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Los Angeles – After Matthew Schaefer pulled the blue and orange sweater above his head at the NHL recovery, his eyes already sparkled tears, he looked down on his left shoulder and saw a pink ribbon.
The symbol of breast cancer awareness was the tribute to the New York Icelanders to her mother, Jennifer, who died of the disease only 16 months ago.
The n ° 1 choice kissed the ribbon and modestly pointed out the sky, paying a poignant tribute to the woman who raised this boy in the man he will soon become – and who will accompany him at each stage of his future brilliant hockey.
The Icelanders selected the 17 -year -old defender at first rank Friday evening, launching a NHL draft with a beautiful moment felt through the extent of the sport.
“I appreciate that you have taken a chance on me,” said Schaefer during a telephone video with the Icelanders front office. “I promise that I will not disappoint, but above all I just want to tell my mother and my whole family and my friends, thank you for everything.”
The high -level striker Michael Misa went second in the general classification of San Jose Sharks, and the Chicago Blackhawks made the Swedish striker Anton Frondell third at the Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles.
The Icelanders have made their way in three choices in the top 17, but they did not surprise anyone by using their first n ° 1 selection since 2009 on Schaefer. The 6 -foot 2 -inch Bluelier of Hamilton, Ontario, with an exceptional capacity and solid defensive skills has spent the last two seasons with the Otries of the Ontario Hockey League, becoming an irresistible choice for the first choice.
Schaefer persevered by the tragedy To reach this moment. In addition to the loss of his mother, he also underwent the recent death of the owner of the otters, Jim Waters, and the mother of his family of tickets.
The Icelanders added the ribbon patch to the ceremonial jersey specifically for Schaefer, as well as his mother’s initials on the sweater pass.
“Seeing the ribbon on my jersey, and I saw a photo, he has it on my back here,” said Schaefer. “You can see how much the organization is in high class. It really means a lot. I want my mother to be here today. Obviously, she is with me here in mind. … Cancer is zero, and it is not fun. She was not feeling best, but she has always been the happiest of the family. She would do anything for us.”
Schaefer scored 22 points playing in just 17 games last season before breaking his collarbone in December. His sense of the two ends of the ice has always propelled him to the top of almost all the draft boards.
Schaefer is only the fifth defender chosen n ° 1 in total in the NHL recovery since 2000, and the first since Owen Power went to Buffalo in 2021. Schaefer is also the second product ié to go n ° 1, joining Connor McDavid in 2015.
“First and foremost, we wrote it because he is an incredible hockey player,” said Isles Director of Isles Mathieu Darche. “Obviously, the human being is exceptional. (For) a 17-year-old to have this resilience, maturity with everything he has experienced is beyond the impressive, honestly. I have not met many 17-year-old children who act like him. But at the end of the day, we write it because he is a hell of a hockey player.”
Schaefer obtained two new teammates when the Islanders used the 16th choice on the Swedish striker Victor Eklund and defender Kashawn Aitcheson with the 17th selection.
The two Pennsylvania teams were also occupied in Los Angeles. The Philadelphia flyers caught the striker to wear Martone Sixth in the general classification before exchanging for the 12th selection to advance Jack Nesbitt, while the Pittsburgh Penguins maneuvered from top to bottom to control three choices in the Top 24, swinging two professions while reducing Benjamin Kindel, Bill Zonnon and William Horcoff.
Misa tore Ohl last season as captain of Saginaw’s mind, scoring 62 goals and 134 points in just 65 games. While wearing a Sarcelle jersey for the first time, he repeated his desire to play in the NHL next season if he can unravel the list of an organization of difficulties in difficulty which chose Will Smith fourth in the general classification in 2023 and obtained the center of Macklin Celebrini with the first global choice a year ago.
“It is an ultra-competitive child who has played a level, in a year of birth all his life,” said Sharks General Manager Mike Grier, about Misa. “He wants to be the best. He wants to play against the best, so I’m sure that is what he wants to do, but you know that we are not going to put him back. He must enter the training camp and try to take a job.”
Frondell excelled as an attacker of 17 last season with Djurgården in the second division of Sweden, showing a two -lane match which allowed him to push Misa on draft paintings. At 6-2, he could provide a great complement to Connor Bedard.
Frondell is the eighth Swedish player to be a selection among the first three, joining the elite company, notably Victor Hedman, Mats Sundin and the Sedin Twins.
The Caleb Desnoyers center ended fourth in the Utah mammoth, which went up 10 places at the recovery lottery.
Nashville predators chose the physical striker Brady Martin with the fifth choice before negotiating for the 21st selection to make Kitchener Cameron Reid defender. Martin jumped the draft, staying at home on his family farm in Ontario.
Fans of the host Los Angeles Kings inside the theater were fired for their club to make the 24th selection – which the Kings quickly exchanged Pittsburgh for the 31st and 59th selections, causing moaning of the crowd. Los Angeles finally chose defender Henry Brzustewicz of the Memorial Cup London Knights champion in the first selection of general manager Ken Holland for his new team.
The Penguins created the majority of surprises in the first round, first by choosing Calgary Hitmen Center Kindel with the 11th choice – much higher than many expected predictions.
Pittsburgh then exchanged the 12th choice, which originally belonged to the New York Rangers, in Philadelphia for the 22nd and 31st choice. The flyers wanted the 6 -foot 4 -inch NESBITT, a center that quickly follows Windsor Spitfires from the OHL last season.
The Penguins also gave a second round choice to the Kings and exchanged the first rounds so that they could move to Horcoff – the son of the NHL Shawn Horcoff veteran – with the 24th choice.
The Ducks Anaheim took a chance on striker Roger McQueen with the 10th selection. It is believed that the 6 -foot 5 -inch McQueen has enough talent to become an elite center, but the native of the Saskatchewan was slowed down by a back injury that frightened certain teams.
Two guards were chosen in the first round for the first time since 2021 and only the third time in 13 years. Columbus caught the Pyotr Andreyanov of Russia with the 20th choice, making him the best chosen European goalkeeper, while San Jose added the goalkeeper Joshua Ravensbergen with the 30th selection.
Boston Bruins used the seventh choice in total at the Boston College Center James Hagens, the prospect of consensus for this project a year ago.
Hagens, originally from Long Island, coveted by many Icelanders fans, slipped on the board just enough to reach Bruins, whose choice was announced by a video by Adam Sandler as a character like Happy Gilmore, with his signature bare bunins.
“I am so excited to be back in Boston, and to make the choice of Adam Sandler, it was special,” said Hagens, who quotes “Happy Gilmore” as his favorite film. “I love winning and I’m really happy that I’m in Boston.”
The Icelanders won the lottery to choose the first in a project that is full of talents – while missing a few staples of recent air currents.
There was no prohibitive locking of a n ° 1 choice in this area, unlike the last two projects, although Schaefer is clearly in mind.
The project also lacked the centralized structure which has long been a basic food for this annual exercise. The 32 different team executives are mainly at home, and not scattered in terms of plan. The majority of the choices were taken to a video room just behind the stage to exchange television jokes with their new offices before videoconference.
While criticism of the new format seemed largely negative on the part of viewers and fans, many hockey leaders praised the format thereafter.
