Phantoms' Connor drafted No. 17 by Jets

By Kevin Connelly | June 27, 2015 at 7:08p.m.

It took longer than Kyle Connor had probably anticipated, but good things come to those who wait.

And he received the best news of all shortly after 9 p.m. on Friday when the Winnipeg Jets took the former Youngstown Phantom with the 17th overall pick in the NHL Draft.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling to share this with my family and friends who supported me throughout my whole career,” Connor said. “I had really good talks with [the Jets] throughout the whole season.

“On draft day, you never know what’s going to happen. So it’s really exciting.”

Connor, 18, is the first Phantom to be selected in the first round in the team’s history. He was also the first United States Hockey League player to have his name called on Friday. The league had a total of four players taken in the first round.

“[The USHL] was extremely important to my development,” Connor said. “Every night it’s a different team that can win. It’s such a competitive league. It helped me grow as a person and a player.”

The highly touted forward was projected by many scouts and mock drafts to be a lottery pick as one of the top 14 selected in the opening round. After the Los Angeles Kings, a team that was rumored to have high interest, traded their No. 13 pick earlier in the day to the Boston Bruins, Connor had a feeling things might not go as planned.

“Yeah, it creeps in every once in a while,” he said. “But I was trying to enjoy it. This only happens once.

“Definitely it’s a little relief to turn the next page in my hockey career.”

When it was the Jets’ turn to pick at No. 17, the NHL’s newest franchise didn’t hesitate to select a player they believe can one day be a top-six forward for them.

“When you’re walking in with picks in the mid-to-late first round, you really don’t know how things are going to fall,” Winnipeg general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff said.

“We are very excited to get Kyle where we got him. We think he has tremendous skill and good upside.”

Connor, a native of Shelby Township, Mich., is committed to the University of Michigan and plans to play at least one season for the Wolverines. The good news for the winger is he now knows where he’ll be starting his professional hockey career.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling,” Connor said. “You can’t put it into words until you’re actually walking up there and putting the jersey on.”