Seattle Kraken take Czech winger Eduard Sale 20th overall
The Seattle Kraken followed up on their first ever playoff appearance by adding another scorer to the organization in Eduard Sale, a winger from HC Kometa Brno in the Czech Republic who the franchise selected with the 20th overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft.
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Sale (pronounced Shala) was considered the best Czech prospect in this year’s draft, and he was rated as the fourth-best international skater prospect by ESPN. EliteProspects.com had Sale rated as the 25th-best prospect in the 2023 draft and The Hockey News had Sale pegged as the draft’s 15th-best prospect.
WELCOME TO THE DEEP, EDUARD!!! 🦑 pic.twitter.com/WPyt5EpxNp — Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) June 29, 2023
Sale is 6 foot 2 and 174 pounds with a left-handed shot. This past season, he finished with 14 points (seven goals and seven assists) in 43 games with HC Kometa Brno, which plays in Czech Extraliga, the top hockey league in the country.
Sale is the third first-round pick in Seattle Kraken history, joining 2021 No. 2 overall selection Matty Beniers and 2022 No. 4 overall pick Shane Wright, both centers. Beniers won the Calder Trophy this past season as the NHL’s top rookie.
Sale helped lead the Czech Republic to a second place finish at this year’s World Juniors, where he and his fellow countrymen fell to Canada, which was captained by Wright. In seven games in the tournament earlier this year, Sale had one goal and five assists.
Here’s what EliteProspects.com had to say about Sale in their draft guide:
“He’s an exceptionally skilled passer who can feather the puck through layers to connect with his linemates with perfect touch. As a shooter, Sale can fire the puck in-stride, with perfect mechanical form, off either leg, and hammer one-timers home from the faceoff circle. Don’t go discounting Sale’s hands, either. His ability to corral difficult passes and blend his first touch into highly skilled handling moves at speed is through the roof.”
Per TSN’s Jeff Marek, Sale is expected to play for the Barrie Colts of the OHL next year.
With the Sale pick official, the Kraken will now wait until Thursday morning to continue building their draft class. Seattle is armed with three second-round picks. You can learn more about the Kraken’s draft capital in the link below.
Seattle Kraken NHL Draft primer: Picks, TV info, more
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Source: Seattle Sports
