Five St. Louisans Selected in First Round of NHL Draft
A record 12 United States-born players were taken in the first round of Friday’s NHL Draft. Five of those players were St. Louis products.
Over the past two decades, St. Louis has become one of the United States’s hockey hotbeds, as rinks have popped up around the area and former Blues players have stuck around the area to coach youth teams. While the number of St. Louis players around the NHL has increased exponentially in recent years, the city’s status as a hockey factory has never been more evident than it was on Friday, when an incredible five St. Louis products were taken in the first round of the NHL Draft, accounting for nearly half of the American-born players who were selected.
Forward Matthew Tkachuk was the first St. Louisan to come off the board, and though he fell further than expected, he became the first player from the St. Louis area to ever be selected in the first round when the Calgary Flames took him at sixth overall. Though Tkachuk was born in Phoenix, Arizona, he moved to St. Louis once his father, Keith, was traded to the Blues in 2001 and grew up in Chesterfield.
Center Clayton Keller made it back-to-back St. Louis picks when he was taken by the Arizona Coyotes at seventh overall. Keller was raised in nearby Swansea, Illinois and is expected to attend Boston University in the fall after playing for the US National Team for the past two seasons.
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Another son of a former Blues star was taken at pick 11, as Logan Brown was selected by the Ottawa Senators. Brown, an athletic 6-foot-6, 220-pound center, is the son of former Blues defenseman Jeff Brown. Brown was born in Raleigh, North Carolina as his father finished up his career with the Carolina Hurricanes, but like Tkachuk, he moved back to St. Louis early in life and was primarily raised in Chesterfield.
The first St. Louis-born player came off the board at pick 15, as the Minnesota Wild selected center Luke Kunin. Kunin, a 6-foot, 193-pounder, was born in Chesterfield and spent the last season playing at the University of Wisconsin.
In a bit of a surprise, a fifth St. Louis product–and the second St. Louis-born draftee of the night–was taken at pick 29, as the Boston Bruins used their second selection of the evening to take center Trent Frederic. Frederic, a 6-foot-2, 203-pounder, hadn’t been considered an obvious first-round prospect by most experts leading up to the draft, so he was a nice cherry on top of an already-successful night for the St. Louis hockey scene. Frederic is expected to join Kunin at Wisconsin next season.
Next: Blues Take Tage Thompson in First Round
A ton of credit should be given to the St. Louis AAA Blues youth hockey program, which developed all five of the players who were selected on Friday. That program has consistently developed premium NHL talent over the years and has previously produced players such as Paul Stastny and Ben Bishop.