New York Rangers Hold First Overall Selection; Consensus Top Prospect Alexis Lafreniere Headlines Draft
New Jersey Devils and Ottawa Senators Lead All Teams with Three First-Round Picks
Los Angeles (2nd), Detroit (4th), Buffalo (8th) and Minnesota (9th) Also Hold Top Ten Picks
Zdeno Chara: Made For This Docuseries Episode Three Premieres Tonight at 6 p.m. ET on NBCSN
Latest Episode of Hockey Culture Features Former NHL Executive Bryant McBride
STAMFORD, Conn. – Oct. 6, 2020 – The New York Rangers hold the first overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, which airs on NBCSN tonight at 7 p.m. ET, as consensus top prospect Alexis Lafreniere (Canada) headlines the incoming class of future NHL stars. Coverage begins with a special pre-draft edition of NHL Live at 6:30 p.m. ET.
Liam McHugh will host the four-hour broadcast from NBC Sports’ studios in Stamford, Conn., alongside Emmy Award-winning analyst Pierre McGuire, while NHL Insiders Bob McKenzie and Craig Button will contribute remotely from a studio in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
NHL Live will include features on Lafreniere and top American prospect, defenseman Jake Sanderson, as well as a segment hosted by NBC Sports’ Rutledge Wood that examines hockey’s feeder leagues, where future NHL stars play before reaching the league.
Canada’s Alexis Lafreniere headlines the 2020 NHL Draft, an 18-year-old forward who scored 112 points (35 goals, 77 assists) with Rimouski Oceanic of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League in 2019-20. Lafreniere has been the Canadian Hockey League Player of the Year each of the past 2 seasons (2018-19 and 2019-20).
Following Lafreniere, a pair of forwards – Quinton Byfield (Canada) of the Sudbury Wolves (Ontario Hockey League) and Tim Stutzle (Germany) of Adler Mannheim (Deutsche Eishockey Liga) – are also projected to be early first-round selections.
Defenseman Jake Sanderson (U.S. National Under-18 Team) is expected to be the first American selected early in the opening round. Sanderson, a native of Montana, is the son of Geoff Sanderson, who was an NHL All-Star that spent 17 years in the league as a forward.
The New York Rangers own the first overall selection and have a pair of first round picks (1st and 22nd), followed by the Los Angeles Kings, who hold the second overall pick. The New Jersey Devils (7th, 18th and 20th) and Ottawa Senators (3rd, 5th and 28th) lead all teams with three selections in the first round.
The third episode of Zdeno Chara: Made For This, a four-episode docuseries celebrating the historic career of Boston Bruins’ captain Zdeno Chara and detailing his first-person account of childhood, family and on-ice leadership as a member of the Boston Bruins for the past nearly year-and-a-half, will premiere tonight at 6 p.m. ET on NBCSN, leading into NHL Live. An encore presentation of the episode will air following Draft coverage at 10:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.
Former NHL executive Bryant McBride joins the latest episode of Hockey Culture, where he discusses the NHL’s early efforts to become more diverse with the ‘Hockey is for Everyone’ campaign and his work helping produce Willie, a documentary that chronicles the trailblazing life of Willie O’Ree. Hockey Culture is an initiative led by NBC Sports’ Anson Carter, dedicated to bringing equality and inclusion to the sport of hockey. Highlighted quotes from the conversation are below:
McBride on examining the racism that Willie O’Ree faced in his career in Willie: “We tried to make a social justice film disguised as a hockey movie. To show that this game is for everyone, to show the impact that Willie has had and what he went through. Most importantly, that this is still going on.”
McBride on lessons that can be learned from playing hockey: “I argue with my friends of color that hockey is the most important sport for kids to play…no one is born with skates on…the first thing you do (on the ice) is you fall, and the first thing you learn is to get back up…if there’s only one thing I can give my children, (it) is to teach them resiliency.”
The 2020 NHL Draft Round 1 order is below:
| 1 | New York Rangers |
| 2 | Los Angeles Kings |
| 3 | Ottawa Senators (from SJS) |
| 4 | Detroit Red Wings |
| 5 | Ottawa Senators |
| 6 | Anaheim Ducks |
| 7 | New Jersey Devils |
| 8 | Buffalo Sabres |
| 9 | Minnesota Wild |
| 10 | Winnipeg Jets |
| 11 | Nashville Predators |
| 12 | Florida Panthers |
| 13 | Carolina Hurricanes (from TOR) |
| 14 | Edmonton Oilers |
| 15 | Toronto Maple Leafs (from PIT) |
| 16 | Montreal Canadiens |
| 17 | Chicago Blackhawks |
| 18 | New Jersey Devils (from ARI) |
| 19 | Calgary Flames |
| 20 | New Jersey Devils (from VAN via TBL) |
| 21 | Columbus Blue Jackets |
| 22 | New York Rangers (from CAR) |
| 23 | Philadelphia Flyers |
| 24 | Washington Capitals |
| 25 | Colorado Avalanche |
| 26 | St. Louis Blues |
| 27 | Anaheim Ducks (from BOS) |
| 28 | Ottawa Senators (from NYI) |
| 29 | Vegas Golden Knights |
| 30 | Dallas Stars |
| 31 | San Jose Sharks (from TBL) |
–NBC SPORTS–