- Jets took Noa Ta’amu 199th overall, the first player of Samoan descent ever drafted into the NHL
- The Edmonton Oil Kings defenseman is the son of former Vikings draft pick Ed Ta’amu
- Read below for the full story on the history-making seventh-round pick
The seventh round of the NHL Draft doesn’t usually make history. This year it did it twice.
Winnipeg used the 199th pick on Saturday to take Edmonton Oil Kings defenseman Alofa Tunoa Ta’amu, who goes by Noa. That selection made Ta’amu the first player of Samoan descent ever drafted into the NHL.
The Jets made sure the moment didn’t pass quietly:
Ta’amu is 18, listed at 6-foot-2, and wrapped his second WHL season with 12 points and a plus-29 rating across 61 games. He’s also the first Oil King that Winnipeg has ever drafted.
He’s a stay-at-home type who leans on his frame and reach more than his offense, which fits the back end of the draft. Winnipeg liked the size and the makeup enough to spend a pick on the bet.
Hockey wasn’t the family trade. His father, Ed Ta’amu, was a fourth-round NFL Draft pick of the Minnesota Vikings, a lineman of Hawaiian and Samoan background. Noa credits his maternal grandfather for putting a stick in his hands.
Samoan and Pacific Islander players are almost unheard of at hockey’s top level, and Ta’amu just put the first marker on the board. That part doesn’t show up in a box score.
And he wasn’t the only late-round name to crack the record books. Two spots later, the Sharks grabbed 7-foot-1 Alexander Karmanov, the tallest player ever drafted. The NHL put together a quick look at the giant:
Now Ta’amu heads back to Edmonton for another WHL season before any NHL talk gets real. The milestone is already on the books.
