Who could the Knights take with the 19th pick in the draft?
The Golden Knights aren’t expected to be too busy making picks when the NHL draft gets underway at The Sphere on Friday.
They have just four selections — a first, a sixth and two sevenths — through seven rounds. They are scheduled to pick 19th overall Friday. They’ll then have a long wait Saturday until they’re on the clock at No. 180, No. 197 and No. 212.
There should be plenty of talent available to the Knights. Whether it stays in the organization is another question.
Only one of the team’s seven first-round picks — 2020 selection Brendan Brisson — is still with the franchise. Last year’s first rounder, center David Edstrom, was traded to the San Jose Sharks on March 8 as part of the package to acquire center Tomas Hertl.
The Knights will have to make this year’s pick count. They traded away their top selections in 2025 and 2026 to get Hertl and defenseman Noah Hanifin, respectively.
Here are some names the team could be looking at Friday night:
Michael Hage, C, Chicago (United States Hockey League)
Hage, a Michigan commit, scored 75 points in 54 games for the Steel last season.
The Mississauga, Ontario native is a pure goal scorer. He had 46 in 57 games with the Toronto Jr. Canadiens U16 team in 2022.
The 6-foot-1, 190-pound prospect’s scoring potential makes him an intriguing target.
Sacha Boisvert, C, Muskegon (USHL)
Boisvert took an offensive leap with the Lumberjacks last season, scoring 68 points in 61 games.
The 6-foot-2 pivot can handle the puck well. He and Hage would fit with the Knights preference for drafting centers in the first round.
Five of the seven first-round picks in team history — Edstrom, Cody Glass, Nick Suzuki, Peyton Krebs and Zach Dean — were centers.
Trevor Connelly, LW, Tri-City (USHL)
Connelly, who has been selected between the 18th and 25th picks of most mock drafts, is a winger with strong playmaking ability. He had 31 goals and 47 assists in 52 games with the Storm last season.
Connelly does come with questions off the ice. He posted a picture to Snapchat in 2022 of a teammate sitting in a children’s area of a library with building blocks assembled in the shape of a swastika.
In 2021, Connelly was accused of directing a racial slur toward an opponent. Discipline was not upheld by the California Amateur Hockey Association because the allegation could not be corroborated.
E.J. Emery, D, U.S. National Development Team
Erik Brannstrom, who went 15th overall in 2017, remains the only defenseman the Knights have chosen in the first round.
They could choose to restock their blue line pipeline this season with prospect Kaedan Korczak expected to jump into the NHL full-time.
Emery, listed at 6-foot-3, is a good candidate if the Knights go that route. He doesn’t have sparkling offensive numbers — he scored 15 points in 66 games last season — but his NHL combine testing numbers could push him up draft boards.
Emery finished first among prospects in the horizontal jump, vertical jump and no-arm jump. He also had the lowest percentage of body fat among players tested.
Cole Beaudoin, C, Barrie (Ontario Hockey League)
Beaudoin had a strong showing for Team Canada during the World Juniors in January with four points in seven games. He had 62 points in 67 games with the Colts last season.
He’s been described as a physical player who does well with puck battles along the walls, which seems like a trait coach Bruce Cassidy will love.
Beaudoin also has strong genes to fall back on. His father, Eric, was a fourth-round pick by the Tampa Bay Lightning in 1998 and played 53 games with the Florida Panthers.
Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.
