For Trevor Connelly, it meant little where he was selected in the NHL draft (first round or beyond) because of the regrettable decisions he made in the past.
What ultimately mattered to the 18-year-old was the work he put in through volunteerism and diversity training to put him on a path forward in hockey after being drafted 19th overall by the host of the draft, Vegas Golden Knights, on Friday night.
“I think I could have gone higher, if some of the things hadn’t happened. But, honestly, I’m happier to have been drafted where I was drafted,” said Connelly, whose draft stock has fallen in the two years since he posted an image on Snapchat (before hastily deleted) showing a friend posing in front of a collection of swastika-shaped building blocks.
He was also accused of making a racial slur during a match in 2021, although the suspension was lifted when an investigation could not corroborate what happened. Connelly apologized for posting the image and denied making the racial slur.
“I made mistakes as a kid and I’m a very different person now,” said Connelly, who is from Tustin, California, and has committed to attend Providence this year. “I think everything I’ve been through these past few years is for a reason. I think everything is going to work out for me and I’m going to do whatever I can for the organization, whatever I can for the people and I’m really excited to get started.”
General manager Kelly McCrimmon said Las Vegas officials conducted what he called a “very thorough” background check on the player, while also meeting with Connelly at the scouting meeting in Buffalo, New York, and then again this week.
“I think he (showed) some growth and some recognition of some areas where he had made mistakes and he acknowledged that,” McCrimmon said. “He was very sincere, transparent, he did not avoid any of the questions we asked him.”
The abilities of this 1.80 meter, 70 kilo striker are not in doubt.
Connelly is coming off a season with the Tri-City Storm in which he finished second in the USHL with 78 points (31 goals, 47 assists) in 52 games. He has also represented the USA and recently won a silver medal at the 2024 world under-18 championships.
Unfriendly cap
Washington Capitals GM Brian MacLellan uses CapFriendly all the time to find salary information and other NHL data. Soon, he and members of the organization will be the only ones with access, after the Capitals purchased the website this month.
Suffice it to say, his colleagues are not thrilled about having that tool taken away from them.
“I don’t think anyone is happy,” MacLellan said on a video call with reporters Thursday. “The entire industry is not very happy about this.”
CapFriendly is still available through the draft and the start of free agency next week before the public portion goes dark in July.
“Our biggest fear was that it would go away and we wouldn’t be able to use it,” said MacLellan, who added that the front office considered creating its own site before realizing it was too expensive and time-consuming. “We can build off of it. We have the people who built it, so we can build off of it and hopefully we can become more efficient as an organization in salary cap decisions, collective bargaining agreement decisions and then use it on our analytics side as well — create a format that works for us that way.”
News from Norway
Michael Brandsegg-Nygard, selected by Detroit with the 15th pick, made history as the first player from Norway to be selected in the first round. Brandsegg-Nygard played in the Swedish Hockey League last season and heard his name called in the draft by a Hall of Famer from that Scandinavian nation, Nicklas Lidström.
Stian Stolberg became Norway’s second player selected in the first round shortly after, when Anaheim moved up to select him 23rd overall. Goaltending coach Sudarshan “Sudsy” Maharaj, who recently beat cancer, announced the Ducks’ selection .
Crosby extension?
With just over a year until Sidney Crosby becomes a free agent, the three-time Stanley Cup-winning Pittsburgh Penguins captain and his team have been discussing a contract extension with general manager Kyle Dubas that couldn’t be signed until Monday anyway.
“We’re talking,” Crosby said Friday on a video call with reporters to discuss the upcoming Four Nations matchup. “There’s been some conversations, I think with the draft and free agency and things like that. It’s something I’ll keep between me and Kyle, but we’ve had some conversations and I’ll leave it at that. … We’ll see what happens.”
The Penguins, with Dubas in charge, remain in win-now mode. Center Evgeni Malkin has a contract until 2026 and defenseman Kris Letang until 28.
Crosby will turn 37 before next season.
