Ducks move into first round, select skill in Klepov, Nordmark

BUFFALO, N.Y. – If not for the allure of Nikita Klepov, it’s entirely possible that Mason McTavish is still an Anaheim Duck, the team goes without a first-round selection in Friday’s NHL Draft and Klepov and Marcus Nordmark are off on different career paths.

With the Ducks weighing a trade offer from the St. Louis Blues for picks No. 15 and No. 29 in exchange for McTavish, Anaheim general manager Pat Verbeek made one condition on accepting the deal. He would only make if Klepov, the fourth-ranked North American skater in the draft, was still available at No. 15.

“If he wasn't there, we wouldn't have made the deal,” Verbeek said. “So that was kind of the decision that was in our minds. It was a big part of why we did this.”

In a defenseman-heavy draft, the high-skill winger held on the board, and with the Blues on the clock, Verbeek pulled the trigger to send McTavish to St. Louis and move Anaheim back into the first round.

The Ducks selected Michigan State commit Klepov at No. 15 overall and moved up one spot to No. 28 overall to select Swedish scorer Nordmark in the 2026 NHL Draft on Friday in Buffalo.

Anaheim was without a first-round pick entering the day after sending theirs to Washington in the John Carlson trade last season.

“It’s the perfect birthday gift,” said Klepov, who turns 18 years old on Saturday. “I couldn’t be more happy than I am right now.”

Klepov was the Ontario Hockey League’s rookie of the year last season with 37 goals and 97 points in 67 games for the Saginaw Spirit. He is just the third player in OHL history to lead the league in points in his rookie year and the first since Patrick Kane in 2006-07.

Klepov was born in Florida to Russian parents while visiting family, but he moved back to Russia after a couple months. Klepov then came back to the United States at 15 years old to play in the USHL before going up to the OHL.

If Klepov can get stronger over the course of next season with Michigan State, Verbeek thinks he could be on the fast track to the NHL.

“Not only our scouts were super excited, but I was super excited to get to him,” Verbeek said. “Just because I think he provides what I call a 50-50 player in a sense. He's like equal part goal scorer, equal part playmaker.”

“We like the drive that he has to score goals, and obviously, right now, it's just a matter of getting them stronger, because there's a lot of really top-notch athletic ability with this player as well.”

Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images

Jun 26, 2026; Buffalo, New York, USA; Marcus Nordmark reacts beside NHL commissioner Gary Bettman after being selected with the twenty eighth pick in the first round of the 2026 NHL Draft by the Anaheim Ducks at KeyBank Center.

With the Ducks sitting at No. 29, Verbeek made another quick decision to grab a player he and his staff wanted. Anaheim traded the No. 117 overall pick to flip places with Vegas and select Nordmark at No. 28 overall.

“When you start looking at your board and you start looking at your list, you don't want to take a chance,” Verbeek said. “I didn't feel like we had the chance to do it, and I don't like taking chances to hope that that player is going to be there. We like the player a lot, and we wanted to be aggressive and make sure that we got that player.”

Nordmark has played most of his career with the Djugarden junior team posting 38 points in 25 games last season before making his professional debut with the Djugarden senior team. The 6-foot-2 forward was one of just three 17-year-olds to score a point in the Swedish league last season.

The now 18-year-old has a precision shot, a nose for the net and an NHL family pedigree, as his father Robert played 236 games with the St. Louis Blues and Vancouver Canucks from 1987-91.

Anaheim now has six picks remaining in the 2026 NHL Draft, including two second-rounders at No. 45 and No. 50 overall. Rounds 2-7 will be conducted on Saturday in Buffalo.