2020 NHL Entry Draft: First round recap
By Mike Zawisza
2020 NHL Entry Draft: First round recap.
Night one of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft proved to be quite a doozy. Between the Rangers rebuild hitting the next level with the selection of Alexis Lafreniere and the Capitals leaping up to take Hendrix Lapierre, there was plenty of action to satiate the appetite of the NHL faithful. Take a look at how the first round played out and stick around as FanSided has more draft content on the way tonight and tomorrow.
2020 NHL Draft First-Round Results
1. New York Rangers – LW Alexis Lafreniere, Rimouski Océanic (QMJHL)
The New York Rangers “rebuild” shifted into overdrive after the team won the NHL Draft Lottery a few weeks ago. Now, they’ve added yet another elite prospect to an already stacked pool of talent. Lafreniere figures to make the jump to the NHL next season and should help the Rangers put the rest of the metro on notice.
2. Los Angeles Kings – C Quinton Byfield, Sudbury Wolves (OHL)
Long gone are the days when the Los Angeles Kings powered their way through the league with their absurd center depth. Anze Kopitar and Jeff Carter, while still useful players are not at the level they once were. Kings get their potential first-line center of the future here and set the wheels in motion of their rebuild. Kings fans will love Byfield’s combination of size, strength and skill.
3. Ottawa Senators (from San Jose Sharks) – C/LW Tim Stutzle, Adler Mannheim (DEL)
While the Rangers won the lottery and took home the consensus 1st overall pick, the Ottawa Senators might be the real winners from 2020. The Sens reeled in a bevy of talent with their three picks in round one. Tim Stutzle is going to be a massive part of the Sens rebuild, as his combination of skill, speed and innate scoring ability will fill a gaping hole down the middle for Ottawa.
4. Detroit Red Wings – RW Lucas Raymond, Frolunda (Superelit)
The Detroit Red Wings are…not in great shape — to put it mildly. They’ve got a lot of bloated contracts and their prospect pool leaves much to be desired. However, this selection will significantly aid their rebuild. The first “of the board” selection of the night isn’t all that “off the board.” Raymond is dynamic and brings much-needed skill back to Motown.
5. Ottawa Senators – D Jake Sanderson, US National Team Development Program
The Sens take arguably the second-best defenseman in the draft and guy that can be described as a “gamer.” Probably still needs a good deal of development, but he’s a true shutdown defenseman and should help man the blueline with Thomas Chabot for years to come.