Islanders make Tavares top pick
MONTREAL — The New York Islanders kept John Tavares and everyone else in the hockey world wondering whether he would become the team's fourth No. 1 overall pick in NHL draft history.
For the high-scoring junior star, a dream came true Friday night when Islanders general manager Garth Snow finally revealed that Tavares had in fact been his top choice all along.
"It's a special moment," said Tavares, an 18-year-old center with the London Knights. "It's been talked about and I've been in the spotlight for a long time and I understand it's only going to get even bigger. Leaving home at 14 years old, away from my family, I knew this is what I really wanted. And to achieve this is a special honor and a great accomplishment for myself."
Snow chose Tavares ahead of 6-foot-6, 220-pound Swedish defenseman Victor Hedman, the top-ranked European prospect.
The Tampa Bay Lightning took Hedman and the Colorado Avalanche followed with forward Matt Duchene, the first three selections going as expected.
The Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins selected defenseman Simon Despres of the Saint John Sea Dogs in the first round Friday.
The Penguins made the 6-foot-4, 205-pound Despres the 30th overall pick.
Despres is a native of Laval, Quebec. He had two goals and 30 assists in 66 games in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League last season. He had four assists in four playoff games before the Sea Dogs were eliminated in the first round by Cape Breton.
The Philadelphia Flyers made the biggest trade of the night by acquiring All-Star defenseman Chris Pronger from Anaheim in a multiplayer deal.
Tavares, a 6-foot, 185-pound native of Oakville, Ontario, led the Ontario Hockey League with 58 goals this season and broke Peter Lee's 33-year-old league record of 213 goals.
Snow also made a pair of deals with Columbus and Minnesota, packaging draft picks to trade up from a second first-round pick at 26th to the 12th choice overall, where he selected Oshawa Generals defenseman Calvin de Haan.
Hedman joins a Lightning team that drafted center Steven Stamkos first overall last season.
In exchange for Pronger and center Ryan Dingle, the Ducks reacquired right wing Joffrey Lupul and received defenseman Luca Sbisa along with two first-round draft picks and another conditional pick.
After Duchene was picked third by Colorado, his favorite team growing up, Atlanta selected center Evander Kane of the Vancouver Giants, followed by Los Angeles, which chose Brandon Wheat Kings center Brayden Schenn, the younger brother of Toronto defenseman Luke Schenn, who went fifth overall to the Leafs last year.
The embattled Phoenix Coyotes delivered the first surprise of the first round when they drafted Swedish defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson with the sixth pick.
Toronto GM Brian Burke was subjected to a chorus of boos from the Montreal Canadiens fans filling the upper reaches of the arena before he announced center Nazim Kadri, Tavares' Knights teammate, with the seventh selection.
Right wing Scott Glennie, Brayden Schenn's Brandon linemate, was chosen eighth by Dallas. Ottawa drafted 6-foot-5, 220-pound defenseman Jared Cowen of the Spokane Chiefs with the ninth pick, followed by Edmonton, which took Swedish center Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson to complete the top 10.
