Schaefer goes No. 1 to Isles; Misa, Frondell follow

LOS ANGELES -- The New York Islanders selected talented defenseman Matthew Schaefer with the No. 1 prime successful the NHL draught Friday night.

High-scoring halfway Michael Misa went 2nd to the San Jose Sharks, and the Chicago Blackhawks took Swedish guardant Anton Frondell 3rd astatine the Peacock Theater successful downtown Los Angeles.

The Islanders maneuvered their mode into 3 picks successful the apical 17, but they amazed cipher by utilizing their archetypal No. 1 enactment since 2009 connected the 17-year-old Schaefer. The 6-foot-2 blueliner from Hamilton, Ontario, spent the past 2 seasons with the Ontario Hockey League's Erie Otters.

He played lone 17 games past play -- collecting 7 goals and 22 points -- earlier breaking his collarbone successful December, but Schaefer's acumen connected some ends of the crystal inactive propelled him to the apical of astir each draught boards.

An elite puck mover and superb skater with a top-end, two-way modulation game, Schaefer has large poise, posture and edges that let him to not lone transportation play from extremity to extremity but adjacent rapidly connected opponents, unopen down the unreserved and beryllium a playmaker successful his ain right.

Schaefer persevered done calamity to scope this milestone. Schaefer's mother, Jennifer, died of crab 16 months ago, and helium besides endured the caller deaths of the Otters' owner, Jim Waters, and the parent of his billet family.

When Schaefer pulled connected his Islanders sweater for the archetypal clip connected the stage, helium kissed a pinkish ribbon spot connected the thorax representing bosom crab consciousness earlier breaking into tears.

"I admit you taking a accidental connected me," Schaefer said successful a videoconference telephone with the Islanders' beforehand office. "I committedness I won't disappoint, but particularly I conscionable privation to accidental to my ma and each my household and friends, acknowledgment for everything."

The Islanders added the spot specifically for Schaefer, on with his mother's initials.

"Seeing the ribbon connected my jersey, and I saw a picture, it has J.S. connected my backmost here," Schaefer said. "You tin spot conscionable however high-class the enactment is. It truly means a lot. I privation my ma could beryllium present today. Obviously, she's with maine present successful spirit. ... Cancer sucks, and it's not fun. She didn't consciousness the best, but she was ever the happiest successful the family. She would bash thing for us."

Schaefer is conscionable the 5th defenseman picked No. 1 wide successful the NHL draught since 2000, and the archetypal since Owen Power went to Buffalo successful 2021. Schaefer besides is the 2nd Erie merchandise to spell No. 1, joining Connor McDavid successful 2015.

"First and foremost, we drafted him due to the fact that he's an unbelievable hockey player," Isles wide manager Mathieu Darche said. "Obviously, the quality being is exceptional. [For] a 17-year-old to person that resilience, maturity with everything that he's gone done is beyond impressive, honestly. I haven't met galore 17-year-old kids that enactment similar him. But astatine the extremity of the day, we're drafting him due to the fact that he's a hellhole of a hockey player."

Schaefer got 2 caller teammates erstwhile the Islanders utilized the 16th prime connected Swedish guardant Victor Eklund and nabbed defenseman Kashawn Aitcheson with the 17th selection.

Both Pennsylvania teams besides were engaged successful Los Angeles. The Philadelphia Flyers grabbed guardant Porter Martone sixth earlier trading up for the 12th enactment to get guardant Jack Nesbitt, portion the Pittsburgh Penguins maneuvered up and down the draught to power 3 picks successful the apical 24, swinging 2 trades portion drafting forwards Benjamin Kindel, Bill Zonnon and William Horcoff.

Misa tore up the OHL past play arsenic the skipper of the Saginaw Spirit, scoring 62 goals and 134 points successful conscionable 65 games. While wearing a teal jersey for the archetypal time, helium repeated his tendency to play successful the NHL adjacent play if helium tin ace the roster of a struggling Sharks enactment that chose Will Smith 4th successful 2023 and got halfway Macklin Celebrini with the archetypal prime a twelvemonth ago.

"He's an ultracompetitive kid who's been playing up a level, up a commencement twelvemonth his full life," Sharks wide manager Mike Grier said astir Misa. "He wants to beryllium the best. He wants to play against the best, truthful I'm definite this is what helium wants to do, but you cognize we're not going to manus him anything. He's got to travel into grooming campy and effort and instrumentality a job."

An violative unit whose keen antiaircraft instinct matches his earthy scoring and playmaking skills, Misa, astatine 6-1, brings physicality and bodily sacrifice arsenic good to springiness him a genuinely well-rounded game. His determination permanently backmost to halfway this play besides showed however helium volition insert himself done each facets of the crippled and helium tin capable that top-six-forward relation successful the NHL.

Frondell excelled arsenic a 17-year-old guardant past play with Djurgården successful Sweden's 2nd division, showing disconnected a two-way crippled that allowed him to propulsion Misa connected immoderate draught boards. At 6-2, helium could supply a ample complement to Connor Bedard.

Frondell is the eighth Swedish subordinate to beryllium a top-three selection, joining elite institution including Victor Hedman, Mats Sundin and the Sedin twins.

Center Caleb Desnoyers went 4th to the Utah Mammoth, who moved up 10 spots successful the draught lottery.

The Nashville Predators chose carnal guardant Brady Martin with the 5th prime earlier trading up for the 21st enactment to get Kitchener defenseman Cameron Reid. Martin skipped the draft, staying location connected his household workplace successful Ontario.

Fans of the big Los Angeles Kings wrong the theatre got fired up for their nine to marque the 24th enactment -- which the Kings promptly traded to Pittsburgh for the 31st and 59th selections, sparking groans from the crowd. Los Angeles yet chose defenseman Henry Brzustewicz from the Memorial Cup champion London Knights successful wide manager Ken Holland's archetypal enactment for his caller team.

The Penguins created the bulk of the surprises successful the archetypal round, archetypal by choosing Calgary Hitmen halfway Kindel with the 11th prime -- overmuch higher than galore prognosticators expected.

Pittsburgh past traded the 12th pick, which primitively belonged to the New York Rangers, to Philadelphia for the 22nd and 31st picks. The Flyers wanted the 6-4 Nesbitt, a fast-rising halfway from the OHL's Windsor Spitfires past season.

The Penguins besides gave a second-round prime to the Kings and swapped first-rounders truthful they could determination up for Horcoff -- whose begetter is erstwhile NHL subordinate Shawn Horcoff -- with the 24th pick.

The Anaheim Ducks took a accidental connected guardant Roger McQueen with the 10th selection. The 6-5 McQueen is wide thought to person capable endowment to go an elite center, but the Saskatchewan autochthonal has been slowed by a backmost wounded that frightened disconnected immoderate teams.

Two goalies were chosen successful the archetypal circular for the archetypal clip since 2021 and lone the 3rd clip successful 13 years. Columbus grabbed Russia's Pyotr Andreyanov with the 20th pick, making him the highest-picked European goalie successful 4th years, and San Jose added goalie Joshua Ravensbergen with the 30th selection.

The Boston Bruins utilized the seventh prime connected Boston College halfway James Hagens, the statement apical imaginable for this draught a twelvemonth ago.

Hagens, a Long Island autochthonal coveted by galore Islanders fans, slid down the committee conscionable capable to scope the Bruins, whose prime was announced by a video of Adam Sandler successful quality arsenic Happy Gilmore, implicit with his signature Bruins jersey.

"I'm truthful excited to beryllium backmost successful Boston, and to person Adam Sandler marque the pick, that was special," said Hagens, who cites "Happy Gilmore" arsenic his favourite movie. "I emotion to win, and I'm truly gladsome that I'm successful Boston."

Hagens combines playmaking and people creaseless skating quality to beryllium 1 of the astir effectual finesse players successful the draft. He excels successful tiny areas and ever has the puck connected his stick, boasting fantabulous imaginativeness arsenic a unsafe puck handler and passing threat, with consciousness to find -- and deed -- teammates successful unfastened ice.

This year's draught lacked the centralized operation that has agelong been a staple. The 32 teams' assorted executives are mostly astatine home, not strewn crossed the draught floor. The bulk of the picks were taken to a video country conscionable down the signifier to speech televised pleasantries with their caller beforehand offices done videoconferencing.

ESPN's Kristen Shilton and The Associated Press contributed to this report.