Simon Wang becomes highest drafted Chinese-born player in NHL history
The second day of the NHL draft got off to a historical start on Saturday in Los Angeles, as Simon (Haoxi) Wang became the highest drafted Chinese-born player in NHL history when the San Jose Sharks took him with the top selection of the second round, No. 33 overall.
"Coming from China, I hope I can inspire a lot of kids coming over," Wang said, expressing an interest in continuing to grow the sport in his home country into the future.
Not to be outdone, Australia set its own record when Swedish national — and Australian born — Jakob Ihs Wozniak was selected 55th overall by the Vegas Golden Knights, becoming the highest an Australian-born player had ever been taken.
The Seattle Kraken took Blake Fiddler from the Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL) at No. 36, continuing a family NHL tradition. His father, Vernon, played in 877 games for the Nashville Predators, Arizona Coyotes, Dallas Stars and New Jersey Devils from 2002-17.
In a similar vein, the Anaheim Ducks chose Eric Nilson, the son of Marcus Nilson, at No. 45. The elder Nilson skated for 521 career games with the Florida Panthers and Calgary Flames.
A day after Pyotr Andreyanov became the first goalkeeper taken in the first round since 2021 (No. 20 to Columbus) and then Joshua Ravensbergen followed him at No. 30 (San Jose), two more goalkeepers were taken in the top 50, making it the first time since 2014 that four goalkeepers went in the top 50. The Carolina Hurricanes selected Semyon Frolov at No. 41, and the Vancouver Canucks picked Aleksei Medvedev at No. 47.
Three teams made their first selections of the entire draft in the third round. The Colorado Avalanche nabbed defenseman Francesco Dell'elce at No. 77, the Edmonton Oilers picked right-winger Tommy Lafreniere at No. 83, and the Stars took right-wing Cameron Schmidt at No. 94.
The son of Thomas Vanek, Blake Vanek, went to the Ottawa Senators at No. 93. The elder Vanek was a former first-round pick of the Buffalo Sabres who played in 1,029 career NHL games.
The Panthers, the last team to participate, selected their first player in the fourth round, Mads Kongsbak Klyvo, a left-winger who went No. 112 overall.
The last player to go off the board in the seventh round, at No. 224, was also taken by Florida, goalkeeper Yegor Medlak from Russia.
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