The Buffalo Sabres did the expected on Friday, selecting defenseman Owen Power with the first overall pick. For more on Power, you can view his Dobber Prospects profile.

Fellow Michigan alum Matthew Beniers was the second overall pick and first-ever entry draft pick in Seattle Kraken history. Check out his Dobber Prospects profile.

Mason McTavish was the first surprise of the draft, getting picked third overall by the Ducks. He also has a Dobber Prospects profile.

Another storyline with the fourth overall pick, as Luke Hughes (Dobber Prospects profile) joined his brother Jack Hughes on the Devils. The Canucks fan in me hopes that Quinn Hughes does not request a trade to New Jersey. A lot of hockey talent in this living room.

The @NJDevils take Luke Hughes with the No. 4 pick and his brother couldn't be happier! #NHLDraft pic.twitter.com/hTEbBXcaYt

— NHL GIFs (@NHLGIFs) July 24, 2021

Perhaps my favorite not only because he's from my neck of the woods but also because he's such a highlight-reel machine, Kent Johnson (Dobber Prospects profile) was selected by the Blue Jackets.

Later in the first round, the Canadiens grabbed headlines by drafting controversial defenseman Logan Mailloux (Dobber Prospects profile). Mailloux was charged with a sex-related offense while in Sweden, then later advised teams not to draft him after the incident was made public. Montreal went in anyway, so as a first-round pick Mailloux didn’t really suffer any consequences hockey-wise. Not good. Maybe Mailloux is normally an excellent pick here, but the Habs have created themselves a PR nightmare. Which might lead to this:

So, how long before Montreal renounces this pick, similar to Arizona a year ago?

— Tom Collins (@DH_newfcollins) July 24, 2021

I'll leave analysis of the rest of the picks to our new Journey writer Hadi Kalakeche. Look for his first-round recap later today.

Round 1 of the 2021 #NHLDraft is in the books, with the @BuffaloSabres taking Owen Power first overall.#NHLStats: https://t.co/OMYqTES5ZW pic.twitter.com/oSIJIj6oP9

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) July 24, 2021

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It seemed as if someone was going to overpay for Rasmus Ristolainen. In a pre-draft trade, the Sabres sent Ristolainen to the Flyers for the 14^th overall pick in this year's draft (Isak Rosen), a second-round pick in 2023, and Robert Hagg. Mike promptly provided his Fantasy Take on this deal.

I know that Ristolainen can get ripped to shreds in the analytics community, and I'm not here to argue about their observations. I do want to take this opportunity to be clear about the divide between analytics and fantasy, though. Ristolainen is a defenseman who has traditionally raked in the peripheral stats, namely hits, blocked shots, and shots. Until Rasmus Dahlin arrived on the scene, he was a three-time 20+ power-play point contributor. If you could stomach his often-horrible plus-minus, he was a player to own in multicat leagues.   

Ristolainen is known for having been forced into heavy minutes on a shallow Buffalo team, so it's also worth mentioning that his workload has been lighter over the last couple seasons (22:17 TOI in 2020-21 compared to 26+ minutes from 2016 to 2018). The Flyers have used the offseason to shore up their defense, also acquiring Ryan Ellis, so the Flyers aren't in a spot to lean heavily on Ristolainen. As Mike noted, Ristolainen will face heavy competition for any power-play time.

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Just as the Sabres seemed to receive quite a return for Ristolainen, it seemed as though the Rangers didn't receive enough for Pavel Buchnevich. I know the Rangers are trying to get tougher with their acquisitions first of Barclay Goodrow and now of Sammy Blais, that desire for truculence especially motivated by the Tom Wilson incident on Artemi Panarin. From their standpoint, I wonder if they are also trying to clear room for Jack Eichel, as Buchnevich is an RFA set to be paid.

Mike also had you covered for the Fantasy Take on the Buchnevich/Blais deal.

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Speaking of the Rangers, they have placed Tony DeAngelo on unconditional waivers for the purposes of buying out his contract. You're probably familiar with the DeAngelo situation, so I won't rehash it here. Yet it will be interesting to see if an NHL team decides to sign the controversial defenseman. That team may gain a talented offensive defenseman, but they will also be battling negative backlash from members of their fan base. Perhaps a team will roll the dice on him with a short-term contract barely above the minimum. Even with that, I wouldn't be surprised if the next stop for DeAngelo is the KHL. 

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Then the Canucks and Coyotes made an interesting deal, where Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Conor Garland went to the Canucks for the 9^th overall pick (Dylan Guenther), a 2022 second-round pick, a 2023 third-round pick, Loui Eriksson, Jay Beagle, and Antoine Roussel. You can read a lot more about it on my Fantasy Take and on my Twitter. I thought I'd never see the day where all of Eriksson, Beagle, and Roussel were unloaded in the same deal. It definitely came at a cost for the Canucks.

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But wait, there's more. The Seth Jones trade finally happened, with the Blackhawks picking him up for Adam Boqvist. The two teams also traded a bunch of picks. Jones promptly signed an eight-year contract with an AAV of $9.5 million. Mike gave you another Fantasy Take. He was a busy guy on Friday.

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Columbus wasn't finished adding young defensemen, picking up Jake Bean for the 44^th overall pick. They now have both Boqvist and Bean in tow as they attempt what appears to be at least a mini-rebuild. Yep, another Fantasy Take from Mike. These things don’t write themselves, so amazing work from him. Glad I was able to help him just a little bit.

Meanwhile, the Hurricanes continue to puzzle in trading young talent, also parting with Calder finalist Alex Nedeljkovic the day before. I read somewhere that Ned is the first-ever Calder finalist to ever be traded in the following offseason. Maybe they've got something bigger planned, so I might reserve judgement until the offseason ends.

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Kind of under the radar with all this news, but the Canadiens announced that Carey Price's knee surgery took place on Friday. He is expected to require a 10-to-12-week recovery period, which appears to be just enough time for him to return for the start of the 2021-22 season. Price keeper owners can breathe a sign of relief, as the statements about his injury status earlier this week appeared to be to discourage Seattle from claiming him.

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After a nomadic existence for the last couple years, Taylor Hall appears to have finally found a place he can call home. Hall has re-signed in Boston for four years with a cap hit of $6 million. This seems like an acceptable deal for both the team and player. This shouldn't be a surprise to anyone, but check out the turnaround on Hall's stats from Buffalo to Boston.

Buffalo: 37 GP, 2 G, 17 A, 19 PTS, -21, 0.51 PTS/GP

Boston: 16 GP, 8 G, 6 A, 14 PTS, +15, 0.88 PTS/GP

The question is now who will be centering Hall next season, as David Krejci is set to become a UFA.

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You probably saw this already regarding your favorite team, but the NHL schedule was released late Thursday. I thought that the Canucks had it rough with a six-game road trip to start the season, which may have something to do with any possible delays to the province of British Columbia removing all of its COVID restrictions (which are currently scheduled for early September). Then I noticed that the Islanders will begin the season on a 13-game road trip! This is the second-longest road trip in NHL history, which is needed to allow for the Islanders' new building, the UBS Arena, to be ready. Just something to keep in the back of your mind if you own any Islanders. Their first home game will be November 20.

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Have a listen to the latest 32 Beats Keeping Karlsson podcast, which features Boston Bruins beat writer Fluto Shinzawa. Listen to it on your favorite podcast provider.

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I tend to believe that there are a ton of fantasy implications from a new team being formed. Not just on that new team, but on every other team (maybe even the Golden Knights!) Fortunately we have the whole summer to unpack these changes, but you're no doubt curious what the Seattle Kraken will look like from a fantasy perspective. After reading various articles about what this team will look like, including Mike's Ramblings, it's time for me to venture over to Frozen Tools to take a look at what line combinations and defensive pairings could look like.

#SeaKraken regular season stats (final, for now) 👇 #fantasyhockeyhttps://t.co/muMQBF9UAk

— Frozen Tools (@FrozenTools) July 22, 2021

#SeaKraken depth chart (final, for now) 👇 #fantasyhockeyhttps://t.co/aXnkobRtAw

— Frozen Tools (@FrozenTools) July 22, 2021

Here is the forward depth chart:

LEFT WING	CENTER	RIGHT WING
JARED MCCANN	YANNI GOURDE	JORDAN EBERLE
BRANDON TANEV	MASON APPLETON	JOONAS DONSKOI
CARSEN TWARYNSKI	CALLE JARNKROK	NATHAN BASTIAN
	COLIN BLACKWELL	KOLE LIND
	TYLER PITLICK
	MORGAN GEEKIE
	ALEXANDER TRUE

There are going to be some surprises that break through, and there could also be further changes via trades and free agency. But right now, the clear top-6 forwards in terms of production appear to be Yanni Gourde, Jordan Eberle, Jared McCann, Joonas Donskoi, Calle Jarnkrok, and Mason Appleton. Remember that Gourde is expected to miss the start of the season due to shoulder surgery, which should benefit Jarnkrok short-term if there is any doubt he will be in a top-6 role.

I was curious about how Jarnkrok stacks up against Gourde, who is being blessed with the recency effect of strong play during a recent Stanley Cup run. The former Lightning is still the better offensive option and who I'd recommend if you had to pick between the two, but it might be closer than you think. Look beyond the point total. From the last three seasons:

Name	GP	G	A	PTS	PTS/G	PPP	SOG	+/-	TOI	SHTOI
YANNI GOURDE	206	49	65	114	0.55	21	358	14	15:34	1:35
CALLE JARNKROK	192	38	50	88	0.46	19	333	30	15:57	1:45

Here is the defense depth chart:

LH DEFENSE	RH DEFENSE
MARK GIORDANO	ADAM LARSSON
JAMIE OLEKSIAK	WILL BORGEN
CARSON SOUCY
HAYDN FLEURY
VINCE DUNN
JEREMY LAUZON
KURTIS MACDERMID
DENNIS CHOLOWSKI
GAVIN BAYREUTHER

It's probably safe to assume that the first pairing will be former Battle of Alberta rivals Mark Giordano and Adam Larsson. After that, there's an imbalance on one side, so whichever left-shot defenseman can move to the right side will be at an advantage.

For the first-unit power play, I'll go with forwards McCann, Eberle, Donskoi, and Gourde (with Jarnkrok replacing Gourde when injured). On defense, it should be either the veteran Giordano or Vince Dunn, the latter who could finally benefit from the opportunity from not playing behind either Alex Pietrangelo or Torey Krug on the man advantage.

In goal, Chris Driedger seemed to be the goalie they had their eye on for months. Given that and his solid performance with the Panthers over the last two seasons, he should be the starter over Vitek Vanecek. In addition, he has the larger investment ($3.5 million over three years), so he will be given the larger rope. A new team with a new coach will mean a clean slate, so this could easily evolve into a timeshare.

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For more fantasy hockey discussion, or to reach out to me, you can follow me on Twitter @Ian_Gooding