2012 NHL Entry Draft Recap

This past weekend in Pittsburgh, all 30 National Hockey League clubs took turns walking up to the podium and calling out the name of their newest prospect. It was a crazy, but entertaining, weekend. There were some "Ooooh! Big surprise (sarcastic)!" picks, some "Yeah, I can see why they choose that player" picks, and then there was the astonishing amount of "What the f**k is wrong with that GM?" picks. As usual, there were some trades that made you jump out of your seat. Here is a recap of some of the major events.

First Pick: RW Nail Yakupov, taken by the Edmonton Oilers
Forward Taken (1st Round): 15 (10 centers, 4 right wings, 1 left wing)
Defencemen Taken (1st Round): 15

Big Trades: 
     
                   In the biggest news of the first round, the Penguins traded Jordan Staal to the Carolina    Hurricanes for the No. 8 pick in the 2012 NHL Draft, center Brandon Sutter and defense prospect Brian Dumoulin.

                   5 hours after the final name was called in the 2012 NHL Draft, Philadelphia forward James van Riemsdyk was sent to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for defenceman Luke Schenn.

                   The New York Islanders sent the Anaheim Ducks a second-round pick in the 2013 NHL Draft, and in return got defenceman Lubomir Visnovsky.

                    The Capitals got forward Mike Ribeiro from the Dallas Stars for forward Cody Eakin and a second round pick.


The Classic New York Islanders Move: The New York Islanders offered the Columbus Blue Jackets every single one of their picks in the draft in exchange for Columbus's 1st round pick (second overall), which Columbus declined, and went on to take defenceman Ryan Murray.