Notes from first round of 2015 NHL Draft

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Following are notes from the first round of the 2015 NHL Draft, held tonight at BB&T Center:

OILERS SELECT McDAVID FIRST OVERALL

The Edmonton Oilers selected Connor McDavid from the Erie Otters (OHL) with the first overall pick, marking the fourth time in the past six years the Oilers have made the top selection:

* McDavid became the seventh OHL player drafted with the No. 1 overall selection in the past nine years, following Patrick Kane in 2007 (London Knights), Steven Stamkos in 2008 (Sarnia Sting), John Tavares in 2009 (London Knights), Taylor Hall in 2010 (Windsor Spitfires), Nail Yakupov in 2012 (Sarnia Sting) and Aaron Ekblad in 2014 (Barrie Colts).

SABRES SELECT EICHEL SECOND OVERALL

The Buffalo Sabres, selecting second overall for the second consecutive year, claimed Boston University center Jack Eichel. The North Chelmsford, Mass., native is the highest-draft U.S.-born player since Patrick Kane (Buffalo, N.Y.) and James van Riemsdyk (Middletown, N.J.) went 1-2 to Chicago and Philadelphia, respectively, in 2007.

COYOTES SELECT STROME THIRD OVERALL

The Coyotes, selecting as high as third overall for the first time since 2007 (Kyle Turris at #3), picked Erie Otters forward Dylan Strome. Dylan's older brother, Ryan, also was a top first round pick, taken fifth overall by the Islanders in 2011.

With Dylan's Erie teammate, Connor McDavid, going first overall, it marked the third time in four years that a pair of teammates were selected with the first and third overall picks in the Draft.

FIRST-ROUND PICKS BY BIRTHPLACE

The 30 players selected in the first round were born in seven different countries: Canada (12), United States (seven), Russia (four), Sweden (three), Czech Republic (two), Finland (one) and Switzerland (one).

TRENDS

* For the first time, three of the top eight picks in the NHL Draft came from the college hockey ranks. The Buffalo Sabres selected C Jack Eichel (Boston University) second overall, the Carolina Hurricanes took D Noah Hanifin (Boston College) at #5 and the Columbus Blue Jackets picked D Zach Werenski (University of Michigan) at #8.

* Seven of the first 10 picks in this year's Draft were forwards. Last year, a record 25 forwards were selected in the opening round, including 11 of the first 13 picks (D Aaron Ekblad at No. 1 and D Haydn Fleury at No. 7 were the only non-forwards selected in that span).

* For the first time since the NHL instituted the universal draft (in 1969), a team made three consecutive selections in the first round. The Boston Bruins claimed D Jakub Zboril (Saint John, QMJHL), LW Jake DeBrusk (Swift Current, WHL) and RW Zachary Senyshyn (Sault Ste. Marie, OHL) with the 13th, 14th and 15th overall picks, respectively.

* Four players born in Russia were selected tonight (D Ivan Provorov, #7 to Philadelphia; RW Denis Gurianov, #12 to DAL; LW Evgeny Svechnikov, #19 to DET and G Ilya Samsonov,

#22 to WSH). That's the most in the first round since the same number were picked in the 2001 NHL Draft, also held in South Florida (LW Ilya Kovalchuk, #1 to ATL; C Alexander Svitov, #3 to TBL; LW Stanislav Chistov, #5 to ANA and D Igor Knyazev, #15 to CAR).

FAMILY TIES

F Dylan Strome (selected 3rd overall by Arizona): His brother, Ryan, was drafted fifth overall by the New York Islanders in 2011 and finished third on the team with 17-33—50 in 2014-15.

F Jake DeBrusk (selected 14th overall by Boston): His father, Louie, played 401 regular season NHL games with the Edmonton Oilers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Phoenix Coyotes and Chicago Blackhawks from 1991-03 and currently serves as a hockey analyst for Rogers Sportsnet.