Golden Knights Picks From Rounds 2-7

The Golden Knights had a total of 10 picks coming into the day. They traded one away for a prospect. Here’s a quick rundown of each player selected. See the three first round picks here.

Round 2 (#34) – Nic Hague – An incredibly tall defenseman from the OHL in Canada. He’s got one of the best shots of all prospects in the draft. His skating needs some work due to the fact that he grew a lot quickly. 6’6″ will put him among the tallest defensemen in the NHL. He says he models his game after Vitor Hedman and Colton Paryako.

Round 2 (#45) – TRADE – VGK trades #45 for Keegan Kolesar – The 69th pick in the 2015 draft from the Columbus Blue Jackets. He’s a tough winger who spends a lot of his team beating people up. This being said, the guy can score as well, having put up 56 goals in 118 games over the past two seasons in the WHL.

Round 2 (#62) – Jake Leschyshyn – The son of former NHLer with the Nordiques, Huuricanes, Senators, among others, Leschyshyn is a solid center. He tore his ACL in February, but he said in March that he expects to be back on the ice for training camp. Another WHL product continuing the trend of players Kelly McCrimmon knows very well.

Round 3 (#65) – Jonas Rondjberg – A winger from Denmark who rose up the draft boards of many scouts late in the scouting process. Showed a great ability to protect the puck during the World Juniors tournament in which Denmark overachieved. He says he models his game after Pavel Datsyuk, but quickly added, “but I’m not quite that good yet.”

Round 4 (#96) – Maxim Zhukov – Goalie from the USHL in Green Bay Gamblers (fitting). Wide range of opinions on his abilities from scouts. Some had him ranked as one of the top goalies, others had him about sixth or seventh. The Russian prospect is 6’3″ 183 pounds. He was the 9th goalie picked in the 2017 Entry Draft.

Round 5 (#127) – Lucas Elvenes – The Swedish center/winger comes from a family of hockey players. His grandfather, father, and two uncles all played at the pro level in Sweden. Scouts had him ranked much higher but he fell during a poor performance at the Ivan Hlinka. His skating is a bit of a problem, “He skates too upright…he doesn’t get any power in his skating drive.” Seems correctable though.

Round 5 (#142) – Jonathan Dugan – Described himself as a playmaker who plays a power game. Believes his game is similar to Evgeni Malkin and Jamie Benn. Big guys with a lot of skill and a good shot. Big guy who is very aggressive. He was passed over in last year’s draft, likely because he has been playing high school hockey.

Round 6 (#158) – Nick Campoli – Enrolled to become a Golden Knight at Clarkson University. Racked up 45 assists in 57 games in the OJHL over the past two years. Campoli had a surgery that kept him off the ice last season but is expected back for this year.

Round 6 – (#161) – Jiri Patera – Fourth ranked European goalie by NHL Central Scouting. Played his entire junior career in the Czech Republic. Attended the Ivan Hlinka tournament but did not see the ice as a backup goalie. 6’2″ 209.

Round 7 (#189) – Ben Jones – Says he models his game after Jonathan Toews. Focuses mostly on his defensive responsibilities as a centerman.