The first round of the 2024 National Hockey League Draft took place at the Sphere in Las Vegas on Friday night. Here are five headlines.
1) Macklin Celebrini drafted number one.
The San Jose Sharks drafted Macklin Celebrini first overall out of Boston University. In 38 games, he had 32 goals and 32 assists for 64 points. This is the second straight year that the first overall pick is from Vancouver, British Columbia. Last year the Chicago Blackhawks selected Connor Bedard from the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League. Bedard went on to win the Calder Trophy.
2) NCAA Players selected first and second.
After Celebrini was picked number one, the Chicago Blackhawks selected defenseman Artyom Levshunov of Michigan State University second overall. The native of Zhlobin, Belarus had nine goals and 26 assists for 35 points last season. Interestingly, Celebrini and Levshunov were the only two players from the NCAA drafted in the first round.
3) Utah selects Jarome Iginla’s son Tij.
The Utah Hockey Club selected Tij Iginla of Lake Country, British Columbia with the sixth overall pick. Tij Iginla is the son of Hockey Hall of Famer and Calgary Flames legend Jarome Iginla of Edmonton, Alberta. Last season for the Kelowna Rockets, Tij Iginla had 47 goals and 37 assists for 84 points.
4) Two Norwegians drafted.
For the first time ever a Norwegian was selected in the first round of the NHL Draft. However, there was not just one taken but two. The Detroit Red Wings picked right winger Michael Brandsegg-Nygard 15th overall, and the Anaheim Ducks picked defenseman Stian Solberg 23rd overall.
5) The Blues acquire Alexandre Texier.
Right before the draft, the St. Louis Blues acquired centre Alexandre Texier of St. Martin D’heres, France from the Columbus Blue Jackets for a fourth round pick in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft. In 78 games in 2023-24, Texier had 12 goals and 18 assists for 30 points. He was a -5 with 38 penalty minutes, two power-play points, two shorthanded points, one game-winning goal, 109 shots on goal, six faceoff wins, 36 blocked shots, 57 hits, 21 takeaways, and 16 giveaways.
Texier’s game-winning goal was a shorthanded goal at 6:33 of the second period on January 25 in a 5-2 Blue Jackets win over the Calgary Flames. Texier scored from Sean Kuraly of Dublin, Ohio, and defenseman Erik Gudbranson of Ottawa, Ontario, and put the Blue Jackets up 3-2 at the time.
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