The Vegas Golden Knights are a professional Ice Hockey franchise based in Las Vegas, Nevada. In the 2017-18 season, they formed an expansion team, where they played in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Hockey League. The Golden Knights have made 50 selections in seven entry drafts, as of 2023.
In June, the NHL entry draft is held, allowing all the teams to select players who have turned 18 years old by September 15 in the year the draft is held. The draft order is decided by the previous season’s finish. The order goes as such; the non-playoffs teams are drafted first, followed by teams that marked their spot in the previous season’s playoffs, depending upon the points earned by the respective teams.
The NHL conducts a lottery for all of the 16 teams that did not make it to the playoffs in the previous season, which provides a chance for the winner to make their first pick. The team that has earned the least points has a greater chance of winning the lottery, leading to lower chances of moving up in the draft for previously successful teams.
List Of Vegas Golden Knights Draft Picks year by year
In the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, the Golden Knights first participated, where they made Cody Glass their first-ever selection at sixth overall. Later in the first round, they selected Nick Suzuki and Erik Brannstrom. However, Suzuki was traded to the Montreal Canadiens ahead of the 2018-19 season, only Glass ultimately played for the Golden Knights, and Brannstrom was traded to the Ottawa Senators during the same season. In the 2017 Season, Second round pick Nicolas Hague played the most games for the Golden Knights of any draft pick, where he played 296 games, since his debut in the 2019-20 season, Hague was also one of the Golden Knights' draft picks players to play with the team in the 2023 Stanley Cup Finals. The 2018 fifth-round pick Paul Cotter is the only pick to be subsequently engraved on the Stanley Cup. Jiri Patera, selected in the sixth round in 2017, is the only goaltender drafted by the Golden Knights to perform with the team, where he played eight games as of the 2023-24 season.
| Draft | Round | Pick | Player | Nationality |
| 2023 | 1 | 32 | David Edstrom | Sweden |
| 2023 | 3 | 77 | Mathieu Cataford | Canada |
| 2023 | 3 | 96 | Arttu Karki | Finland |
| 2023 | 6 | 192 | Tuomas Uronen | Finland |
| 2022 | 2 | 48 | Matyas Sapovaliv | Czech Republic |
| 2022 | 3 | 79 | Jordan Gustafson | Canada |
| 2022 | 4 | 128 | Cameron Whitehead | Canada |
| 2022 | 5 | 145 | Patrick Guay | Canada |
| 2022 | 6 | 177 | Ben Hemmerling | Canada |
| 2022 | 7 | 209 | Abram Wiebe | Canada |
| 2021 | 1 | 30 | Zach Dean | Canada |
| 2021 | 2 | 38 | Daniil Chayka | Russia |
| 2021 | 4 | 102 | Jakub Brabenec | Czech Republic |
| 2021 | 4 | 128 | Jakub Demek | Slovakia |
| 2021 | 6 | 190 | Artur Cholach | Ukraine |
| 2021 | 7 | 222 | Carl Lindbom | Sweden |
| 2020 | 1 | 29 | Brendan Brisson* | United States |
| 2020 | 3 | 68 | Lukas Cormier* | Canada |
| 2020 | 3 | 91 | Jackson Hallum | United States |
| 2020 | 5 | 125 | Jesper Vikman | Sweden |
| 2020 | 6 | 184 | Noah Ellis | United States |
| 2020 | 7 | 215 | Maxim Marushev | Russia |
| 2019 | 1 | 17 | Peyton Krebs† | Canada |
| 2019 | 2 | 41 | Kaedan Korczak* | Canada |
| 2019 | 3 | 79 | Pavel Dorofeyev* | Russia |
| 2019 | 3 | 86 | Layton Ahac | Canada |
| 2019 | 4 | 110 | Ryder Donovan | United States |
| 2019 | 5 | 135 | Isaiah Saville | United States |
| 2019 | 5 | 139 | Marcus Kallionkieli | Finland |
| 2019 | 5 | 141 | Mason Primeau | Canada |
| 2018 | 2 | 61 | Ivan Morozov | Russia |
| 2018 | 4 | 99 | Slava Demin | United States |
| 2018 | 4 | 115 | Paul Cotter* | United States |
| 2018 | 5 | 135 | Brandon Kruse | United States |
| 2018 | 5 | 154 | Connor Corcoran | Canada |
| 2018 | 6 | 180 | Peter Diliberatore | Canada |
| 2018 | 6 | 185 | Xavier Bouchard | Canada |
| 2018 | 7 | 208 | Jordon Kooy | Canada |
| 2017 | 1 | 6 | Cody Glass† | Canada |
| 2017 | 1 | 13 | Nick Suzuki | Canada |
| 2017 | 1 | 15 | Erik Brannstrom | Sweden |
| 2017 | 2 | 34 | Nicolas Hague* | Canada |
| 2017 | 2 | 62 | Jake Leschyshyn† | Canada |
| 2017 | 3 | 65 | Jonas Rondbjerg* | Denmark |
| 2017 | 4 | 96 | Maxim Zhukov | Russia |
| 2017 | 5 | 127 | Lucas Elvenes | Sweden |
| 2017 | 5 | 142 | Jack Dugan | United States |
| 2017 | 6 | 158 | Nick Campoli | Canada |
| 2017 | 6 | 161 | Jiri Patera* | Czech Republic |
| 2017 | 7 | 189 | Ben Jones* | Canada |
List of Vegas Golden Knights Draft Picks FAQ's
Vegas first participated in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, where they made Cody Glass their first-ever selection at sixth overall; additionally, they selected Nick Suzuki and Erik Brannstrom later in the first round.
Foley was unable to call the team the "Vegas Knights" because the London Knights owned the "Knights" name in Canada. "Golden" was included in the name because gold is, as Foley stated, the "No. 1 precious metal", and because Nevada is the largest gold-producing state in the country.
The Golden Knights won 51 games and reached the Stanley Cup Final that first season, and are just the third team in NHL history to reach the conference finals four times in their first six years.
Eight days shy of the seven-year anniversary of Las Vegas officially receiving an NHL franchise and 2,076 days after the team's first regular-season game, the Vegas Golden Knights became Stanley Cup champions.
The Golden Knights' greatest asset all season was its depth, an advantage that was magnified in the playoffs. The Golden Knights had the luxury of being able to consistently roll four lines and three defensive pairings, knowing every unit could impact the game both offensively and defensively.
