Ryan Remiorz / Canadian Press
Shane Wright poses for photos after being selected by the Seattle Kraken with the fourth pick in the NHL draft in Montreal on Thursday, July 7, 2022.
Thursday, July 7, 2022 | 8:04 p.m.
The Golden Knights wanted no part of the craziness.
Vegas began the day with no first-round picks in the NHL Draft on Thursday and ended the night that same way. When the second round begins at 8 a.m. Friday, the Golden Knights will make their first selection at No. 48.
While Kelly McCrimmon, George McPhee and the rest of the Vegas contingent sat at their table on the floor of the Bell Centre in Montreal, however, chaos ensued around them.
It started with the host Montreal Canadiens shocking the home crowd by taking Slovakian forward Juraj Slafkovsky with the No. 1 overall pick, instead of consensus top prospect Shane Wright.
The New Jersey Devils, who didn't need a center but could've used one to fortify their group down the middle, took Slovakian defenseman Simon Nemec at No. 2. Then followed the Arizona Coyotes with another shocker taking U.S. forward Logan Cooley with the third pick.
Finally, the Seattle Kraken took Wright at No. 4 to potentially create a 1-2 punch down the middle with last year's No. 2 overall pick Matty Beniers.
And yet, that wasn't even the biggest surprise of the entire day.
The Chicago Blackhawks' rebuild is clearly underway. After trading 40-goal scorer Alex DeBrincat to the Ottawa Senators for three draft picks, Chicago sent former No. 3 pick Kirby Dach to Montreal in a three-team trade involving the New York Islanders.
New York sent the 13th pick to Montreal for defenseman Alexander Romanov, and the Canadiens sent that pick to Chicago for the 21-year-old center.
But the Blackhawks were not done. They traded back into the first round for a third time in a deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs, sending the No. 38 pick to Toronto for the 25th pick and veteran goalie Petr Mrázek.
Mrázek appeared in just 20 games for Toronto in the first year of a three-year deal with an average annual value of $3.8 million.
The Golden Knights' lone appearance in the first round was the Buffalo Sabres selecting Swedish center Noah Östlund with the 16th pick. That was the pick sent to Buffalo in the trade for Jack Eichel last November.
Vegas wasn't expected to trade into the first round unless an offer came across. The Golden Knights didn't make any cap-clearing deals either, unlike their Pacific Division counterparts from Edmonton. The Oilers traded forward Zack Kassian and three picks to Arizona for the 32nd pick.
Prior to the start of the draft, the Minnesota Wild re-signed former Vegas goalie Marc-André Fleury to a two-year deal at $3.5 million AAV.
Whether the Golden Knights start taking care of their own free agents is another option on the table that could happen Friday.
Danny Webster can be reached at 702-259-8814 or [email protected]. Follow Danny on Twitter at twitter.com/DannyWebster21.
