A Few NHL Draft Notes

Some quick NHL Draft points while I wait for the France-Spain showdown:

--Winnipeg selected Michigan freshman-to-be Jacob Trouba in the first round with the 9th overall pick. Trouba is the first Michigan first-rounder since Pacioretty in 2007. I'm admittedly not all that locked into the draft process and junior hockey in general (my college hockey knowledge is almost entirely limited to what I know about Michigan), but this is an impressive accomplishment for Trouba. In a seemingly uncharacteristically defense-heavy first round (9 of the top 10 picks were defensemen), this is a strong indicator of the kind of quality Trouba will bring to the Michigan blue line this upcoming season.

A couple things from the Winnipeg Free Press article on the selection:

Trouba is not likely done growing.

"He's a big strong person right now that's going to continue to grow and fill out," Cheveldayoff said.

"My dad is 6-8 and my uncle is 7-1," Trouba said. "My grandfather is 6-8. I come from a big family. I'd like to grow another inch or two."

Trouba is already 6'2'', so any further growth would probably necessitate some lame "MAYBE THIS GUY CAN PLAY A LITTLE FOR JOHN BEILEIN EH AM I RIGHT GUYS?" type jokes.

Danton Cole--Trouba's coach for two seasons with the US national development team--on Trouba:

"We always compare him to a shark out on the ice. He's got a real good edge to him and competes, handles himself like a real pro.

Naturally, he did not last until the 17th pick where San Jose was selecting. Sorry...I'm so sorry. I had to.

FWIW, NHLN analyst Craig Button compared Trouba to Adam Foote. In other Craig Button-related news, he compared D Matthew Dumba--the 7th overall pick to Minnesota--to Charles Woodson. Yes, that Charles Woodson.

--Later on, the Carolina Hurricanes selected Michigan F Phil Di Giuseppe with the 38th overall pick. Again, I'm not as locked into the college/juniors transition to the NHL as many others in the Michigan community, but it seems that Michigan isn't really in danger of seeing any of these guys take the jump to the professional ranks, which is very nice indeed. Hopefully PDG can build upon what was a pretty solid freshman year this upcoming season.

--Michigan commit Boo Nieves was taken with the 59th overall pick by the Rangers. The NYR SB Nation blog, Blueshirt Banter, writes:

According to Corey Pronman, Nieves is considered "High-end if not an elite skater with great puck skills." There were some scouts that even considered him the smoothest and faster skater among all players in the draft. Combined with his elite skating package, he also has great vision, which goes hand-in-hand with his playmaking abilities.

He sounded like a potential first-rounder at one point, so it seems like he maybe slipped a little farther down the board than expected.

--With the 137th overall pick, the Washington Capitals took 2012 Michigan commit D Connor Carrick. All I really know about him is that Brian has described him as a "bigger version of Langlais" multiple times.

--Lastly, this has nothing to do with Michigan, but...as a Blackhawks fan, I can't wait to hear Pat Foley try to pronounce Teuvo Teravainen's name one day.