Leafs select Cowan, Flames take Honzek at NHL Draft
Published
Follow along as TSN.ca keeps track of the Canadian teams and the biggest moves of the night at the NHL Draft.
Leafs draft Cowan at No. 28
The Toronto Maple Leafs have selected forward Easton Cowan with the 28th overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft. The 5-foot-10 winger scored 20 goals and added 33 assists in 68 games with the London Knights last season.
Jets select Barlow at No. 18
The Winnipeg Jets selected Colby Barlow with the 18th overall pick. The captain of the Owen Sound Attack scored 46 goals and 33 assists in 59 games this season. He scored three goals and added one assists in six games at the U18 World Championships.
Flames select Honzek with 16th overall pick
The Flames have selected centre Samuel Honzek from the Vancouver Giants. The 6-foot-4 Slovakian scored 23 goals and added 33 assists in 43 WHL games last season.
Canucks pick D Willander at No. 11
The Vancouver Canucks selected Swedish defenceman Tom Willander with the 11th overall pick.
The 6-foot-1 defenceman recorded four goals and 21 assists in 41 games in Sweden last season. He added three goals and five assists at the U18 World Championships.
Canadiens select Reinbacher with fifth-overall pick
The Montreal Canadiens selected defenceman David Reinbacher.
He was ranked eighth on Craig Button's final mock draft.
Reinbacher, 20, scored three goals and added 19 assists with EHC Kolten in Switzerland last season. He added one assist in four games for Austria at the World Championships.
Ducks select Carlsson at No. 2
The Anaheim Ducks made the first surprise pick of the 2023 NHL Draft, selecting forward Leo Carlsson at No. 2 overall.
Carlsson was ranked No. 3 on both in TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie's final draft ranking as well as TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button’s final mock draft.
“I think Leo Carlsson with his playmaking ability, much like Nicklas Backstrom did for Alexander Ovechkin, I think [he] can do that for Patrik Laine,” said Button.
Carlsson scored 10 goals and 15 assists in 44 games with Orebo HK in Sweden last season. He had three goals and two assists in eight games with Sweden at the World Championships.
Canadian Adam Fantilli was long expected to go No. 2, where he was on McKenzie's final ranking and Button's Mock Draft.
Coyotes take D Simashev with sixth-overall pick, But at No. 12
The Arizona Coyotes surprised by taking defenceman Dmitri Simashev with the sixth-overall pick. The 18-year-old Russian was projected to be selected No. 24 on Button's Mock Draft.
McKenzie's final ranking had Simashev at No. 19.
He scored one goal and 11 assists across 51 games last season.
The Coyotes also had the No. 12 pick and selected winger Daniil But. The 6-foot-5 Russian scored 20 goals and added 14 assists in 47 games with Yaroslavl last season.
Flyers grab Michkov at No. 7
The Philadelphia Flyers selected Russian forward Matvei Michkov with the seventh pick of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft.
Touted as one of the most skilled prospects available in the Draft, Michkov is under contract with SKA St. Petersburg of the Kontinental Hockey League through the 2025-26 season and it is not known when he’ll be available to join an NHL team.
Michkov appeared in 30 games last season in the KHL and scored nine goals with 11 assists.
In 2021-22, he had 30 goals and 51 points in 28 games for St. Petersburg’s junior team