Devils draft Ty Smith in 1st round
DALLAS — There were a couple teams in the first round of the draft that seemingly benefited from what was an unpredictable first couple picks, and one of them was the Devils.
With the No. 17 overall selection, they took defenseman Ty Smith on Friday night. Smith, 18, is a bit undersized, but he was supposed to go in the top 10. Even he said the delay in hearing his name took him a bit by surprise.
“I was a little bit off guard,” Smith said. “They announced the pick quick. There had been a little bit of waiting there, so as soon as I heard it, I was pretty excited. It was special, for sure.”
Smith is 5-foot-10 and 200 pounds, and if he isn’t known as the fastest skater, he apparently makes up for it in awareness on the ice. Playing this past season for WHL Spokane, the native of Saskatchewan finished second in points for defensemen in the league with 14 goals and 73 points in 69 games.
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The Devils just made the playoffs this year for the first time in five seasons, and their rebuild under the guidance of general manager Ray Shero has gone a little bit faster than anticipated.
“I hear they have a great organization,” Smith said. “They’ve got some great young players right now that are really exciting to watch. I’m excited for it and excited for the first camp.”
As expected, Rasmus Dahlin went to the Sabres with the No. 1 overall selection. The Swedish defenseman was a longtime consensus for the first pick and the hope in Buffalo is that he can contribute right away.
“It’s amazing,” Dahlin said. “I’ve been finally [able] to put on the Buffalo Sabres jersey. I’ve been there twice and I love that city. I can’t wait to get everything started.”
Dahlin was predicted followed by Andrei Svechnikov to the Hurricanes at No. 2.
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The was some hope the Rangers might be able to snag Brady Tkachuk with the No. 9 pick and reunite him with his former coach at Boston University, the newly hired David Quinn. But the son of longtime NHLer Keith went to the Senators at No. 4, and he wasn’t put off by all the negativity coming out of Ottawa either.
“I know it’s run by great management,” Tkachuk said. “I know there’s great guys in the locker room, too. I’m just super excited now to get there for development camp and see what it’s all about and I’m just super excited to be part of this organization.”
The night started with commissioner Gary Bettman presenting the E.J. McGuire Award of Excellence to the Humboldt Broncos, the junior team from Saskatchewan that had a deadly bus crash in April. The award normally goes annually to the “draft prospect who best exemplifies the commitment to excellence through strength of character, competitiveness and athleticism as selected by NHL Central Scouting.”
The team lost 13 young players and three coaches, with four players still in the hospital.