On June 23, 2017, Cody Glass became the answer to the trivia question: Who did the Vegas Golden Knights select with their first pick in franchise history?
Taking off his black suit jacket, Glass grabbed an Adidas Golden Knights hat and put it on before shaking the hand of Gary Bettman, commissioner of the National Hockey League. Watching him walk across the stage at the United Center and pose for those first photos with the Vegas brass, one wouldn’t know the panic he felt on his journey to Chicago, Illinois.
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“I remember my flight got canceled the day or two days before the draft,” Glass told The Hockey News. “I almost missed all the media availabilities. I was panicking. I ended up making it just in time. My dad ended up getting me there.
“It was a crazy, crazy experience.”
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Glass was selected in the first round, sixth overall. He was drafted five spots after his now teammate, Nico Hischier, was selected first overall by the New Jersey Devils.
“It is really cool just getting to experience that with your family,” Glass recalled. “You watch it as a kid growing up, and it is really cool to experience it. When I got drafted to Vegas, it was a brand-new team, so I thought oh, brand new start.
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“But at the end of the day, it is the opportunity you get with the team, and what you do after the draft that really matters,” he continued.
Glass spent two seasons playing hockey in Vegas before he was traded at 21, when the Golden Knights sent him to the Nashville Predators. After spending three years in Music City, he was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins before landing in New Jersey in March 2025.
The 26-year-old will be the first to admit that there is an expectation to make an immediate impact, especially offensively, when a player is picked high in the draft, saying, “I think there is elevated pressure just producing and all that kind of stuff.”
He has now concluded his seventh season in the NHL, and during the team’s 2025-26 exit interviews, spoke about how his role on the Devils helped propel him to a successful campaign.
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“I had a really good sit-down with (head coach Sheldon Keefe) on my first day here, and he just told me he believed in me, and he told me exactly what my role was going to be, and he told me not to worry about anything else,” he said. “I never had that conversation before in my career, and so I kind of rolled with it. I knew what was expected, and I didn’t have to worry about putting up points or being someone I wasn’t.”
Last season, Glass scored a career-high 19 goals, finding success on the team’s third line with rookies Lenni Hämeenaho and Arseny Gritsyuk. A critical depth piece, the Winnipeg native made the most of his 13 minutes of ice time.
Glass may not be the top-six player some projected in 2017, but over time, he has carved out an important role for himself, one where his absence is immediately noticed if he is not on the ice. Part of that evolution was accepting that value can be found throughout an NHL lineup.
“At the end of the day, now that I look back on (everything), I wish I had the mindset I do now,” Glass said. “Everybody needs a role, and there are different opportunities for different people. You can help a team win in different ways. I look at our team now, and having Hischier and (Jack Hughes), two centers that I am not going to be them. It is more about what can I do to help them out and let them be better.”
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