Golden Knights wrap up NHL draft with 4-man class

As Stanley Cup champions, the Golden Knights had the luxury of being seen at their back table but not heard through most of the second day of the NHL draft.

Of the 192 picks announced Thursday at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, only three belonged to the Knights, who traded the final pick of the draft to the Columbus Blue Jackets for a 2024 seventh-round selection.

That left the team with a four-man class, the smallest in franchise history. The Knights, after selecting Swedish center David Edstrom 32nd overall in Wednesday’s first round, added center Mathieu Cataford and defenseman Arttu Karki in the third round and right wing Tuomas Uronen in the sixth.

The four will add fresh legs to a farm system ranked 21st before the start of last season by Elite Prospects and 23rd in January by The Athletic.

“We didn’t have many picks, but I think we did a very good job of getting quality with what we had,” Knights assistant director of player personnel Bob Lowes said in an interview with the team.

The Knights sat out the second round Thursday — a byproduct of the Jack Eichel trade with Buffalo — before making their two picks in the third.

Cataford, 18, is seen as a well-rounded forward who can do a little bit of everything. He’s coming off a productive season for the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Halifax Mooseheads, finishing with 31 goals and 75 points in 68 games. He’s listed at 5 feet, 11 inches, but is thought to have enough grit in his game to compete at higher levels.

”He’s kind of a Swiss Army knife,” Lowes said. “He plays any forward position. He does it throughout the game. He plays both speciality teams. He’s a real energy guy.”

Karki, 18, is an offensive defenseman who skates well. A left shot, he had 39 points in 36 games for his under-20 team in Finland last season, Tappara. He will need to grow his defensive game.

“Very, very intelligent,” Lowes said. “The defense is on the come a little bit because he’s still quite raw, but we really like his range and his ability to get the puck moving up ice.”

Uronen, 18, is a winger who was projected to go earlier a year ago, then had a mixed draft season. He had 20 goals and 43 points in 38 games for the Finnish club HIFK’s under-20 team, but wasn’t as productive playing international competition. He had two points in five games at the World U18 Championship in April.

“Our guys are really confident there’s a lot of skill there, untapped skill,” Lowes said. “He’s just got to work on his consistency.”

The Knights had the opportunity to make one more pick, but swapped selections with the Blue Jackets instead. Columbus ended the draft by taking QMJHL forward Tyler Peddle at No. 224.

The Knights’ four picks were two fewer than they’ve had in any previous draft, and they also didn’t add a goaltender for the first time. But they walked away happy with their class.

“Having the last pick in some rounds, you’re kind of waiting for everything to unfold, and we were patient,” Lowes said. “We made some calls to see about moving around and that, but in the end, we stood patient and good things happened.”

Contact Ben Gotz at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on Twitter.