For the first time in nearly a decade, three Canadian-born World Junior A Challenge alumni were selected in the opening round of the NHL Entry Draft, with Tyson Jost leading the way.
The last time three Canadians went in Round 1 was in 2007, when Kyle Turris (3rd overall, Phoenix), Riley Nash (21st overall, Edmonton), and Brendan Smith (27th overall, Detroit) were selected.
Jost was the highest alumnus chosen in Buffalo, N.Y., going 10th overall to the Colorado Avalanche, making him the second-highest Canadian WJAC alum ever drafted, trailing only Turris.
The Jost selection came as no surprise; the Kelowna, B.C., native made his second appearance at the World Junior A Challenge in 2015, captaining Canada West to gold, earning MVP honours and a spot on the all-star team, and leading the tournament in scoring with nine points (three goals, six assists) in four games.
Dante Fabbro, who joined Jost on Canada West in 2014 and 2015, was the next alumnus selected, hearing his name called by the Nashville Predators at 17th overall.
Fabbro had five assists in four games during Canada West's gold medal run, trailing only Jost in team scoring, and tying him with Spenser Young from the U.S. as the tournament’s top-scoring defenceman.
Dennis Cholowski was the third and final gold medallist off the board when the Detroit Red Wings made the defenceman their first-round selection with the 20th pick.
The Cholowski selection also marked the first time that a trio of World Junior A Challenge gold medallists was selected in the opening round of the NHL Entry Draft.
German Rubtsov capped off the opening round for WJAC alumni, going 22nd overall to the Philadelphia Flyers. The Russian set a tournament record with six points in a semifinal win over the United States last December, and finished tied for third in tournament scoring with seven points (two goals, five assists). Dean Stewart (188th overall, Arizona) was the only other Canada West gold medallist selected. Four Canada East alumni, who all played at the 2015 World Junior A Challenge, were chosen in Buffalo: Matthew Cairns (84th overall, Edmonton), Brett Murray (99th overall, Buffalo), Colton Point (128th overall, Dallas), and Adam Smith (198th overall, Nashville).
In total, 26 alumni were selected in the draft, including five members of the bronze medal-winning United States team from the 2015 World Junior A Challenge (Colton, Laczynski, Peeke, Pitlick, and Zimmer), and four members of the Russian entry that won silver in Cobourg and Whitby, Ont. (Berdin, Kayumov, Maltsev, and Rubtsov).
Since the first World Junior A Challenge in Yorkton and Humboldt, Sask., in 2006, 258 drafted players have taken part in the tournament, either prior to their selection or after.
1ST ROUND Tyson Jost | 10th overall, Colorado | 2014 & 2015 – Canada West Dante Fabbro | 17th overall, Nashville | 2014 & 2015 – Canada West Dennis Cholowski | 20th overall, Detroit | 2015 – Canada West German Rubtsov | 22nd overall, Philadelphia | 2015 – Russia
2ND ROUND Yegor Korshkov | 31st overall, Toronto | 2014 – Russia Andrew Peeke | 34th overall, Columbus | 2015 – United States Artur Kayumov | 50th overall, Chicago | 2015 – Russia Dylan Gambrell | 60th overall, San Jose | 2014 – United States
3RD ROUND Rem Pitlick | 76th overall, Nashville | 2015 – United States Matthew Cairns | 84th overall, Edmonton | 2015 – Canada East 4TH ROUND Anatoli Golyshev | 95th overall, New York Islanders | 2012 – Russia Brett Murray | 99th overall, Buffalo | 2015 – Canada East Mikhail Maltsev | 102nd overall, New Jersey | 2015 – Russia Max Zimmer | 104th overall, Carolina | 2015 – United States Rhett Gardner | 116th overall, Dallas | 2013 & 2014 – Canada West Damien Riat | 117th overall, Washington | 2014 – Switzerland Ross Colton | 118th overall, Tampa Bay | 2015 – United States
5TH ROUND Colton Point | 128th overall, Dallas | 2015 – Canada East Yegor Rykov | 132nd overall, New Jersey | 2014 – Russia
6TH ROUND Mikhail Berdin | 157th overall, Winnipeg | 2015 – Russia Tanner Laczynski | 169th overall, Philadelphia | 2015 – United States Blake Hillman | 173rd overall, Chicago | 2014 – United States
7TH ROUND Nikolai Chebykin | 182nd overall, Toronto | 2014 – Russia Calvin Thürkauf | 185th overall, Columbus | 2014 – Switzerland Dean Stewart | 188th overall, Arizona | 2015 – Canada West Adam Smith | 198th overall, Nashville | 2015 – Canada East
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