No QMJHL players picked in first round

Embed from Getty Images

For a second straight year, no players from the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League were selected in the opening round of the NHL Draft.

It's not a great draft year overall for the QMJHL, so the lack of selections on Friday night didn't come as a big surprise. Chicoutimi Sagueneens forward Maxim Masse was projected as a late first round pick by some, but that was not a consensus. 

Masse and a number of other QMJHL players will definitely be picked in the remaining six rounds, which will be held on Saturday.

Last year, 12 players from the QMJHL were picked in the NHL Draft. Ethan Gauthier was the top player selected, going 37th overall to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

A few news and notes from Friday night's action...

• As expected, Boston University forward Macklin Celebrini was selected first overall by the San Jose Sharks. Celebrini said shortly after the selection that he is still undecided if he'll join the Sharks next season or return to Boston University.
• NCAA players went first and second overall in this year's draft. After Celebrini, Michigan State defenseman Artyom Levshunov was selected by the Chicago Blackhawks.
• Beckett Sennecke of the Oshawa Generals went third overall to the Anaheim Ducks. Sennecke was one of six CHL players selected in the top 10.
• Sacha Boisvert, a Trois-Rivieres native who has spent the past two seasons with the USHL's Muskegon Lumberjacks and is committed to the University of North Dakota, was picked 18th overall by the Blackhawks. Boisvert was taken in both the 2022 (12th overall to Chicoutimi) and 2023 (88th overall to Shawinigan) QMJHL Entry Drafts.
• Two players from the Lumberjacks were picked in the first round – the team Tynan Lawrence is committed to for next season.
• Cole Eiserman, a forward from the USNTDP and a Boston University commit, went 20th overall to the New York Islanders. Eiserman's CHL rights are held by the Moncton Wildcats.
• There were two players from Norway selected in the first round.
• League breakdown:

  Most 1st-round selections in the 2024 NHL Draft by league
  
  OHL: 9
  USHL: 6
  WHL: 5

  — Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) June 29, 2024

Rounds two through seven take place on Saturday beginning at 12:30 p.m. Atlantic. Saint John Sea Dogs forward Eriks Mateiko will be taken at some point.