NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - Nathan MacKinnon and Sidney Crosby share a hometown.
Darnell Nurse can swap draft day stories with his uncle, Donovan McNabb.
And Martin Brodeur can share a team, and a ride, with his son.
The NHL draft was full of family and provincial ties Sunday, starting with the first overall pick.
The Avalanche won the draft lottery for the first time in team history and Joe Sakic, the man put in charge of Colorado’s rebuilding project, had made it clear that MacKinnon was going to be the top pick.
He wasn’t bluffing.
The Avalanche made the 17-year-old MacKinnon the first pick of the draft on Sunday at the Prudential Center. He was the first player drafted No. 1 overall out of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League since the Pittsburgh Penguins selected Crosby in 2005.
MacKinnon and Crosby share more than that distinction _ they’re both from Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia.
“I love Sid. He’s my favorite player,” MacKinnon said. “I guess he’s still my favorite player. I don’t really know what to say now since I’m going to be in the same league as him. I don’t know if I should dislike him or not.”
MacKinnon, a 6-foot, 182-pound center, said it all with a laugh. But he’s serious about making the big club this season with Colorado.
“Hopefully, I can make the team and stick there,” MacKinnon said. “I feel like I can be a contributor next year.”
MacKinnon is a solid two-way presence with strong hands and stick-handling and skating skills. He is considered a natural scorer and an excellent distributor. Sakic, a former Avalanche captain who is now the executive vice president of hockey operations, ended the guessing game in the final week when he said MacKinnon would be the pick.
“They said it in the media, but I didn’t really get my hopes up,” MacKinnon said. “I was definitely more nervous than I expected to be a couple of minutes before the draft.”
He played for the Halifax Mooseheads and led them to the Memorial Cup championship. MacKinnon, who turns 18 Sept. 1, was named tournament MVP after scoring 13 points.
Next stop, Colorado?
“So proud to be part of the (at)Avalanche organization!!!” he tweeted to more than 46,000 followers.
That was just the start of a busy day at the home of the New Jersey Devils, who gave a jam-packed crowd a reason to cheer when the announced they acquired goaltender Cory Schneider, 27, from Vancouver. Schneider seems in line to be the eventual successor to Brodeur, 41, in net.
Brodeur personally added another backup when he made the announcement that the Devils had drafted his son, Anthony.
The Devils made a late trade for the 208th overall pick and one of the final ones in the seventh round. Brodeur took the microphone and announced Anthony’s name. Brodeur waited at the team’s draft table to present his 18-year-old son, also a goaltender, with a jersey.
Anthony Brodeur’s friends and family in the stands erupted in cheers.
“I’m trying to create my own name,” Anthony Brodeur said, “not on being Martin Brodeur’s son.”
The rest of the teams were busy planning their future through youth.
The Florida Panthers made center Aleksander Barkov, the top-ranked European skater, the second overall pick. Tampa Bay took forward Jonathan Drouin, also out of Halifax, with the third overall pick.
The Nashville Predators pounced on defenseman Seth Jones with the fourth overall pick. Jones, a 6-4, 205-pound defenseman, was widely considered the top prospect. He was the top player on the NHL Central Scouting’s final list of North American skaters.
He is the son of former NBA forward Popeye Jones, who paced the floor of the Prudential Center and said Seth slept great and was calm in the final hours leading up to the draft. But that had to change just a bit when Jones, who played for Portland of the Western Hockey League last season, slipped to fourth.
Carolina selected Elias Lindholm, who played in Sweden, fifth and the Calgary Flames followed with center Sean Monahan from Ottawa of the Ontario Hockey League.
After picking first the last three years, the Edmonton Oilers Nurse, a defenseman out of Saulte Ste. Marie in the OHL, with the seventh choice. Nurse is the nephew of McNabb, the former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback.
McNabb was famously booed by Eagles fans in the 1999 draft and was hurt for years by the reaction. Nurse heard polite applause in Newark.
“We’re even, because he went higher than me,” Nurse said, “but I didn’t get booed at my draft.”
The Buffalo Sabres took Finnish defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen with the eighth overall pick.
The Prudential Center hosted the draft for the first time. Commissioner Gary Bettman was drowned out by boos each time he took the podium. But he finally heard cheers when he announced the Devils were on the clock. It became louder when Bettman announced the Devils traded the ninth pick to Vancouver for Schneider.
“I think you guys are going to want to hear this,” Bettman told the crowd.
Schneider was on the market once the Canucks were unable to dump high-priced goalie Roberto Luongo. Vancouver then selected center Bo Horvat, of London (OHL), with the ninth pick. The Dallas Stars selected forward Valeri Nichushkin, of Russia, with the 10th pick.
The Flyers bucked tradition with the 11th pick and drafted a defenseman, 6-foot-6, 203-pound Samuel Morin. He played for Rimouski of the QMJHL.
The Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks ended the first round by picking forward Ryan Hartman, of Plymouth (OHL), with the 30th pick. The Blackhawks later traded Game 6 star Dave Bolland to the Toronto Maple Leafs for three draft picks.
Bolland snapped a 2-2 tie with the winner in the final minute Monday to give the Blackhawks the lead and their second Cup in four years.
“Thank you for everything Chicago! Such amazing memories,” he wrote on Twitter. “I look forward to playing in front of my home fans wearing the Maple Leaf.”
The Eastern Conference-champion Bruins didn’t have a first-round selection, so Swedish defenseman Linus Arnesson (60th overall) was their first addition.
On the veteran front, there are teams speaking with forward Vincent Lacavalier, recently bought out by Tampa Bay.
“We had a good meeting (with Lecavalier),” Boston general manager Peter Chiarelli said.
Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren said he, too, met with Lecavalier on Saturday.
Jones, who lived in Colorado as a youth and seemed a perfect fit for the Avalanche, has ties to Tennessee, as well. Popeye Jones owns a house there.
“It’s a perfect spot for him,” Popeye Jones said, proudly. “He’ll be motivated there, and ready to go.”
Sakic gave Jones some advice on getting Seth more interested in hockey when they both played in Denver more than a decade ago. Popeye Jones later developed a friendship with former Colorado goalie, and now coach, Patrick Roy.
The draft story line that had Jones joining the franchise that encouraged his push into hockey went bust on the very first pick.
“It definitely sounded too good to be true,” Seth Jones said. “I’m not unhappy that they didn’t choose me. It was their decision, and that’s what they thought would be best for their organization.
“You’ve got to respect that.”
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