Jansen Harkins will have to wait until today to learn his NHL fate.
The 18-year-old Prince George Cougar centre's hopes of getting picked in the first round of the NHL draft were dashed Friday night in Sunrise, Fla., when he was left off the list of the top 30 players.
Ranked as high as 21st on some NHL scouting lists, Harkins was touted as a potential first-rounder in the 2015 draft, but when the Arizona Coyotes selected right winger Nick Merkley of the Kelowna Rockets with the 30th overall pick it meant Harkins will have to wait until the draft resumes today.
"Yeah it's tough, I never prepared for this scenario, it's a unique moment," said Harkins, in a text message to The Citizen.
"(It's) disappointing but motivational. I'm going to prove to everyone how good I know I can be."
Harkins was hoping to be the first Prince George player to be taken in the first round since Brett Connolly was picked sixth overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2010.
In the 21-year history of the Prince George Cougars franchise, the only other first-rounders were Eric Brewer (fifth overall, New York Islanders, 1997) and Dan Hamhuis (12th overall, Nashville Predators, 2001). Brewer and Hamhuis are now part owners of the Cougars.
Harkins will be back in the BB&T Center for the second round, which starts at 7 a.m. PDT.
Four of his Cougar teammates - defencemen Sam Ruopp and Tate Olson, and forwards Brad Morrison and Jared Bethune, are also candidates for the draft, which will extend to the seventh round.
As expected, the Edmonton Oilers used their lottery first-overall pick to take centre Connor McDavid of the Erie Otters and the Buffalo Sabres followed suit by selecting centre Jack Eichel of Boston University with the second overall pick.
The others who made the top five were F Dylan Strome (Arizona), F Mitchell Marner (Toronto) and D Noah Hanifin (Carolina). After New Jersey took F Pavel Zacha with the sixth pick, Philadelphia selected Brandon Wheat Kings defenceman Ivan Provorov seventh overall as the first WHL player in the draft.
There were a few surprises Friday when several teams traded their first-round picks. Boston, which already had the 14th choice, sent F Milan Lucic to the L.A. Kings to get their 13th overall pick along with D Colin Miller and G Martin Jones, and the Bruins traded D Dougie Hamilton to Calgary to acquire the Flames' 15th pick and two second-rounders (45th and 52nd overall).
