Utah Hockey Club selects nine players on second day of 2024 NHL Draft

On the second day of its first draft as a franchise, the Utah Hockey Club selected nine players for the 2024 NHL Draft at the Sphere in Las Vegas. Saturday’s selections were made between the second and sixth rounds of the draft. Including the two first-round picks on Friday, the Utah Hockey Club has selected a total of 11 players in the 2024 NHL Draft.

round 2

With their first selection of day two and the final pick of the second round of the draft, Utah selected defenseman Will Skahan of the U.S. National Development Team with the 65th overall pick. The 6-foot-4, 215-pound Skahan appeared in 24 games during the 2023-24 season, recording 4-2-6 and 51 penalty minutes (PIM) and was the team’s third-best player at plus-17. Skahan also won a gold medal with Team USA at the 2022 U17 World Hockey Challenge and a silver medal with Team USA at the IIHF U18 Men’s World Championship. Skahan has committed to play at Boston College in 2024-25.

Round 3

With their first of two third-round picks, Utah selected Cape Breton (QMJHL) defenseman Tomas Lavoie with the 89th overall pick. The 6’4″, 225-pound Lavoie played in 65 games for Cape Breton during the 2023-24 season, recording 3-21-24 in the regular season and one goal and two assists in 14 playoff games. In the 2022-23 season, his first with Cape Breton, Lavoie recorded 2-14-16 in 59 games.

Utah used its second third-round pick — 96th overall — to select Finnish defenseman Veeti Väisänen from Kookoo (SM-liiga). Väisänen, a 6-foot-1, 185-pound native of Hamina, Finland, posted 2-8-10 in 50 games during the 2023-24 season and was ranked 21st among European skaters by NHL Central Scouting.

Round 4

Two picks later, 98th overall and with the first pick of the fourth round, Utah selected Rogel Jr. (Sweden Jr.) defenseman Gregor Biber. The 6’3″, 185-pound Biber scored two goals and four assists and recorded 88 PIM in 40 games for Rogel Jr. during the 2023-24 season. He won a bronze medal with Austria at the 2024 IIHF U18 World Championship, recording 1-4-5 in five games.

With their second selection of the fourth round, Utah selected forward Gabe Smith with the 103rd overall pick out of Moncton (QMJHL). Smith recorded 9-14-23 and 72 penalty minutes in 54 games for Moncton during the 2023-24 season. The 6’4″, 215-pound Smith also appeared in 66 regular season games for Moncton in 2022-23, recording 4-16-20 and 49 penalty minutes and scoring one goal over the course of 12 playoff games.

Round 5

With the 135th pick in the fifth round, Utah selected forward Owen Allard from Sault Ste. Marie (OHL). In the 2023-24 season, Allard recorded 18-26-44, 39 PIM and was plus-18 in 55 games. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound native of Renfrew, Canada, also played in 10 playoff games, where he went 4-1-5. In three total seasons with Sault Ste. Marie, Allard appeared in 135 total games and recorded 35-40-75. At the 2024 IIHF U20 World Junior Championships, Allard appeared in five games for Team Canada, recording 2-1-3.

Utah made its second selection of the fifth round at 153rd, drafting defenseman Ales Cech out of Mlada Boleslav, Czech Republic. Cech recorded seven assists and 20 PIM in 40 games with Mlada Boleslav during the 2023-24 season. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound Cech also represented the Czech Republic at the 2022, 2023 and 2024 IIHF U20 World Junior Championships, helping his home country to a silver medal in 2023 and a bronze medal in 2024. In three appearances at the U20 WJC, Cech recorded a 2-2-4 record in 21 games.

Round 6

Utah’s sixth-round selection came 167th overall, when the club selected forward Vojtech Hradec, a teammate of Cech’s at Mlada Boleslav (Czech Republic). The 6-foot-4, 200-pound Hradec appeared in 25 games during the 2023-24 season and scored one goal.

Utah’s last selection in the draft came in the sixth round, 190th overall, when the club selected Farjestads Jr. (Sweden Jr.) defenseman Ludvig Lafton. Lafton, 6’2″ and 185 pounds, recorded four assists in 16 games during the 2023-24 season. Lafton also represented Norway at the 2024 IIHF U20 World Junior Championship, appearing in five games.

Round 1 (Friday, June 28)

On Friday, Utah selected forward Tij Iginla from Kelowna (WHL) sixth overall and forward Cole Beaudoin from Barrie (OHL) 24th overall in the first round of the 2024 NHL Draft.