The NHL draft happens this weekend in Buffalo, and teams are maneuvering to improve their chances of landing a top player. There was a huge trade yesterday that reunites the Tkachuk brothers. Ottawa sent their captain, Brady Tkachuk, to the Florida Panthers for the ninth and twenty-fifth choices in the first round on Friday, along with a 2029 first-round choice and a 2027 second-round pick. The swap brings Brady and his brother Matthew together again after they were members of the Olympic gold medal-winning Team USA in February.
Barring trades, the Penguins will have the 22nd overall selection in the first round, followed by two picks in the second round, one in the third round, and one in the sixth. They previously traded away their picks in the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh rounds.
The first round of the draft is Friday, with rounds two through seven on Saturday. The top pick is expected to be Penn State forward Gavin McKenna, by the Toronto Maple Leafs.
One under-the-radar aspect of the draft is that the NHL owners’ meetings are this week. The sale of the Penguins to the Hoffman Group could be approved as early as tomorrow. The team hopes to have the new ownership in place before the draft.
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