Edmonton Oilers select Xavier Bourgault 22nd overall in NHL entry draft
The Edmonton Oilers' newest prospect was nearly at a loss for words Friday night.
The club took Xavier Bourgault with the 22nd overall pick in the NHL entry draft and the French-Canadian felt he'd found his perfect home.
“I can't describe the feeling right now,” he said. “I'm so happy to be drafted by the Oilers.”
Bourgault, a six-foot, 172-pound centre, said he had a good feeling about Edmonton after his pre-draft interview, and he believes it's a team that will help him grow into an NHL player.
“I think they help the young guys to get better. I think they develop their players very well,” he said. “There's a lot of great guys, you know those guys like McDavid and Draisaitl, and there's a lot of good veterans. And I think they will help the younger guys. And I think there's a great staff, too.”
Bourgault came into the draft as the No. 13-ranked North American skater after tallying 40 points (20 goals, 20 assists) in 29 games for the Shawinigan Cataractes in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League last season.
“He's a high-skilled offensive player,” said Tyler Wright, Edmonton's director of amateur scouting. “He can player centre, he can play the wing. He's got good size, he's got excellent vision, excellent skill. He's a student of the game.”
The Oilers originally had the No. 20 pick in Friday's first round but dealt it to the Minnesota Wild for the 22nd and the 90th.
The Wild used the 20th slot on Swedish goalie Jesper Wallstedt.
Edmonton will have some time to kill when the draft continues with the second round Saturday. The club's next pick is No. 90, coming in the third round, followed by Nos. 116, 180, 186 and 212.
The Oilers finished second in the North Division last season with a 35-19-2 record but were swept from the first round of the playoffs by the Winnipeg Jets.
Edmonton used the 14th overall pick on centre Dylan Holloway at the 2020 draft.
The 19-year-old Calgary native played at the University of Wisconsin last season, putting up 35 points (11 goals and 24 assists) in 23 games.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 23, 2021.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.