Lafreniere looks to 'make a difference' in New York

There were a couple of surprising moments in the first round of the NHL Draft on Tuesday, but the No. 1 overall pick wasn't one of them.

As expected, the Rangers selected Rimouski Oceanic forward Alexis Lafreniere first overall.

The city of New York was promptly covered with "Bienvenue à Broadway" signs from Madison Square Garden to Times Square, welcoming the future superstar to his new home:

"Throwing on a Rangers jersey, it's pretty amazing," Lafreniere said on the NBC Sports broadcast after the pick was made official. "Growing up you dream of being drafted in the NHL, and just being able to have an NHL jersey, and especially a New York jersey, it's really unreal for me."

Lafreniere, who turns 19 next week, led the QMJHL in scoring this season with 112 points (35 goals, 77 assists) in 52 games. He has a long list of awards and accolades from his junior career, with the most notable being his back-to-back QMJHL MVP awards in the last two seasons. Only two players in league history have won the MVP award in back-to-back seasons, with fellow Oceanic alum Sidney Crosby being the first.

Lafreniere, a left wing, looks to crack New York's top-9 forwards next season. At 6-foot-1, 193 pounds, he has the size to make that jump to the NHL, and the physical side of his game should make that transition a little easier.

"Physically I got a lot stronger, and my game, I can create scoring chances a lot," Lafreniere said. "That's something I'll try to bring to the next level. For sure it's going to be a bit of an adjustment, but I'll keep getting ready. When training camp starts, I'll try to be as good as I can and try to make a difference."

MORE FROM THE DRAFT

• The NHL and NHLPA announced prior to the draft that the new target date for the start of the 2020-21 season is Jan. 1

• Unlike most years, there were no major trades made during the draft. There were just two, and they were swaps of picks only. The Flames traded pick No. 19 to the Rangers for picks No. 22 and No. 72. The Flames then traded pick No. 22 to the Capitals for picks No. 24 and No. 80.

• There were 19 Canadians selected in the first round, the most since 2003. They were joined by four Russians, two Germans, two Swedes, two Americans, one Austrian, and one Finn. This was the first time in NHL history that there were two Germans selected in the first round in one draft.

• The Austrian player, Marco Rossi, is only the third Austrian player ever to be selected in the first round.

• Quinton Byfield, selected No. 2 overall by the Kings, is the highest-drafted Black player in NHL history. The Kings shared this cool reaction from Blake Bolden, a professional women's hockey player who also works for the Kings as a scout:

• All of the anticipated first-round picks were sent hats for each of the NHL's 31 teams, so each player was able to immediately put on his team's hat after being drafted. 

• Biggest surprise: The Blue Jackets surprised a lot of people with the pick of Russian forward Yegor Chinakhov at No. 21 overall. Central Scouting ranked Chinakhov the No. 30 European skater eligible for this draft, and various overall rankings had Chinakhov going anywhere from late in the second round to even somewhere in the sixth round. The pick was so far off the board that nobody on the Sportsnet panel knew who he was:

• Biggest steal: Forward Hendrix Lapierre was a real wildcard going into this draft. He was projected to be a top-10 pick, but questions about his health hurt his stock. He only played 48 games in the 2018-19 season, then 19 games in 2019-20 as he dealt with what was originally thought to be three separate concussions. The Capitals traded up from No. 24 to No. 22 to take Lapierre. Lapierre said afterward that he didn't think the Capitals took a risk by taking him, and that he's perfectly healthy and able to play this QMJHL season. He added that of his three "concussions," it was discovered that only one was actually a concussion, and the other two were neck-related injuries that produced similar symptoms.

• Coolest announcement: The Senators had Sudbury native and University of Ottawa alum Alex Trebek announce the No. 3 pick, and he did it in the form of a Jeopardy question:

I asked this question on Twitter, but leave your answers in the comments too. If the Penguins had a first-round pick and had a local Pittsburgh icon announce their pick in a cool way like that, who would it be and what would they do? 

My pick is a Strip District T-shirt hawker with some knockoff design featuring the dude's name.

• Funniest announcement: The Leafs had Mitch Marner announce their pick, with Morgan Reilly awkwardly revealing the jersey off to the side in the background, definitely not looking like he's being held hostage:

• Best moment: Most players chosen had webcams set up in their living rooms during the draft, and it was neat seeing all the family reactions to the picks. The greatest might have been pick No. 31, when the Sharks selected Ozzy Weisblatt. Weisblatt's mother is deaf, and Sharks director of scouting Doug Wilson Jr. announced the pick in sign language:

• The Penguins weren't active on Day 1, but they tweeted a look at their war room at PPG Paints Arena: 

• The Penguins are scheduled to make four picks on Wednesday: One in the third round (No. 77 overall), one in the fourth round (No. 108), one in the fifth round (No. 139), and one in the sixth round (No. 170). I wrote this story taking a look at several players who may be available when the Penguins pick at No. 77.