The St. Louis Blues selected defenseman Erik Johnson with the first pick in the NHL draft Saturday, making him the fifth American to be taken No. 1 overall.
The Bloomington, Minnesota, native joins Brian Lawton (1983), Mike Modano (1988), Bryan Berard (1995) and Rick Dipietro (2000) as the only Americans taken with the first pick.
Shortly after NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman was booed loudly by the Vancouver crowd during opening remarks, St. Louis did exactly what everyone expected and announced Johnson's name.
Blessed with great skating ability, a big body, and soft hands, Johnson is known for making both big hits and big plays offensively.
The 1.93m, 101kg defenseman spent last season with the US National Team Development Program, recording 11 goals and 22 points in just 38 games with the under-18 team. He became the top-ranked prospect with a strong World Junior Championships in Vancouver in January.
Johnson has said he patterns his play after Colorado star Rob Blake, but is compared more often to Edmonton's Chris Pronger, who won a Hart and Norris Trophy in St. Louis.
Johnson is scheduled to attend the University of Minnesota next season, but could instead be playing in St. Louis, where the Blues are still looking to replace Pronger after trading the all-star to Edmonton following the 2004-2005 NHL lockout.
The Pittsburgh Penguins used the second pick to select Jordan Staal, the 17-year-old brother of Carolina Hurricanes star forward Eric Staal. Jordan is the third of what could be four Staals drafted into the NHL -- older brother Marc, 19, was the 12th pick in 2005 and is already signed with the New York Rangers and younger brother Jared, 15, is being touted as the best of the bunch.
Jordan, a 1.9m, 95kg center who is widely compared to big brother Eric, had 28 goals and 68 points for Peterborough in the Ontario Hockey League last season.
Chicago selected center Jonathan Toews third. The 1.85m, 88kg Canadian center scored 21 goals and added 17 assists in 41 games at the University of North Dakota last season.
The Washington Capitals had their rookie of the year, Russia's Alexander Ovechkin, take the stage to announce the fourth pick, and used it to select Swedish center Nicklas Backstrom.
Backstrom spent last season playing professionally in the Swedish Elite League, where he was rookie of the year after scoring 10 goals and 16 assists as an 18-year-old. Boston selected Phil Kessel with the fifth pick.
The Madison, Wisconsin native was considered the consensus No. 1 pick heading into last season and earning comparisons to Pittsburgh super rookie Sidney Crosby.
Kessel slipped despite scoring 18 goals and 51 points as a freshman at the University of Minnesota last season.
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