Whether it was relief or pure joy, 10,000 Islanders fans who had gathered at Nassau Coliseum on Friday night erupted in a prolonged roar when they saw General Manager Garth Snow announce that the team had selected John Tavares, the Ontario Hockey League’s career-leading goal scorer, as the No. 1 overall pick in the N.H.L. draft.
Confetti rained down from the giant scoreboard that was tuned to the live proceedings in Montreal as the Coliseum rocked to chants of “Let’s go Islanders.”
Tavares, who scored a record 215 goals in 247 career O.H.L. games and led Canada to back-to-back world junior championships, told the Canadian network TSN: “Now I have a great opportunity to go to a rebuilding franchise in New York. Hopefully, we’ll bring the tradition back. I’m definitely relieved now and excited to get started.”
The Islanders also held the 26th pick in the first round, but traded selections to move to No. 12. They chose Calvin de Haan, an offensive defenseman who was Tavares’s teammate with Oshawa until Tavares was traded to London in January. De Haan’s production with Oshawa fell off after Tavares left the team.
The Rangers used the No. 19 pick to select center Chris Kreider of Phillips Andover Academy, a prep school in Massachusetts. Kreider, who is 6-2, 200 pounds, was the highest-rated American high school player in the draft.
The Devils traded to move up to No. 20 and chose Jacob Josefson, a third-line center with Djurgarden of the Swedish Elitserien.
Tim Erixon, the son of the former Ranger Jan Erixon, was taken at No. 23 by Calgary. Marcus Johansson was taken 24th by Washington, bringing the number of Swedes drafted in the first round to a record seven.
Victor Hedman, only 18 but with two sparkling years under his belt in the Elitserien, was picked No. 2 by Tampa Bay, a club whose two owners have had a public falling out.
Matt Duchene, an O.H.L. forward seen as a leader and scorer in the Joe Sakic mold, went No. 3 to Colorado. There, he will play alongside Sakic, who will be playing his 21st and possibly final season.
“He already knows a lot of things that are hard to teach,” Trottier said. “Stick handling, playmaking, seeing the ice, how to get open, how to draw players toward you.”
Chris Dey, the Islanders president, reported that in the hour after Tavares was chosen, Isles fans had bought $79,000 worth of season tickets.
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