Vegas Golden Knights select Cody Glass with 1st draft pick in franchise history

Glass was the No. 6 overall pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.

The Vegas Golden Knights selected center Cody Glass of the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks with their first NHL draft pick in franchise history Friday. It was the No. 6 overall pick in the first round of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.

Glass, 18, rose up draft boards this year with a breakout season in Portland. He racked up 94 points in 69 games, an incredible increase from 27 points in 65 games the year before. The Golden Knights have now tabbed him as part of the core that’ll hopefully bring a winner to Vegas.

It’s going to be a busy first round for the Golden Knights, who have three picks in the top 15 this year. Two of those were acquired by trade, while the No. 6 pick resulted from the Golden Knights falling in the lottery. They didn’t get Nico Hischier or Nolan Patrick, but still get a fantastic prospect in Glass.

Glass joins a prospect group that already includes forwards Alex Tuch and Reid Duke, and defenseman Shea Theodore. Tuch and Theodore were acquired by trade during the expansion draft, while Duke was the Golden Knights’ first-ever free agent signing.

Now Glass has his place in Vegas hockey history as the team’s first draft pick. The hope for the Golden Knights is that he’ll go on from here to accomplish a lot more than that.