Halifax's Stienburg goes to Avalanche in third round of NHL draft

Matthew Stienburg was the first Nova Scotia player off the board Saturday at the National Hockey League draft in Vancouver.

The six-foot-one centre from Halifax was selected with the first pick of the third round by the Colorado Avalanche. He was the 63rd pick overall.

The son of longtime Saint Mary's University men's hockey coach and ex-NHL player Trevor Stienburg, Matthew Stienburg played two seasons for the Halifax McDonald's of the Nova Scotia Major Midget Hockey League before moving on to St. Andrew's College in Ontario.

It places him in an NHL organization with a number of Nova Scotians on the roster, most notably Cole Harbour's Nathan MacKinnon.

Stienburg is slated to play for Cornell University this fall.

Nova Scotia players were the first and last to go in the third round.

Cape Breton's Colten Ellis went to the Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues with the 93rd pick. Ellis, the goaltender who backstopped the Cape Breton West Islanders to the Telus Cup national major midget championship, has played for the QMJHL's Rimouski Oceanic for the past two seasons.

Jordan Spence, an Australian-born defenceman who played for the Summerside Western Capitals of the Maritime Hockey League and the Moncton Wildcats in the QMJHL, went to the Los Angeles Kings early in the fourth round with the 95th selection.

Spence, from Cornwall, P.E.I., was the QMJHL rookie of the year in 2018-19.

Dartmouth forward Ethan Phillips went to the Detroit Red Wings with the 97th selection. Phillips has played at the Selects Hockey Academy in the U.S. for the past three seasons and is committed to Boston University for 2019-20.

Raphael Lavoie of the Halifax Mooseheads, predicted by many to be a first-round selection on Friday night, had to wait until Saturday to hear his name called.

But the tall forward didn't have to wait too long. He was the seventh selection of the second round, going to the Edmonton Oilers.

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