Wow. What a day we had! Day one of the 2021 NHL Draft began with many, many, trades. 12 players and 11 picks – including three first round picks for this draft – were traded before the draft began. Let’s look at the pre-draft trades first:
New York Rangers trade Pavel Buchnevich to the St. Louis Blues for Sammy Blais & a 2022 2d round pick.
Buffalo Sabres trade Rasmus Ristolainen to the Philadelphia Flyers for Robert Hagg, a 2021 1st round pick (13th overall), & a 2023 2nd round pick.
Arizona Coyotes trade Oliver Ekman-Larsson & Conor Garland to the Vancouver Canucks for Loui Eriksson, Jay Beagle, Antoine Roussel, a 2021 1st round pick (9th overall), a 2022 2nd round pick, and a 7th round pick.
Columbus Blue Jackets trade Seth Jones, 1st round pick (32nd overall), & a 2022 6th round pick to the Chicago Blackhawks for Adam Boquist, 1st round pick (12th overall), 2nd round pick (44th overall), and a 2022 1st round pick.
Columbus Blue Jackets trade a 2nd round pick (44th overall) to the Carolina Hurricanes for Jake Bean.
Also, not a trade but the New York Rangers will be buying out noted racist and hated teammate Tony DeAngelo.
Now, the picks:
1st – Buffalo Sabres – Owen Power (D) – University of Michigan, NCAA From: Mississauga, ON 2020-21 NCAA stats: 26GP – 3G – 13A – 16Pts 2021 Team Canada stats: 10GP – 0G – 3A – 3Pts Awards: BIG10 All Rookie team, 2021 World Championship Gold Medal
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2nd – Seattle Kraken – Matthew Beniers (C) – University of Michigan, NCAA From: Hingham, MA 2020-21 NCAA Stats: 24GP – 10G – 14A – 24Pts 2021 Team USA Stats: 13GP – 2G – 3A – 5Pts Awards: BIG10 All Rookie Team, 2021 World Jr. Championship Gold, 2021 World Championship Bronze
4th – New Jersey Devils – Luke Hughes (D) – USA NTDP From: Canton, MI 2020-21 Team USA Stats: 56GP – 10G – 39A – 49Pts
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5th – Columbus Blue Jackets – Kent Johnson (C) – University of Michigan, NCAA From: North Vancouver, BC 2020-21 NCAA Stats: 26GP – 9G – 18A – 27Pts 2021 Awards: BIG10 All Rookie Team
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6th – Detroit Red Wings – Simon Edvinsson (D) – Frölunda HC, SHL / Västerås IK, HockeyAllsvenskan From: Onsala, SWE 2020-21 League Stats: 28GP – 1G – 11A – 12Pts 2020-21 Team Sweden Stats: 15GP – 2G – 7A – 9Pts 2021 Awards: U18 WJC Bronze Medal
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7th – San Jose Sharks – William Eklund (LW) – Djurgårdens IF, SHL From: Haninge, SWE 2020-21 SHL Stats: 40GP – 11G – 12A – 23Pts 2020-21 Team Sweden Stats: 4GP – 1G – 1A – 2Pts 2021 Awards: SHL Rookie of the Year
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8th – Los Angeles Kings – Brandt Clarke (D) – HC Nove Zamky, Slovakia From: Ottawa, ON 2020-21 League stats: 26GP – 5G – 10A – 15Pts 2020-21 Team Canada Stats: 7GP – 2G – 5A – 7Pts 2021 Awards: U18 WJC Gold Medal
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9th – Arizona Coyotes – Dylan Guenther (W) – Edmonton Oil Kings, WHL / Sherwood Park Crusaders, AJHL From: Edmonton, AB 2020-21 League stats: 16GP – 15G – 15A – 30Pts 2020-21 Team Canada stats: 7GP – 4G – 3A – 7Pts 2021 Awards: U18 WJC Gold Medal
13th – Calgary Flames – Matthew Coronato (RW) – Chicago Steel, USHL From: New York, NY 2020-21 USHL Stats: 51GP – 48G – 37A – 85Pts 2021 Awards: 2021 Clark Cup, USHL Forward of the Year, USHL Most Goals
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14th – Buffalo Sabres – Isak Rosén (W) – Leksands IF, SHL From: Stockholm, SWE 2020-21 League Stats: 35GP – 9G – 8A – 17Pts 2020-21 Team Sweden Stats: 8GP – 7G – 2A – 9Pts 2021 Awards: U18 WJC Bronze Medal
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We have a trade to announce….
The Detroit Red Wings trade picks 23, 48, and 138 to the Dallas Stars for pick 15
15th – Detroit Red Wings – Sebastian Cossa (G) – Edmonton Oil Kings, WHL From: Hamilton, ON 2020-21 WHL Stats: 19GP – 1.57GAA – .941sv% – 4SO
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16th – New York Rangers – Brennan Othman (LW) – EHC Olten, Swiss Div 2 From: Scarborough, ON 2020-21 SD2 Stats: 34GP – 7G – 9A – 16Pts 2020-21 Team Canada Stats: 7GP – 3G – 3A – 6Pts 2021 Awards: U18 WJC Gold Medal
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17th – St. Louis Blues – Zachary Bolduc (C) – Rimouski Océanic , QMJHL From: Trois-Rivières, QC 2020-21 QMJHL Stats: 27GP – 10G – 19A – 29Pts 2021 Awards: Mike Bossy Trophy – Best Professional Prospect
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18th – Winnipeg Jets* – Chaz Lucius (C) – USNTDP From: Grant, MN 2020-21 Team USA Stats: 25GP – 26G – 12A – 38Pts
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19th – Nashville Predators – Fedor Svechkov (F) – Ladia Togliatti, Russia From: Togliatti, RUS 2020-21 League Stats: 53GP – 9G – 21A – 30Pts 2020-21 Team Russia Stats: 7GP – 4G – 6A – 10Pts 2021 Awards: U18 WJC Silver Medal
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We have a trade to announce…..
The Edmonton Oilers trade pick 20 to the Minnesota Wild for picks 22 and 90
20th – Minnesota Wild – Jesper Wallstedt (G) – Luleå HF , SHL From: Västerås, SWE 2020-21 SHL Stats: 22 GP – 2.23GAA – .908sv% – 2SO 2020-21 Team Sweden stats: 2GP – 2.40GAA – .923sv%
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21st – Boston Bruins – Fabian Lysell (RW) – Luleå HF, SHL From: Göteborg, SWE 2020-21 SHL Stats: 26GP – 2G – 1A – 3Pts 2020-21 Team Sweden stats: 8GP – 3G – 6A – 9Pts 2021 Awards: U18 WJC Bronze Medal
CLEVELAND (AP) — Restricted free agent forward Isaac Okoro has agreed to re-sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers on a three-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Saturday.
Okoro’s new deal is worth $38 million, according to the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the contract has not been signed or announced by the team.
ESPN.com first reported the agreement, citing Okoro’s representation.
The fifth overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft, Okoro is Cleveland’s best perimeter defender, often drawing the assignment of guarding the opponent’s top scorer. Okoro also has worked to improve his offensive game.
The 23-year-old averaged 9.4 points and 3.0 rebounds in 69 games — 42 starts — last season for the Cavs, who beat Orlando in the opening round of the playoffs before losing to eventual champion Boston.
Okoro shot a career-best 39% on 3-pointers, forcing teams to come out and guard him.
His agreement caps an extraordinarily busy summer for the Cavs that began with coach J.B. Bickerstaff being fired and replaced by Kenny Atkinson. All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell signed a three-year, $150 million extension in July, ending months of speculation that he wanted out of Cleveland.
Also, power forward Evan Mobley signed a five-year, $224 deal and center Jarrett Allen signed a three-year, $91 million extension.
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
