NHL Draft, Day 2: Kraken get a couple of feel-good stories
By drafting Ty Nelson and Tucker Robertson in the third and fourth rounds, the Kraken built up their prospect list with a couple of talented character players
MONTREAL – This was indeed a great day, even for a kid who apparently has never had a bad one in his life. As Ty Nelson, in a newly minted Seattle Kraken sweater, brought his megawatt smile to the media riser at the Bell Centre, it was impossible to not see how thrilled he was to have his name called in the NHL draft. “I was just trying to keep a positive attitude,” said Nelson, an 18-year-old defenseman for the North Bay Battalion of the Ontario Hockey League. “If it’s going to happen, it will happen, if God is willing. And God was willing.”
Yes, God was willing. And so were the Kraken, who used their sixth pick, but the 68th overall, to take Nelson. After stumbling out of the gate with the expansion draft and their first entry draft last summer, the Kraken had two terrific days. First, Shane Wright fell into their laps with the fourth pick overall. Jagger Firkus was considered a steal in the second round and with Nelson, they got the first overall picks in the OHL draft in 2019 (when Wright got exceptional status and was chosen No. 1) and 2020. Over the past two days, there were 225 players chosen in the 2022 NHL draft. And they have 225 unique stories. But few of them have been on a journey similar to Nelson, who grew up in the gritty west end of Toronto in a two-bedroom apartment with his parents and older sister. When Nelson and his sister, Peyton, got to the ages where they needed their own spaces, their parents moved their bedroom to the living room. Gang activity is omnipresent in that area. In fact, just last summer there were two fatal shootings within steps of each other one week apart in front of the cluster of apartments where Nelson lives.
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