Lightning take forward Stamkos as first draft pick
OTTAWA (Reuters) - The Tampa Bay Lightning took 18-year-old forward Steven Stamkos with the first overall pick in the National Hockey League's Entry Draft.
Stamkos, outstanding in junior hockey with the Sarnia Sting the past two seasons, has already been featured in the team's off-season marketing campaign which featured "Seen Stamkos?" advertisements around the Tampa area.
The Scarborough, Ontario native was the consensus No. 1 pick of most scouts after a stellar season in the Ontario Hockey League, in which he scored 58 goals in just 61 games.
The Lightning had said from the time they won the NHL Draft Lottery in April that they would take Stamkos, who is expected to make an immediate impact in the NHL.
"That's my goal, to play in the National Hockey League next season," Stamkos told reporters. "I don't know about any stats, but my goal coming in is to make the next jump to the NHL.
"Obviously, there's a lot of hard work to be done until then, but you look at guys like Patrick Kane and Sam Gagner (2007 NHL draft picks), and they've been impact players. I hope I can follow in their footsteps."
Defensemen were hot property with the next four players all defenders who played junior hockey in Canada.
The Los Angeles Kings took Drew Doughty of Ontario Hockey League team the Guelph Storm with the second overall pick.
The Atlanta Thrashers chose Zach Bogosian of the Peterborough Petes and the St. Louis Blues picked defenseman Alex Pietrangelo of the Niagara IceDogs.
The Toronto Maple Leafs moved up into fifth spot, swapping picks with the New York Islanders, and took defenseman Luke Schenn of the Kelowna Rockets of the Western Hockey League.
The first player from outside Canada selected was Russian forward Nikita Filatov, taken sixth overall by the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Several trades of note were announced at the draft, including the Montreal Canadiens picking up forward Alex Tanguay from the Calgary Flames.
The Flames acquired veteran forward Mike Cammalleri from the Los Angeles Kings and the Florida Panthers traded their captain Olli Jokinen to the Phoenix Coyotes for defenseman Nick Boynton, Keith Ballard and a second-round pick.
(Writing by Roger Lajoie in Ottawa; Editing by Ed Osmond)
