2017 NHL Draft: Center Nick Suzuki selected in the 1st round (13th overall) by the new expansion team Las Vegas Golden Knights

It’s a different Knight helmet logo than the one he wore growing up in London minor hockey.

But Nick Suzuki is already getting used to it.

“It looks awesome,” Suzuki said to the NHL Network after being selected by the expansion Vegas Golden Knights 13th overall Friday in Chicago. “I couldn’t be more happy to go to Vegas. It’s going to be unbelievable to go there and see the new rink and all the new guys on the team.

“I’m really looking forward to it.”

The 17-year-old Owen Sound centre was the second of three Vegas first rounders — between Cody Glass and Erik Brannstrom. All three are expected to be a big part of the new club’s future.

Despite having yet to play a game, Golden Knights majority owner Bill Foley indicated the franchise goal is to win a Stanley Cup in Year Six.

They have a chance if Suzuki and Co. become NHL standouts.

“I don’t think it’s daunting,” the Attack star told NHL.com. “I think it’s really exciting. If the three of us can do something special there, it’s going to be amazing.”

Suzuki scored 45 goals in his sophomore OHL season. He was also named the Canadian Hockey League’s most sportsmanlike player after sitting just 10 minutes in the penalty box.

He went right in the draft where most experts had him pegged.

“We are going to select talented people, but they also have to be high-character because that’s the only way you can win a championship,” Vegas GM George McPhee added. “You see what [Sidney] Crosby has done for Pittsburgh. He’s an exceptional player. But he is a high-character human being.

“So all three of these kids have real high character.”

Suzuki watched the expansion draft during the NHL awards show last week, which is when he first got the inkling he could be picked by the Golden Knights.

Their crest doesn’t yet carry the weight in hockey as the one he wore with the London Jr. Knights.

It will be up to Suzuki to make that change.

Source: ‘I’m really looking forward to it’ | The London Free Press