Draisaitl first European in NHL draft

After Aaron Ekblad and Sam Reinhart who went as number one and two, the German forward Leon Draisaitl was the first European to go as number three when the first round of the NHL draft was held in Philadelphia yesterday.

The German who plays with Prince Albert Raiders of the WHL was picked by Edmonton Oilers and became the earliest drafted German player ever.

Second European was Sweden's William Nylander who was picked just before Dane Nikolaj Ehlers. Both Nylander and Ehlers are sons of famous players Michael Nylander and Heinz Ehlers. Switzerland's super talent Kevin Fiala went as 11 while Jakub Vrana was the first Czech at #13 just before the first Finn Julius Honka.

After the start of KHL Russian players tend to go later in the draft as many now prefer to stay in Russia. This year two Russians went in the first round Nikita Scherbak and Nikolai Goldobin as #26 and #27.

Other Europeans in the first round was Kasperi Kapanen, David Pastrnak and Adrian Kempe.

The draft continues today with round 2 to 7. See the full draft results here

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