2014 NHL Entry Draft - The First Round

Here we go again. Tonight, 28 teams (not the Senators or Rangers) are set to make selections in the first round of the 2014 NHL draft. If their GM chooses wisely a future superstar could be added to their respective teams. If their GM chooses poorly he will die and turn to dust the selection will never be forgotten by fans, and will be endlessly discussed when it comes to what could have been (ex. Oilers fans and Zach Parise).

I have to admit, I used to find the draft much more exciting than I do now. This has been yet another casualty of eight seasons of losing and seeing teenager after teenager cast as the franchise's next saviour. Minor bitterness aside. there is still plenty of entertainment to be found in the proceedings tonight though.

There will be insincere congratulations given to the Stanley Cup Champion Los Angeles Kings. Shout outs to the fans back home watching at the local watering hole. And of course Gary Bettman will be loudly booed every time he steps up to the podium. With the draft being in held Philadelphia the response to Bettman could be epic.

As it stands now this is the draft order. Hopefully we see some trades (Do it, MacT. Do it.) and some movement on the board to keep things exciting and to distract us from every pick being compared to a Hall of Fame player. We'll update the list as picks happen and of course sarcastic comments are not only welcomed, but encouraged.

1. Florida - Ekblad
2. Buffalo - Reinhart
3. Edmonton - Draisaitl
4. Calgary - Bennett
5. NY Islanders - Dal Colle
6. Vancouver - Virtanen
7. Carolina - Fleury
8. Toronto - Nylander
9. Winnipeg - Ehlers
10. Anaheim (from Ottawa) - Ritchie
11. Nashville - Fiala
12. Arizona - Perlini
13. Washington - Vrana 
14. Dallas - Honka
15. Detroit - Larkin
16. Columbus - Milano
17. Philadelphia - Sanheim 
18. Minnesota - Tuch
19. Tampa Bay - Deangelo
20. Chicago (from San Jose) - Schmaltz
21. St. Louis - Fabbri
22. Pittsburgh - Kapanen
23. Colorado - Bleackley
24. Vancouver (from Anaheim) - McCann 
25. Boston - Pastrnak
26. Montreal - Scherbak
27. San Jose (from Chicago) - Goldobin
28. NY Islanders (from Tampa Bay from NY Rangers) - Ho-Sang
29. Los Angeles - Kempe
30. New Jersey - Quenneville