild offseason off to an ominous start: The latest on the Kaprizov situation, Talbot drama and more
Inside the Cam Talbot drama, the Kirill Kaprizov situation and more.
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Making David Pastrnak a ‘lifelong Bruin’ is now the No. 1 priority
David Pastrnak is the Bruins No. 1 priority.
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Canadiens’ NHL Draft 2022 picks, analysis and fits
In Juraj Slafkovsky, the Montreal Canadiens get the best player in the 2022 NHL Draft, and the player with the best chance to become a star. He showed this due to his unique skill set, being a high-end athlete with high-end offensive skills and showing unique flashes of elite play this season even if it wasn’t consistent. He becomes a key part of their rebuild, with at least a chance to become a 40-goal/40-assist winger in his prime.
(Photo: Eric Bolte / USA Today)
Why the Maple Leafs drafted Fraser Minten: ‘He’s a new age hockey player’
Fraser Minten instantly becomes one of the Maple Leafs' top prospects at center, a long-term position of need.
(Photo: Eric Bolte / USA Today)
Golden Knights draft observations: A ‘layered’ strategy, and targeting scorers
Golden Knights draft observations:
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What it’d take for Rangers to keep Copp, plus backup goalie market, more buzz from draft
More Rangers buzz from the NHL draft:
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2022 NHL Draft grades, analysis for every pick from Corey Pronman
Corey Pronman grades how every team performed at the 2022 NHL Draft.
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Oilers prospect pipeline needs a post-draft boost
The Oilers were once again short on draft picks. How can they make up for it?
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By The Athletic Staff
Childhood friends to NHL teammates
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