Golden Knights First NHL Entry Draft: Follow Along Live

This weekend, the Golden Knights will be participating in the first Entry Draft in team history.
And Vegas will be busy in the process.
Three first-round picks on Friday night.
Ten picks spready across rounds 2-7 on Saturday.
And as is the case with any NHL Draft, there's always the possibility of trades, changes and an accumulation of picks.
VegasGoldenKnights.com has you covered right here with on-the-fly coverage with all of the breaking news.

11:46 AM (CT)
In the sixth round, the atmosphere at the Draft really slows down. Many of the players, even those who get picked, are no longer in attendance.
And with the more recognizable names having gone in earlier rounds, the crowd really begins to thin out, too.
The Golden Knights are the one thing not slowing down.
We just took center Nick Campoli of the North York Rangers. Campoli is a playmaker center, but is considered more of a project.
We followed this by taking goalie Jiri Patera three picks later, our second goalie of the day. We nabbed Russian Maksim Zhukov in the fourth round.
Patera, a Czech, plays for Ceske Budejovice in his home country.
Ceske Budejovice...say that one three times fast!
Nick Campoli, 158th ov
11:36 AM (CT)
Only 20 minutes since our last pick and we're back at it.
We took Jonathan Dugan 142nd overall. Although we must note, Dugan has already told us he prefers to be called "Jack."
Jack Dugan is a Rochester, NY native who plays for the Northwood School (high school) in Lake Placid, with many of his games being played on the site of the Miracle on Ice.

This immediately led to our fans asking us other questions.
We're still looking into it.

11:15 AM (CT)
It seems as if every few seconds, Vegas is being called on to make its next pick.
In the fourth round (127th overall), we just took forward Lucas Elvenes from Rogle in Sweden.
Elvenes is well-schooled, coming from a distinguished hockey family. His brother, father, grandfather and two uncles are played professional hockey.
And since it seemed to be a popular question amongst our Twitter followers, we took the time to find out...

10:52 AM (CT)
The Golden Knights really mixed it up with their 96th pick, in the fourth round.
Vegas used this selection to take its first goalie in this Draft, Maksim Zhukov.

Fairly uncommon for Russian goalies, Zhukov left his native country at age 16 last summer to join the USHL's Green Bay Gamblers.
And yes, in case you were wondering, it drew a lot of attention when a team from Las Vegas took a player from a team called the Gamblers.
Zhukov is 6-foot-3 and weighs about 190 pounds. He has a 2.25 goals-against average and .913 save percentage in 31 games last season.

10:13 AM (CT)
We immediately followed our pick of Leschyshyn by taking defenseman Jonas Rondbjerg with our first pick in the third round, 65th overall.
Rondbjerg is from Denmark and played against grown men in the Swedish Elite League this past season.
And as both Leschyshyn and Rondbjerg entered the interview area, it became apparent how often Vegas has been picking
So far, no team has drafted more times than the Golden Knights.

9:58 AM (CT)
We barely sat down after trading for Keegan Kolesar before Vegas took center Jake Leschyshyn 62nd overall. If that name rings a bell, it's because Jake's father, Curtis, was a defenseman in the NHL from 1988-2004.
Curtis Leschyshyn won a Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 1995-96.
Jake Leschyshyn plays for the Western Hockey League's Regina Pats.

Leschyshyn has high upside, but will probably need further seasoning in junior before being ready to turn pro.
9:55 AM (CT)
We had been scheduled to pick 45th overall.
However, the Golden Knights instead traded this pick to the Columbus Blue Jackets for right wing Keegan Kolesar.

Kolesar is still considered more of a prospect, having never played pro hockey at this point in his career. But he already has pro size, at 6-foot-2 and about 225 pounds.
He played the past four seasons with the WHL's Seattle Thunderbirds, and is eligible to play ine ither the NHL or AHL this season.
He plays either right wing or left wing. He's 20-years-old.
9:42 AM (CT)
Looking at Hague, his size clearly isn't an exxageration.

He has a little offensive upside, too. Although Hague is predominantly a defensive defenseman.

9:13 AM (CT)
After making three picks last night in the first round, the Golden Knights made their first of 10 second-day picks.
Vegas added its second defenseman in two days, taking Nicolas Hague from the Mississauga Steelheads.
At 6-foot-6, he's far different than the 5-foot-9 Erik Bransstrom. More of a physical presence, too.
More to come...
8:16 (CT)
After speaking with the media, Bransstrom signed his first autograph as a Golden Knight.

7:53 (CT)
Suzuki and Bransstrom, being selected so closely together, took their turns with the media at the same time.

It was Brannstrom, however, who stole the show when delivering the Golden Knights player quote of the evening. A Swede, Bransstrom's English still needs a little work. He seems to be able to communicate his message, but has a thick accent and paused for a few seconds, as if to think over his answers, before saying anything.
This didn't stop him from delivering a bona fide gem.

Here's more from Bransstrom.

7:46 (CT)
We took defenseman Erik Brannstrom No. 15 overall.
Although only about 5-foot-10, the Swedish blueliner is extremely elusive, and has been cited by many draft-eligible players as one of their least favorite players to compete against.

7:44 (CT)
Suzuki just got off the stage, it seems, and we are already picking again. The Tampa Bay Lightning just took Cal Foote (the son of retired NHL defenseman Adam Foote), making it our turn again.
This pick originally belonged to the New York Islanders, and was acquired by Vegas on the night of the Expansion Draft as part of a deal for the Golden Knights to not select certain Islanders forwards.
7:27 (CT)
Only a few moments after Cody Glass finished speaking with the media at United Center, and it was already the Golden Knights' turn to pick again at No. 13.
This is a pick that originally belonged to the Winnipeg Jets, which Vegas acquired as part of an Expansion Draft transaction.
In this slot, the Golden Knights took center Nick Suzuki from the Owen Sound Attack.
Although not quite 6-foot and fewer than 200 pounds, Suzuki is considered a smooth-skating center who plays a clean game. In fact, he had only 10 penalty minutes in 65 games, while scoring 45 goals and 51 assists.
Suzuki was ranked as a top 10-ranked prospect for most of this season who still may have gone top 10 had more off-the-board picks not been made ahead of him (several teams picked players significantly higher than they were ranked).
Suzuki is not NHL ready yet, but seems to be a good value pick at No. 13.
More to come...
7:11 (CT)
After Glass put on his team's new colors, he quickly became one of the centers of attention for assembled media.
At NHL Drafts, all interviews are conducted in a single room in the bowels of the arena, with multiple podiums set up in different corners. Of course, you have reporters from local outlets that are at the Draft for the sole purpose of covering their city's team's picks.
However, there are several large media outlets, as well as bloggers, who "float" around, trying to track down the most compelling story.
And when it comes to compelling, what's more compelling than speaking with the first draft pick in the history of a team?

Of all the players taken tonight, Glass seems to have had as large of a gathering as any of them.

6:52 (CT)
In the moments after being selected by the Golden Knights, Cody Glass became the first player in team history to sport the team's road white jersey.

6:45 (CT)
The Golden Knights didn't go off the board in making the team's first selection.
Vegas took center Cody Glass at No. 6.
Glass, a hulking 6-foot-3, 195-pound center, led the Western Hockey League's Portland Winterhawks with 94 points in 69 games this season, and is considered an all-around center who plays an honest game.
Glass may not have the raw offensive ability of a No. 1 overall pick, but at No. 6, he is a solid bet to be a true No. 1 center at the NHL level.
More to come as Glass makes his way through to speak with the media.

6:41 (CT)
Surprises galore early in the Draft.
The consensus No. 1 pick, Nolan Patrick, slid to No. 2 and the Philadelphia Flyers after the New Jersey Devils took Nico Hischier first overall.
The the Dallas Stars, Colorado Avalanche and Vancouver Canucks all went off the board, eschewing the players that had been ranked 3-5 for players who had been considered further down on the draft rankings.
This sets the stage for us to make our first pick in team history.
Tweet from @GoldenKnights: Our turn! pic.twitter.com/Mr7yWG2WTc
5:49 (CT)
As is Draft custom, before the first round begins, there is a role call before the first round begins. This is for each team to identify itself and declare itself ready to begin the Draft.
For the most part, the crowd boos every team when their name is called, except the home team.
It must be noted, however, that the reaction was merely mixed when the Golden Knights were called.
Wonder if this hospiitality will perist once we begin playing games?