Tomas Hertl, a versatile, fast forward with size and scoring ability was selected fifth overall in the EURO draft by the Oslo Outlaws. The Prague-born Hertl can play wing and while he’s currently on a team with a good mix of ages, he looks to mature along with 24 and under forwards Tyler Seguin, Elias Lindholm and Andrei Loktionov as well as defensemen Luca Sbisa, Morgan Rielly and Eric Gelinas.

The next two players taken were goalies Martin Jones by London and Frederik Andersen by Geneva. Geoffrey Paul, London general manager, said he hard a tough time choosing between the two but ended up going with the younger Jones with his quicker reflexes. There is a crowd in London’s net, which is primarily guarded by 30-year-old Marc-Andre Fleury.  Jones will have to fight for backup games with Steve Mason and Michal Neuvirth unless one or two are traded, but Jones looks to be the goalie of the future. Andersen, meanwhile, has a similar situation to deal with in Geneva, where Kari Lehtonen remains rooted as the number one despite rumors that he is on the trading block. Ilya Bryzgalov is also on the roster and may end up as a backup to either Lethonen or Andersen.

Minsk traded today to get two successive picks and GM Igor Kirunov went with the best prospect in the draft – defenseman Aaron Ekblad – and Swedish sniper Gustav Nyquist, who is 24. The Hussars remain one of the youngest teams in the league – only Martin Biron is over 30 – and they appear to be preparing for a full-scale charge on the league in just two or three seasons when they’ll have three full lines of 80 or near 80 OV forwards with at least three  superstar-level defensemen in front of goalie Carey Price.

Tomas Tatar, who was a teammate of Nyquist’s in Detroit, became the 10th player selected by Zurich, which despite its strong forward corps, was thin on under 25 wingers. Only Tatar and Alexander Radulov fit that category currently.