mcdavid draft feature

Another year, another No. 1

McDavid leads list of 80 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge alumni selected at 2015 NHL Entry Draft

Jason La Rose
|
July 6, 2015
|

Make it 18 alumni of the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge to go first overall at the NHL Entry Draft.

The Edmonton Oilers used the top pick June 26 on highly-touted forward Connor McDavid, who represented Ontario in 2013 in Victoriaville and Drummondville, Que., as a 15-year-old under-age player.

The Newmarket, Ont., native was the first of 80 alumni selected in the two-day draft, the same number that heard their name called in 2014, and McDavid led a group of 20 first-round picks who were U17 alumni, tied for the third-most ever (the 2014 draft featured 22 first-rounders, and 2003 and 2013 had 21 each).

Most of the players selected were on the ice at the 2014 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in Cape Breton, N.S., including 12 that helped United States to its fourth U17 gold medal (Boka, Bracco, Fischer, Greenway, Hanifin, Jones, Opilka, Roslovic, Warren, Werenski, White, Yan).

The list of drafted players also included four of the six 2014 tournament all-stars (Hanifin – United States; J. Roy – Quebec; Strome – Ontario; White – United States), as well as the tournament’s leading scorer; U.S. forward Colin White racked up 18 points (10 goals, 8 assists) in six games, five more than any other player.

The U.S. led the way in 2014 alumni selected, while Pacific, the silver medallist, had 11. Quebec, which joined Pacific in the semifinals, had seven players chosen, three fewer than Ontario, which finished fifth.

When other alumni (late birthdays and players who went undrafted in previous drafts) are included in the totals, the U.S. led all Canadian regions and national teams, followed by Pacific, Ontario, Quebec and Sweden.

  • 14 – United States (2013 – Eichel, Wilkie; 2014 – Boka, Bracco, Fischer, Greenway, Hanifin, Jones, Opilka, Roslovic, Warren, Werenski, White, Yan)
  • 12 – Pacific (2013 – Gropp; 2014 – Estephan, Gawdin, Gennaro, Guhle, Harkins, Juulsen, Merkley, Morrison, Musil, Reddekopp, Wotherspoon)
  • 11 – Ontario (2013 – McDavid; 2014 – Capobianco, Crouse, Knott, Konecny, Marner, Speers, Spencer, Stephens, Strome, Vande Sompel)
  • 10 – Quebec (2013 – Carrier, Neill, Richard; 2014 – Beauvillier, Booth, Bourque, Brisebois, Meloche, J. Roy, N. Roy)
  • 10 – Sweden (2013 – Forsbacka-Karlsson, Sandström, Timashov; 2014 – Ahl, Bouramman, Carlsson, Dahlström, Eriksson Ek, Kovacs, Larsson, Sandström)
  • 7 – West (2012 – Williams; 2013 – Pilon; 2014 – Bear, Gabrielle, Hobbs, Kolesar, Olson)
  • 5 – Finland (2013 – Nättinen, Niku, Rantanen, Saarela, Tuulola)
  • 5 – Russia (2012 – Gavrikov; 2013 – Svechnikov; 2014 – Guryanov, Samsonov, Zhukenov)
  • 4 – Czech Republic (2014 – Chlapik, Kase, Stezka, Vladar)
  • 1 – Germany (2011 – Tiffels; 2012 – Tiffels)
  • 1 – Slovakia (2013 – Cernak)

The 80 alumni selected this year mean that since the tournament debuted as the Quebec Cup in 1986, more than 1,500 players with U17 experience have been chosen at the NHL Entry Draft, including 343 first-rounders and 18 No. 1 picks.

U17 ALUMNI SELECTED FIRST OVERALL AT THE NHL ENTRY DRAFT

2015 – Connor McDavid | Edmonton Oilers | 2013 – Ontario

2014 – Aaron Ekblad | Florida Panthers | 2012 & 2013 – Ontario

2013 – Nathan MacKinnon | Colorado Avalanche | 2011 & 2012 – Atlantic

2011 – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins | Edmonton Oilers | 2010 – Pacific

2010 – Taylor Hall | Edmonton Oilers | 2008 – Ontario

2009 – John Tavares | New York Islanders | 2006 – Ontario

2007 – Patrick Kane | Chicago Blackhawks | 2005 – United States

2006 – Erik Johnson | St. Louis Blues | 2005 – United States

2004 – Alexander Ovechkin | Washington Capitals | 2002 – Russia

2003 – Marc-André Fleury | Pittsburgh Penguins | 2001 – Quebec

2002 – Rick Nash | Columbus Blue Jackets | 2001 – Ontario

2001 – Ilya Kovalchuk | Atlanta Thrashers | 2000 – Russia

1998 – Vincent Lecavalier | Tampa Bay Lightning | 1997 – Quebec

1997 – Joe Thornton | Boston Bruins | 1995 – Ontario

1995 – Bryan Berard | Ottawa Senators | 1994 – United States

1993 – Alexandre Daigle | Ottawa Senators | 1992 – Quebec

1989 – Mats Sundin | Quebec Nordiques | 1988 – Sweden

1987 – Pierre Turgeon | Buffalo Sabres | 1986 – Quebec

For more information:

Esther Madziya
Manager, Communications
Hockey Canada

(403) 284-6484 

[email protected] 

Spencer Sharkey
Manager, Communications
Hockey Canada

(403) 777-4567

[email protected]

Jeremy Knight
Manager, Corporate Communications
Hockey Canada

(647) 251-9738

[email protected]

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