Thrashers eyeing centers in Friday’s draft

Zach Bogosian did it.

The Thrashers’ top draft pick last year — No. 3 overall — Bogosian was one of a mere handful of players to immediately make an NHL roster. He arrived ready, no minor league seasoning necessary.

The Thrashers hold the No. 4 pick in this year’s NHL draft, which begins Friday, and again, the player they chose has the opportunity to earn a spot on the roster.

At the ripe old age of 18, Bogosian can offer some advice: “My big line last year was that it doesn’t matter where you get drafted, it’s what you do with it,” he said Thursday.

Thrashers general manager Don Waddell has indicated he likely will choose between centers Matthew Duchene, Evander Kane or Brayden Schenn with the first pick. He said that while the Thrashers are not counting on the first draftee making the roster, any of the top five players available have that potential.

“We’ve talked to a lot of teams about moving back [in the draft],” Waddell said earlier this week. “Not a lot of the deals made sense. I think we are locked in at No. 4. No matter what, we are going to get a good player.”

But getting a good player and getting an immediate payoff on the ice are two different things.

“Just to get drafted by a single team is a pretty big honor,” Bogosian said. “I just took it as [a signal] to keep working hard. My personality wasn’t, ‘Oh, I got drafted, I’m going to make it no matter what.’ It’s always a grind.

“It’s never really easy being in the NHL… . I don’t think a lot of young guys realize — I didn’t realize until I was in it — that it’s a grind. I would say, keep working hard and just because you got drafted high, you are set in stone forever. You can always lose your job, just like that.”

The first round of the draft, held this year in Montreal as part of the 100th anniversary of the Canadiens, will begin at 7 p.m. The final six rounds will be held Saturday, beginning at 10 a.m. The Thrashers have a total of eight picks, including two in the second round.

The Thrashers have a core of players returning from last season and many within the organization point to the 12-6 finish as reason for optimism. But this is a critical offseason for a team trying to re-sign star player Ilya Kovalchuk, who could use some convincing that the franchise is moving in the right direction. Getting immediate help from an offensive player taken in the draft could only help.

Bogosian said he and others will do what they can for a young addition.

“You’re nervous [when you first enter the locker room] but once you get in there, you are fine,” said Bogosian, who turns 19 on July 15. “You get embraced when you are a young kid. I think that everyone wanted to be that older veteran figure. I got embraced really well. Even some young guys like Bryan Little, even when he his 21 and I’m 18, that’s a big difference.

“Just a guy like Kovalchuk, he’s a superstar, one of the best players in this league. And just to sit next to him, go out and play with him every night and pass to him, it makes you better and feel good that you are doing it. I’ll help [the first pick] out any way I can. Obviously, I’m not going to be a veteran presence like Mathieu Schneider was to me, but I’ll do whatever I can.”

There will be one benefit for Bogosian should the draftee make the team right away.

“It will be cool for me to have another young guy around to hang with and play video games with,” he said.

Thrashers Picks

The Thrashers have a total of eight picks in this weekend’s NHL draft.

Friday, 7 p.m., Versus

1st Round: No. 4 overall

Saturday, 10 a.m., NHL Network

2nd Round: No. 34 overall

2nd Round: No. 45 overall (from Montreal in Mathieu Schneider trade)

3rd Round: No pick

4th Round: No. 95 overall

5th Round: No. 125 overall

6th Round: No. 155 overall

6th Round: No. 177 overall (from Columbus in Jason Williams trade)

7th Round: No. 185 overall