The Edmonton Oilers are on the clock with the No. 1 pick of the 2012 NHL Draft.
In order to gain the top pick in the draft for the third straight season, the Oilers won the 2012 Scotiabank NHL Draft Lottery when the results were revealed at TSN headquarters. The Oilers had an 18.8 percent chance at winning the lottery and moved just one rung, supplanting the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The 2012 NHL Draft is scheduled June 22-23 at Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh.
The Blue Jackets, who had a 48.2-percent chance at gaining the No. 1 pick as the 30th-ranked team in the League, will now pick second overall in the Draft.
Rounding out the top five are the Montreal Canadiens, New York Islanders and Toronto Maple Leafs.
The lottery determined the first 14 picks of the Draft. After the top five, the order consists of No. 6 Anaheim, No. 7 Minnesota, No. 8 Carolina, No. 9 Winnipeg, No. 10 Tampa Bay, No. 11 Washington (via Colorado), No. 12 Buffalo, No. 13 Dallas and No. 14 Calgary.
Among those present at TSN studios during the announcement were Columbus general manager Scott Howson, Oilers GM Steve Tambellini, Canadiens assistant GM Larry Carrière, Islanders director of pro scouting Ken Morrow and Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke.
The remainder of the first round will be determined after the Stanley Cup Playoffs, which commence Wednesday.
The Oilers will be making the first overall pick in the Draft for the third straight year. They selected Taylor Hall in 2010 and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins a year ago.
According to NHL Central Scouting, the top North American skater on the board is right wing Nail Yakupov of the Sarnia Sting in the Ontario Hockey League. The lightning-quick Russian, compared by some to former NHL All-Star Pavel Bure, is followed on the list by defenseman Ryan Murray of the Everett Silvertips in the Western Hockey League, center Mikhail Grigorenko of the Quebec Remparts in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, center Alex Galchenyuk of Sarnia and defenseman Morgan Rielly of the Moose Jaw Warriors in the WHL.
Highly coveted right wing Filip Forsberg of Leksand in Sweden was Central Scouting’s top-ranked prospect among European skaters.
“Each year, there seems to be more and more players with even greater hockey skills and training,” NHL Central Scouting’s David Gregory, told NHL.com. “It occasionally takes a few years for this type of player to be playing regularly in the NHL, but it wouldn’t be a surprise for someone outside of the first round to be playing within a year or two as well.”
-via MapleLeafs.com
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