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Golden Knights select Layton Ahac with No. 86 pick in 2019 NHL Entry Draft

With the No. 86 overall pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, the Vegas Golden Knights select Layton Ahac from the BCHL’s Prince George Spruce Kings.

This selection came to the Golden Knights via an expansion draft trade in which they dealt veteran defenseman Alexei Emelin to the Nashville Predators.

Ahac, 6-foot-2 and 187 pounds, scored four goals and 32 points in 53 games for the Spruce Kings in 2018-19. The North Vancouver, BC native is not overly skilled or flashy, but plays a responsible game and appears to have the necessary speed to keep up in the NHL. The Athletic’s Corey Pronman — who had Ahac rated as the 97th-best prospect in this draft — noted that, “Ahac kills plays with his feet and stick, and he was trusted to check good players at the junior level.”

Ahac will play for The Ohio State University in the 2019-20 season, where he will join Philadelphia Flyers’ 2016 draft pick Tanner Laczynski, Toronto Maple Leafs’ 2017 selection Ryan O’Connell and fellow 2019 draft hopeful Michael Gildon.

Ahac joins second-rounder Kaedan Korczak in what is becoming a robust pipeline of blue liners for the Golden Knights.