The first round of the NHL Draft is in the books with the Edmonton Oilers selecting Nail Yakupov of the Sarnia Sting with the first overall pick. Yakupov now joins a youth laden roster with former number one overall picks in Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Taylor Hall.
“He’s a very exciting player to watch,” Nugent-Hopkins said of Yakupov. “And he’s got some great skill obviously and he’s a hard worker. It’s going to be great to get the chance to play with him.
Yakupov, who had 31 goals and 69 points in 42 games last season for the Sting and was the consensus number one pick.
Meanwhile the Columbus Blue Jackets who had the worst overall record this past season selected defenceman Ryan Murray with the second pick overall. The Montreal Canadians rounded out the top three with the selection of center Alex Galchenyuk.
Some of the bigger headlines though of this year’s draft was the amount of movement being made between teams.
After turning down a 10 year contract extension, Jordan Staal was traded by the Pittsburgh Penguins to Carolina. In exchange the Penguins received center Brandon Sutter, defenceman Brian Dumoulin and the eighth overall pick, which they used on defenceman Derrick Pouliot of the Portland Winterhawks.
The Dallas Stars also traded forward Mike Ribeiro to the Washington Capitals for forward Cody Eakin and a second-round pick (54th overall) in this years Draft.
The Anaheim Ducks have traded defenceman Lubomir Visnovsky to the New York Islanders on Friday for a second-round pick in the 2013 Draft.
And on Friday the Columbus Blue Jackets acquired goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky from the Philadelphia in exchange for a second round pick in this year’s draft as well as a pair of fourth round selections.
Here is how the entire first round panned out…
| Rnd | Pick | Overall | Team | Player | Pos | Country | Height | Weight | Amateur League | Amateur Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 1 | EDM | NAIL YAKUPOV | RW | RUS | 5′ 11″ | 185 | OHL | SARNIA |
| 1 | 2 | 2 | CBJ | RYAN MURRAY | D | CAN | 6′ 0″ | 198 | WHL | EVERETT |
| 1 | 3 | 3 | MTL | ALEX GALCHENYUK | C | USA | 6′ 0″ | 194 | OHL | SARNIA |
| 1 | 4 | 4 | NYI | GRIFFIN REINHART | D | CAN | 6′ 3″ | 206 | WHL | EDMONTON |
| 1 | 5 | 5 | TOR | MORGAN RIELLY | D | CAN | 6′ 0″ | 200 | WHL | MOOSE JAW |
| 1 | 6 | 6 | ANA | HAMPUS LINDHOLM | D | SWE | 6′ 3″ | 195 | SWEDEN | ROGLE JR. |
| 1 | 7 | 7 | MIN | MATHEW DUMBA | D | CAN | 5′ 11″ | 184 | WHL | RED DEER |
| 1 | 8 | 8 | PIT | DERRICK POULIOT | D | CAN | 5′ 11″ | 192 | WHL | PORTLAND |
| 1 | 9 | 9 | WPG | JACOB TROUBA | D | USA | 6′ 2″ | 187 | USHL | USA U-18 |
| 1 | 10 | 10 | TBL | SLATER KOEKKOEK | D | CAN | 6′ 1″ | 184 | OHL | PETERBOROUGH |
| 1 | 11 | 11 | WSH | FILIP FORSBERG | C | SWE | 6′ 1″ | 188 | SWEDEN | LEKSAND |
| 1 | 12 | 12 | BUF | MIKHAIL GRIGORENKO | C | RUS | 6′ 3″ | 200 | QMJHL | QUEBEC |
| 1 | 13 | 13 | DAL | RADEK FAKSA | C | CZE | 6′ 2″ | 200 | OHL | KITCHENER |
| 1 | 14 | 14 | BUF | ZEMGUS GIRGENSONS | C | LVA | 6′ 1″ | 186 | USHL | DUBUQUE |
| 1 | 15 | 15 | OTT | CODY CECI | D | CAN | 6′ 1″ | 205 | OHL | OTTAWA |
| 1 | 16 | 16 | WSH | THOMAS WILSON | RW | CAN | 6′ 3″ | 205 | OHL | PLYMOUTH |
| 1 | 17 | 17 | SJS | TOMAS HERTL | C | CZE | 6′ 2″ | 198 | CZECH | SLAVIA |
| 1 | 18 | 18 | CHI | TEUVO TERAVAINEN | LW | FIN | 5′ 10″ | 169 | FINLAND | JOKERIT |
| 1 | 19 | 19 | TBL | ANDREY VASILEVSKIY | G | RUS | 6′ 3″ | 210 | RUSSIA | UFA 2 |
| 1 | 20 | 20 | PHI | SCOTT LAUGHTON | C | CAN | 6′ 0″ | 177 | OHL | OSHAWA |
| 1 | 21 | 21 | CGY | MARK JANKOWSKI | C | CAN | 6′ 2″ | 168 | HIGH-QC | STANSTEAD COLLEGE |
| 1 | 22 | 22 | PIT | OLLI MAATTA | D | FIN | 6′ 1″ | 204 | OHL | LONDON |
| 1 | 23 | 23 | FLA | MICHAEL MATHESON | D | CAN | 6′ 1″ | 178 | USHL | DUBUQUE |
| 1 | 24 | 24 | BOS | MALCOLM SUBBAN | G | CAN | 6′ 1″ | 195 | OHL | BELLEVILLE |
| 1 | 25 | 25 | STL | JORDAN SCHMALTZ | D | USA | 6′ 2″ | 180 | USHL | GREEN BAY |
| 1 | 26 | 26 | VAN | BRENDAN GAUNCE | C | CAN | 6′ 1″ | 207 | OHL | BELLEVILLE |
| 1 | 27 | 27 | PHX | HENRIK SAMUELSSON | C RW | USA | 6′ 2″ | 216 | WHL | EDMONTON |
| 1 | 28 | 28 | NYR | BRADY SKJEI | D | USA | 6′ 2″ | 196 | USHL | USA U-18 |
| 1 | 29 | 29 | NJD | STEFAN MATTEAU | C | USA | 6′ 1″ | 215 | USHL | USA U-18 |
| 1 | 30 | 30 | LAK | TANNER PEARSON | LW | CAN | 6′ 0″ | 193 | OHL | BARRIE |