Over the last two days some 217 young men who hope to play in the NHL one day were assigned their teams through the Entry Draft. Europeans accounted for nearly 42 per cent of that number, the most in 15 years.

And as usual, there was a pot pourri of storylines and trivia associated with the selections, which are summarized herewith:

First, a breakdown by nationality:

Canada—77
United States—50
Sweden—27
Finland—23
Russia—18
Czech Republic—9
Switzerland—3
Belarus—2
Denmark—2
Slovakia—2
France—1
Germany—1
Norway—1
Slovenia—1
Total—217

Notes on nationality:
In all, 90 of 217 players drafted were European. That figures out to 41.5%, the most since 2002 (41.6%). As well, the 90 players is the most since 2004 (97).

Sweden is the top European team for the 12th year in a row
Finland’s 23 selections is the most since 2002 (25)
Russia, showing some bounceback, had more draftees than any year since 2003 (30)
The Czech Republic (9) shows encouraging signs after only four players drafted last year
Switzerland has had at least two players drafted every year since 2010
France had a player for the first time since 2012
Slovenia had a player drafted for the first time since 2009

Other notes from the draft floor:

1—Nico Hischier (New Jersey)—first time a Swiss player has been selected first overall

2—Nolan Patrick (Philadelphia)—son of former NHLer Steve Patrick

7—Lias Andersson (NY Rangers)—son of Niklas, who played 164 NHL games

14—Callan Foote (Tampa Bay)—son of former NHLer Adam Foote

19—Joshua Norris (San Jose)—son of Dwayne, who played briefly in the NHL in the 1990s

26—Jake Oettinger (Dallas)—The American was the highest drafted goalie this year. In all, only 21 of the 217 players selected were goaltenders (11 from Europe).

27—Morgan Frost (Philadelphia)—son of Andy Frost, former P.A. announcer for the Leafs at Air Canada Centre

Six Finns were selected in the first round, a new record for Suomi.

62—Jake Leschyshyn (Vegas)—son of NHLer Curtis Leschyshyn

81—Reilly Walsh (New Jersey)—son of Mike Walsh, who played briefly with the Islanders from 1987 to 1989.

138—Drake Rhymsha (Los Angeles)—son of Andy, who played six games with the Quebec Nordiques in 1991-92

153—Olle Eriksson Ek (Anaheim)—brother of Joel, who plays for the Minnesota Wild

177—Skyler Brind’Amour (Edmonton)—son of Rod Brind’Amour, longtime NHLer

199—Cayden Primeau (Montreal)—son of Keith Primeau, longtime NHLer

How’d you figure?
Bradon Crawley was selected 123rd overall by the New York Rangers. What’s amazing, though, is that that pick was owned by FIVE teams. It started out as a Rangers selection, then went to San Jose, New Jersey, Nashville, and finally, back to the Broadway Blueshirts!

ANDREW PODNIEKS