The First Round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft is set to take place tonight at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, BC. The Final NHL Central Scouting rankings are in, General Managers across the league have the players ranked and they are excited to select the best young hockey talent in the world. This year’s draft class is considered strong, with some of the top prospects looking ready to make the jump to the NHL and begin playing.

 

The first-round draft order is decided, however there is always the possibility of trades happening, so nothing is set in stone. The New Jersey Devils have the first overall pick, followed by the New York Rangers and the Chicago Blackhawks. Here is a complete list of the currently draft order for tonight:

  1. New Jersey Devils
  2. New York Rangers
  3. Chicago Blackhawks
  4. Colorado Avalanche (from Senators)
  5. Los Angeles Kings
  6. Detroit Red Wings
  7. Buffalo Sabres
  8. Edmonton Oilers
  9. Anaheim Ducks
  10. Vancouver Canucks
  11. Philadelphia Flyers
  12. Minnesota Wild
  13. Florida Panthers
  14. Arizona Coyotes
  15. Montreal Canadiens
  16. Colorado Avalanche
  17. Vegas Golden Knights
  18. Dallas Stars
  19. Ottawa Senators (from Blue Jackets)
  20. Winnipeg Jets (from Rangers)
  21. Pittsburgh Penguins
  22. Los Angeles Kings (from Maple Leafs)
  23. New York Islanders
  24. Nashville Predators
  25. Washington Capitals
  26. Calgary Flames
  27. Tampa Bay Lightning
  28. Carolina Hurricanes
  29. Anaheim Ducks (from Sharks via Sabres)
  30. Boston Bruins
  31. Buffalo Sabres (from Blues)

 

According to McKeen’s Hockey, Jack Hughes or the US National U18 Team will be the first player selected. He put up 112 points in 50 games with the club and is ready to join his brother, Quinn Hughes, in the National Hockey League. The consensus number two overall pick is Kaapo Kakko, a Right Winger out of Finland.  Following these two players are a number of WHL prospects, including Saskatoon Blade’s forward Kirby Dach. As a Saskatoon based company, we will be routing for Kirby tonight! To view McKeen’s full prediction for the first round of the draft, click here.

 

The Team at TeamLinkt has also compiled their thoughts and assembled draft predictions for the first 10 picks in tonight’s draft. They are:

  1. Jack Hughes, US National U18 Team
  2. Kaapo Kakko, TPS, Liiga (Finland)
  3. Kirby Dach, Saskatoon Blades, WHL
  4. Bowen Byram, Vancouver Giants, WHL
  5. Dylan Cozens, Lethbridge Hurricanes, WHL
  6. Alex Turcotte, US National U18 Team
  7. Cole Caufield, US National U18 Team
  8. Trevor Zegras, US National U18 Team
  9. Peyton Krebs, Winnipeg Ice, WHL
  10. Victor Söderström, Brynäs IF, SHL

DOWNLOAD THE APP TODAY!