Fantilli among three NCAA players taken in Round 1
Adam Fantilli (No. 3 by CBJ) of the University of Michigan, Matthew Wood (No. 15 by NSH) of the University of Connecticut and Charlie Stramel (No. 21 by MIN) of the University of Wisconsin were all selected in the Round 1. Fantilli is the sixth top-10 selection out of the University of Michigan since 2015 and the 16th first-round pick from the school overall – the highest total of any NCAA program.

USA Hockey NTDP continues to produce high-end talent
Four players from USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program’s Under-18 Team were selected in the opening round, including two who were drafted among the top 10: Will Smith (No. 4 by SJS) and Ryan Leonard (No. 8 by WSH). USA Hockey’s Under-18 team is the first amateur club to have a player selected among the first five picks of the NHL Draft in five consecutive years.

Reinbacher first Austrian-born defenseman selected in Round 1

David Reinbacher achieved an NHL Draft first when he became the first Austrian-born defenseman to be selected in Round 1. He is the third Austrian-born player to be selected in the first round since 2020 after Marco Kasper (No. 8 in 2022) and Marco Rossi (No. 9 in 2020) and the seventh overall.

Like father, like son
Two players picked in Round 1 with notable family ties to the NHL were Oliver Bonk (No. 22 by PHI) and Gabriel Perreault (No. 23 by NYR). Bonk’s father, Radek, was a first-round pick in 1994 (No. 3 by OTT) and recorded 194-303—497 in 969 career NHL games, while Perreault’s dad, Yanic, was a third-round selection in 1991 (No. 47 by TOR) and had 247-269—516 in 859 career NHL games. Since 2019, seven players picked in Round 1 of the NHL Draft had fathers who were also selected in the first round. The others over that span in addition to Bonk were Tyler Boucher (No. 10 in 2021), ColeSillinger (No. 12 in 2021), ChaseStillman (No. 29 in 2021), RidlyGreig (No. 28 in 2020), Alex Turcotte (No. 5 in 2019) and SamPoulin (No. 21 in 2019).

David Poile’s last Draft

Longtime Predators general manager David Poile opened his 40th and final NHL Draft (and 26th with Nashville) by selecting Matthew Wood and Tanner Molendyk with the No. 15 and No. 24 pick, respectively in front of his home fans. Several general managers throughout Round 1 gave their best wishes to Poile, who is set to officially retire and hand the reins to Barry Trotz on July 1. Poile has made every selection in the history of the Predators franchise and his 40 different drafts as general manager are the most in NHL history.