The opening day of the 2025 National Hockey League Entry Draft took place on Friday in Los Angeles, California. Let’s take a look at who went number one and three intriguing trades that took place.
Islanders select defenseman Matthew Schaefer
The New York Islanders selected defenseman Matthew Schaefer first overall. The defenseman had 22 points in 21 games with the Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League this past season. Schaefer broke his clavicle during the World Junior Hockey Championship and missed the rest of the season.
Islanders trade Noah Dobson
The Islanders also made a blockbuster trade with the Montreal Canadiens. They traded defenseman Noah Dobson to the Canadiens for left winger Emil Heineman of Leksand, Sweden and two first round draft picks (the 16th and 17th overall picks). The Islanders selected right winger Victor Eklund and defenseman Kashawn Aitcheson. Dobson then signed an eight year contract worth $76 million.
This past season, Dobson had 39 points in 71 games with the Islanders. Dobson was initially a 12th overall pick in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft. Heineman had 10 goals and eight assists for 18 points. He was a -6 with 20 penalty minutes, five power-play points, 64 shots on goal, one faceoff win, 24 blocked shots, 173 hits, eight takeaways, and 33 giveaways. The faceoff win came in a 4-2 Canadiens win over the Vancouver Canucks on March 11.
Sabres trade JJ Peterka to Mammoth for Josh Doan and Michael Kesselring
The Sabres and Mammoth completed a deal. The Mammoth are acquiring right wing JJ Peterka of Munich, Germany from the Sabres. The Sabres are acquiring right wing Josh Doan of Scottsdale, Arizona and defenseman Michael Kesselring of Florence, South Carolina from the Mammoth.
Peterka had 27 goals and 41 assists for 68 points with the Sabres last season in 77 games. He was a -1 with 34 penalty minutes, 18 power-play points, three game-winning goals. 173 shots on goal, two faceoff wins, 16 blocked shots, 30 hits, 22 takeaways, and 87 giveaways.
Doan had seven goals and 12 assists for 19 points with Utah last season in 51 games. He was a -2 with eight penalty minutes, four power-play points, one game-winning goal, 88 shots on goal, 35 faceoff wins, 14 blocked shots, 45 hits, 10 takeaways, and 25 giveaways. The game-winning goal came on April 12 in a 5-3 Utah win over the Dallas Stars. Doan scored from Jack McBain of Toronto, Ontario and Logan Cooley of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with one minute and 54 seconds left in the second period on the power-play to put Utah up 4-2.
Kesselring had seven goals and 22 assists for 29 points in 82 games. He was a +4 with 89 penalty minutes, three power-play points, one game-winning goal, 150 shots on goal, 67 blocked shots, 87 hits, 22 takeaways, and 84 giveaways. The game-winning goal was an overtime winner and came in a 2-1 Utah win over the Boston Bruins. Matias Maccelli of Turku, Finland and Cooley picked up the assists at 2:46 of the extra period.
Avalanche trade Charlie Coyle to the Blue Jackets
The Colorado Avalanche traded forward Charlie Coyle of East Weymouth, Massachusetts to the Columbus Blue Jackets with left winger Miles Wood of Buffalo, New York for center Gavin Brindley of Fort Myers, Florida, a third round pick in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft and a conditional second round pick in the 2027 NHL Entry Draft.
Coyle is joining his fourth NHL team after previously playing with Minnesota, Boston, and Colorado. In 83 games last season in Boston and Colorado, he had 17 goals and 18 assists for 35 points. Coyle was also a -9 with 24 penalty minutes, seven power-play points, one shorthanded point, three game-winning goals, 115 shots on goal, 374 faceoff wins, 61 blocked shots, 108 hits, 42 takeaways and 54 giveaways. The shorthanded point was a shorthanded goal and came in a 3-2 Bruins win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on March 1. The goal was into an empty net and the game-winning goal from defenseman Nikita Zadorov of Moscow, Russia with 41 seconds left in regulation which put Boston up 3-1 at the time.
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