The first round of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft took place in Pittsburgh yesterday and it brought with it a lot of surprises and shocks. Even the first overall pick, which the Oilers eventually used on stud forward Nail Yakupov, was subject to some pre-draft speculation.
The common theme of the first round, however, was undoubtedly defencemen. Eight of the first ten selections were blueliners, and this has some analysts comparing the 2012 draft pool to the 2008 edition, in which notable stars Drew Doughty, Alex Pietrangelo and Tyler Myers were drafted.
Below are the complete first round results:
- Edmonton -Nail Yakupov – RW – Russia
- Columbus -Ryan Murray – D – Canada
- Montreal -Alex Galchenyuk – C – United States/Russia
- NY Islanders – Griffin Reinhart – D – Canada
- Toronto – Morgan Rielly – D – Canada
- Anaheim – Hampus Lindholm – D – Sweden
- Minnesota – Mathew Dumba – D – Canada
- Pittsburgh -Derrick Pouliot – D – Canada
- Winnipeg Jets – Jacob Trouba – D – United States
- Tampa Bay – Slater Koekkoek – D – Canada
- Washington – Filip Forsberg – RW – Sweden
- Buffalo -Mikhail Grigorenko- C – Russia
- Dallas – Radek Faksa – C – Czech Republic
- Buffalo – Zemgus Girgensons – C – Latvia
- Ottawa – Cody Ceci – D – Canada
- Washington – Tom Wilson – RW – Canada
- San Jose – Tomas Herti – C - Czech Republic
- Chicago – Teuvo Teravainen - RW – Finland
- Tampa Bay – Andrei Vasilevski – G – Russia
- Philadelphia – Scott Laughton – C – Canada
- Calgary -Mark Jankowski – C – Canada
- Pittsburgh – Olli Maatta – D – Finland
- Florida -Mike Matheson- D – Canada
- Boston -Malcolm Subban -G – Canada
- St. Louis – Jordan Schmaltz – D – United States
- Vancouver - Brendan Gaunce – C – Canada
- Phoenix – Henrik Samuelsson – C – United States
- NY Rangers – Brady Skjei – D – United States
- New Jersey – Stefan Matteau – C – Canada/United States
- Los Angeles – Tanner Pearson - LW – Canada
In my opinion, there were quite a few possible steals in this draft. Teravainen should have gone much earlier than he did and same goes for Forsberg at 11. Chicago and Washington will be thrilled that they were able to draft such highly talented players at their draft positions and Mikhail Grigorenko at #12 to Buffalo is another notable steal, as he has the potential to be a top line center in this league.
Of course, as with any draft, we won’t see most of these picks for at least 2-3 years, if ever. On the other hand, some of the drafted players will inevitably become stars or even superstars in the league in the years to come.
Who do you think will eventually be the top player in this draft?
