The biggest rise in the NHL entry draft, in terms of rankings to selection, was Finnish centre
Jesperi Kotkaniemi, who rocketed up as one of the top centres in the draft, which led to Montreal taking him with the 3rd overall selection, shocking many. The 18-year old signed his entry-level deal on Sunday, getting the rookie maximum salary cap hit of $925,000 and his deal will be laden with all kinds of performance bonuses, assuming he can make the team out of camp. The lack of depth down the middle for the Canadiens is in Kotkaniemi's favour, but we're still a long way from camp opening.
The Chicago Blackhawks put pen to paper with the 8th overall selection from this past month's draft,
Adam Boqvist. The Swedish defenseman will also get the rookie maximums, as he was one of the top rated defensemen in the draft, his name said in the same breath as others like
Noah Dobson and
Evan Bouchard. The Blackhawks likely find themselves fortunate to have such a strong player drop down to their draft spot, so they locked him up right away into his entry-level contract and we'll probably see him in camp. It will be tough for him to crack the lineup, with all that added depth, but he'll probably make a good push.
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