Who are the Golden Knights’ 1st-round picks and where are they now?
The Golden Knights will pick 19th in the 2024 NHL draft at The Sphere on June 28.
It will be their last first-round pick for a while.
The Knights gave away their top selections in 2025 and 2026 at the trade deadline in March to chase another Stanley Cup. Their 2025 first went to the San Jose Sharks as part of the deal for Tomas Hertl, while their 2026 first was part of the package used to acquire defenseman Noah Hanifin from the Calgary Flames.
General manager Kelly McCrimmon wanted to hold onto this year’s first with the Knights hosting the draft. How long the player the team selects stays with the organization is another matter.
The Knights have made seven first-round picks in their history. Just one is still with the franchise. Here’s a look at all the players the Knights have selected Day 1 of the draft and where they are now:
Center Cody Glass — 6th overall, 2017
The Knights’ first-ever draft pick hasn’t quite panned out as hoped.
Glass, 25, scored 13 points in 41 games this season with the Nashville Predators, his fifth in the NHL. It was a drop-off after he scored 35 points in 2022-23. He’ll have to continue to fight for ice time next season.
Glass joined the Predators in July 2021 as part of a three-team trade that netted the Knights center Nolan Patrick, the second overall pick in 2017.
Patrick scored seven points in 25 games in 2021-22. He hasn’t played since after dealing with numerous injuries throughout his career.
Center Nick Suzuki — 13th overall, 2017
It was clear the Knights had something in Suzuki from the team’s first development camp.
The Montreal Canadiens thought so, too.
That’s why Suzuki was sent to the Canadiens in the trade that brought left wing Max Pacioretty to the Knights. Forward Tomas Tatar and a 2019 second-round pick also went to Montreal.
The Knights got a proven veteran in Pacioretty, who scored 97 goals in 224 games his four seasons with the team. Montreal, on the other hand, got a prospect to help start its rebuild.
The Canadiens may have come out ahead in the end. Suzuki, 24, is now Montreal’s captain and scored a career-high 77 points last season. He also had five points in six games to help the Canadiens defeat the Knights in the 2021 NHL semifinals.
Defenseman Erik Brannstrom — 15th overall, 2017
Brannstrom, 24, has become a regular for the Ottawa Senators. But his career didn’t take the trajectory many expected it to.
The undersized defenseman was projected to have tons of offensive potential when he was drafted. Instead, he has just 38 points in 150 games the last two seasons while turning himself into a steady presence on the blue line. Brannstrom was minus-1 at five-on-five last year. The Senators were minus-28 with him off the ice.
Brannstrom will forever be known as the central piece in the trade that landed the Knights captain Mark Stone in February 2019. Brannstrom, forward Oscar Lindberg and a 2020 second-round pick were sent to the Senators in a deal that looks more and more lopsided as time goes on.
Center Peyton Krebs — 17th overall, 2019
The Knights gave away their 2018 first-round pick at the trade deadline their inaugural season to acquire Tatar. They were back at the podium in 2019 to select Krebs.
He arrived with plenty of hype. Krebs scored 60 points in 38 games for the Western Hockey League’s Winnipeg Ice the year after he was drafted.
He joined the Knights late in the 2021 season but fractured his jaw before the playoffs. He got in 13 games the following year before being traded to the Buffalo Sabres in the deal that landed the Knights center Jack Eichel in November 2021.
Krebs, 23, has been a bottom-six player for Buffalo thus far. He has 43 points in 154 games the last two seasons.
Right wing Brendan Brisson — 29th overall, 2020
Brisson is the lone ranger. He is the one Knights’ first-round pick still with the organization.
The 22-year-old is attempting to make the leap to the NHL full-time. His opportunity may come next season.
Brisson did make his NHL debut last year and recorded two goals and six assists in 15 games with the Knights. He also had 38 points in 52 games with the Silver Knights.
Brisson’s offensive potential is clear. But he needs to get stronger to hold up to the physical demands of the NHL. He’ll have eyes on him in training camp as he challenges for a roster spot.
Center Zach Dean — 30th overall, 2021
Dean showed promise as a two-way player with the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Gatineau Olympiques.
He became yet another prospect involved in one of the Golden Knights’ big trades.
Dean, who had 70 points in 50 games his final junior season, was shipped to St. Louis in exchange for left wing Ivan Barbashev in February 2023. The Knights would do that deal again. Barbashev scored 18 points in 22 playoff games to help the franchise win its first Stanley Cup.
Dean, 21, appeared in nine games with the Blues this season and didn’t score a point. He scored 14 points in 49 games with St. Louis’ American Hockey League affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds.
Center David Edstrom — 32nd overall, 2023
The Knights, following their Stanley Cup championship, took Edstrom with the final pick of the first round.
He scored 19 points in 44 games with Frolunda HC in his native Sweden last season. But his time with the Knights didn’t last long. He was a key piece in the Hertl trade.
Edstrom, 19, will now be part of a Sharks’ rebuild that’s also expected to include Boston University center Macklin Celebrini, the favorite to be selected first overall June 28.
Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.
