Pastrnak Goes Fifth, Swayman 22nd Overall At All-Star Draft

The 2024 NHL All-Star Draft was held in Toronto on Thursday night, and the Boston Bruins had two players on the draft board.

There were four sets of captains, assistant captains, and celebrity captains who picked seven skaters and two goalies per team. All goalies needed to be selected by the end of the seventh round. Also of note, this was also a snake draft.

As a result of a draft lottery, Team Hughes (Jack Hughes, Quinn Hughes, Elias Pettersson, Michael Bublé) drafted first overall, Team Matthews (Auston Matthews, Morgan Rielly, Justin Bieber) went second, Team MacKinnon (Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Tate McRae) picked third and Team McDavid (Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Will Arnett) selected fourth. Jack Hughes is injured and won’t play in the All-Star Game on Saturday, but still took part in choosing the Team Hughes roster.

Team Hughes selected Tampa Bay Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov first overall. Team Matthews then took Toronto Maple Leafs winger William Nylander second overall, Team MacKinnon drafted Sidney Crosby third overall, and Team McDavid finished the first round off with Winnipeg Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck.

With this being a snake draft, Team McDavid picked first in the second round and enabled an Edmonton Oilers fan’s and Boston Bruins fan’s dream line to form. Team McDavid selected Bruins superstar winger David Pastrnak with the fifth overall pick and created the likelihood of a Draisaitl-McDavid-Pastrnak line playing at the All-Star game on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET. (ESPN+, ABC).

Pastrnak will enter that game third overall in the NHL in points (72) and goals (33) this season and tenth in assists (39). The Boston Bruins winger and 2023 Hart Trophy Finalist leads McDavid in points (67) and goals (20) but is eight behind the reigning Hart Trophy winner in assists, as McDavid has 47 helpers. Draisaitl has 23 goals and 34 assists.

With all goalies having to go by the seventh round, it felt a bit like Boston Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman was getting the 2011 Phil Kessel treatment, not being drafted as the seventh round approached. This was despite Swayman coming into NHL All-Star weekend at 16-3-7 with a 2.30 GAA and a .924 save percentage.

“Sitting on an island,” Swayman quipped to ESPN All-Star Draft host John Buccigross at the time.

The waiting ended, though, as Team MacKinnon took him 22nd overall in the seventh round.

Add ‘em to the lore. https://t.co/gbcOvzUU9I pic.twitter.com/7CDV1JvnnU

— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) February 2, 2024

As for Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery, he will coach Team Matthews. Jets head coach Rick Bowness will coach Swayman and Team MacKinnon; Peter Laviolette will coach Pastrnak and Team McDavid, and Rick Tocchet will coach Team Hughes.

Maroon looks good too, Monty 👌 pic.twitter.com/RdaAFmC6bX

— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) February 2, 2024

Note: Pastrnak (Team McDavid) and Swayman (Team MacKinnon) will go head-to-head at 3 p.m. ET, and Team Hughes will play Team Matthews at 4 p.m. ET. The final will follow.

Click Here for the full rosters.