NASHVILLE-- Moments before sitting in front of a gaggle of microphones and tape recorders, Tyler Peddle, an 18-year-old from Drummondville of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, was just ... sitting.
That is, in the stands at Bridgestone Arena as the final picks of the 2023 Upper Deck NHL Draft were winding down Thursday, the crowd beginning to empty and the arena beginning to quiet.
But Peddle and a dozen of his family members, who had made the trip to Nashville from Antigonish, Nova Scotia, continued to play the waiting game until that waiting finally ended, with Peddle being selected by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the seventh round with the 224th and final pick of the draft.
Adding to the drama, the Blue Jackets made a trade with the Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights to acquire that selection.
Moments later, Peddle tried to put his thoughts into words with everything that literally had just happened.
"It was a whirlwind of emotions, right?" he said. "I mean, it's the last pick so, kind of heard my name, I was in complete shock and my father just grabbed me. Probably one of the scariest things leading up to it, but it's the best moment I ever experienced in my life and I'm grateful I had the opportunity."
His eyes somewhat glassy from what his father called "a roller coaster," Peddle was asked what was going through his mind in the moments prior to the trade and subsequent selection by the Blue Jackets.
"There was nothing going through it," he said. "I was just so stressed and I didn't know what to think. You didn't know what was going to happen, right? We weren't expecting anything out of it. So we were very surprised and I'm so grateful of it. That's something I'm never going to forget for the rest of my life.
"It doesn't feel real. It feels like a dream. ... Honestly, I didn't even really hear my name. I just heard "Quebec Major Junior" and I thought, 'maybe' ... just didn't really hear, then my family started screaming and I was like, 'I assume that's me.'
It's unusual for the final player chosen in the draft to still be in the building when his name is called but Peddle and his family had faith until the very last moment.
"I just, I had a feeling," he said, "I'm not really sure how to put it. We weren't sure where I was going to go; I felt like I was one of those guys who could have went anywhere, so that's kind of one reason I was staying ... but I had a feeling, so sometimes a gut feeling can be right."
His father, Brad Peddle, who his son said was "right in my face" when the pick was finally made, was also trying to sort through his emotions.
"To have to sit there with your son, it's tough to sit there for 3 1/2, four hours and just to keep talking him through it," said the elder Peddle, who played professionally in the ECHL and overseas from 1999-2004. "But at the end of it, we always said to him coming into this, 'It doesn't matter where you go, it's just a matter if you go.'
"As we got into the seventh round, that's one thing he said to me, 'Just some team, please, take the chance.' We're obviously very thankful Columbus decided to do that."
The Blue Jackets, who had already made a huge splash in this draft by selecting center Adam Fantilli with the No. 3 pick and his University of Michigan teammate, forward Gavin Brindley in the second round (No. 34), saw something in Peddle's game to move them to make the trade with the Golden Knights, who received Columbus' seventh-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft in return.
Peddle said he aims to show the Blue Jackets they made the right decision after he had 41 points (24 goals, 17 assists) in 64 games for Drummondville this season, when he ranked second on the team in goals.
"All I know is I'm going to go into camp and do everything I can to prove myself as a player," he said. "That's a pretty important thing to me and then we'll see from there, right?
"I'm a big skill power forward. I play a fast, physical game and I can shoot the puck. I think my scoring ability's one of my best things. I feel like with that, I've kind of learned how to bring that physical role and I have that mix that not a lot of players have where you're a fast, physical player that can put the puck in the net from anywhere on the ice. And also my explosiveness, first couple steps, how I can use my quick hands."
Peddle said he tries to model his game after Florida Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk.
"He's a guy I try to play like," he said, "but also a guy like (Montreal Canadiens forward) Josh Anderson, a power forward who can shoot the puck and plays physical. I feel like him and Tkachuk are a good mix of what I can bring. That's something I have that a lot of players don't and it's something they have that a lot of players don't."
And if he can do that, then Peddle will have been worth the wait.
NHL Senior Director, Editorial Shawn P. Roarke contributed to this report
