Coming in with a few statistics on the 2012 NHL Draft….

• Canadian Hockey League had 99 players selected in the 2012 NHL Draft comprising 47% of the 211 players including the top 5 selected players
• The Ontario Hockey League had 48 players drafted (the most of any league) which was the most by the OHL since 1999 when 52 went drafted.
• The Western Hockey League was second with 38 players selected. The QMJHL watched 19 of their players get drafted
• Sarnia Sting teammates Nail Yakupov & Alex Galchenyuk were the fourth pair of teammates to be selected top 3 and first since Sedins in 1999
• London Knights had most draftees of any team w/ 6, OS Attack had 5 while the Belleville Bulls, Windsor Spitfires & Guelph Storm had 4 each
• 29 of the 30 NHL teams selected at least one CHL player at the 2012 NHL Draft – the New York Rangers were the lone team.
• Penguins drafted the most CHL players with 6 including 2 1st round picks in Pouliot and Maatta. Avalache, Habs, Devils & Lightning had 5 ea.
• Sens and Leafs drafted 4 players each from the Canadian Hockey League. The Flames, Oilers & Jets drafted 3 CHL players. Vancouver with 2
• In total, there were 110 forwards selected in 2012 draft (59 from CHL), 77 defensemen (32 from CHL) and 24 goaltenders (8 from CHL)

• The United States Hockey League (USHL), an emerging development league in the USA, set a record in round one having six USHL players drafted (Trouba, Girgensons, Matheson, Skjei, Matteau, and Schmaltz).
• In total, the USHL had 24 players selected in the 2012 NHL Draft (comparable to 28 in 2011) and the Washington Capitals led the way with three USHL draftees Thomas Di Pauli, Connor Carrick and Riley Barber).
• These USHL stats did not include four players who played in limited USHL games to finish the season – Cristoval “Boo” Nieves (Rangers), Dominic Toninato (Maple Leafs), Jake Bischoff (Islanders), and Dan O’Regan (Sharks).

12 countries were represented at the 2012 NHL Entry Draft

Breakdown by Nation (as listed by NHL.com)

• Canada – 99
• USA – 56
• Sweden – 22
• Russia – 11
• Finland – 9
• Czech Republic – 6
• Denmark – 2
• Latvia – 2
• Belarus – 1
• Germany – 1
• Switzerland – 1
• United Kingdom – 1

• Highest drafted Canadian: 2nd – Ryan Murray (Blue Jackets)
• Highest drafted Canadian forward: 16th – Tom Wilson (Capitals)…The lowest ever, previously held by Kris Beech (7th, 1999)
• Highest drafted USA: 3rd – Alex Galchenyuk (Canadiens)
• Highest drafted Russian: 1st – Nail Yakupov (Oilers)
• Highest drafted Swede: 6th – Hampus Lindholm (Ducks)
• Highest drafted Finn: 18th – Teuvo Teravainen (Blackhawks)
• Highest drafted Czech: 13th – Radek Faksa (Stars)
• Highest drafted Latvian: 14th – Zemgus Girgensons (Sabres)
• Highest drafted Dane: 87th – Frederik Andersson (Ducks)
• Highest drafted German: 138th – Daniel O’Regan (Sharks)
• Highest drafted United Kingdom: 145th – Cody Payne (Bruins)
• Highest drafted Swiss: 158th – Christoph Bertschy (Wild)
• Highest drafted Belarusian: 180th – Artur Gavrus (Devils)

Thanks for reading,

@RossyYoungblood