"He was absolutely the best player available on our list,'' Murray said. "We think Slater Koekkoek, the only reason he might have fallen on some lists or some may not have been as aware of him as possible was because the injury this year. But he has a real track record.''

"We have seen a lot of this player, we feel very comfortable about him,'' Murray said. "He's a terrific skater, he's both an offensive and defensive player so I think he'll be a point producer as well as a real solid defensive player. And my understanding there were several teams trying to trade up in the early teens to select him. I can't say that I was a surprise that he was there, but we were very happy he was there.''

"He (Vasilenski) was clearly the top goaltender on our list and we were actually a little worried some teams were going to select him ahead of us,'' Murray said. "We had him very highly rated. We are deep in goalies right now ... we are in pretty good shape, and this guy is 18 years old and will take some time just like most goaltenders. So this pick is not for immediacy but it certainly gives us great depth at the goaltending position and it was a player we felt was great value at 19. And if he was North American, I think he goes a lot higher than that.''


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