Who doesn’t love the National Hockey League Draft?
If you’re a fan of the Edmonton Oilers, you’ve probably been told, “The team is only good because of their four first-overall picks.”
That isn’t really true, because they’re good due to one first overall pick.
In hindsight, their three straight first-overall picks from 2010 until 2012 came at the worst time, because those were some of the weakest drafts since the turn of the millennium. The 2010 draft saw the Oilers select Taylor Hall, who has 284 goals and 739 points in 909 games, winning the Hart Memorial Trophy in 2017-18.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, the Oilers’ first overall pick in 2011, has scored 271 goals and 748 points in 959 games. He also had a 100-point season in 2022-23. Both he and Hall have solid seasons, albeit maybe not what you’d expect from a first-overall pick.
However, no matter who the Oilers picked first overall in the 2012 draft, they weren’t getting a game-changer. It was a weird draft, littered with a whole bunch of players that didn’t make an impact in the first 10 picks, but had a whole bunch of diamonds in the rough in rounds two through seven.
Let’s take a look at the 2012 draft!
Nail Yakupov
With the first overall pick, the Oilers selected Russian winger Nail Yakupov. In his final season with the Ontario Hockey League’s Sarnia Sting, he scored 31 goals and 69 points in 42 games. The year prior, he played 65 games with 49 goals and 101 points.
Yakupov’s first season in the NHL actually wasn’t bad. He scored 17 goals and 31 points in 48 games, tied for rookie scoring that year but ultimately finishing fourth in voting for the Calder Trophy. A big reason why Yakupov found success in his first season was because of Oilers head coach Ralph Krueger, who just let the Oilers play their style. That resulted in the Oilers holding a playoff spot in April, albeit with the benefit of a lockout season.
And then they hired Dallas Eakins in time for the 2013-14 season. That season, Yakupov scored 11 goals and 24 points in 63 games, followed by 14 goals and 33 points in 81 games. His final season was in 2015-16, and he actually started it off pretty well with Connor McDavid, scoring two goals and 11 points in 14 games. But then he went on a cold stretch for eight games and was taken out by the official, missing nearly two months of action.
The Oilers eventually traded him to the St. Louis Blues for a third-round pick, which was traded up to land Stuart Skinner. Yakupov never found the same success he found in his rookie season, playing a season with the Blues and another season with the Colorado Avalanche before departing back to Russia for the Kontinental Hockey League. This season, he has 24 goals and 49 points in 70 games, his best season to date in the league.
Ryan Murray
Selecting left-shot defenceman Ryan Murray sounded like a match made in heaven, right? Well, Murray dealt with a whole lot of injuries in his career, playing just one full season in 2015-16, where he scored four goals and 25 points. His best season came in 2018-19, when he scored a goal and 29 points in 56 games.
Murray was drafted by the Columbus Blue Jackets and spent seven seasons in the organization. He was traded to the New Jersey Devils before the beginning of the 2020-21 season. He signed with the Colorado Avalanche before the 2021-22 season, winning the Stanley Cup with the team (but missing Nov. 28 until the end of the season due to an injury).
Before the 2022-23 season, the Oilers got their man (it’s not the last time you’ll hear that phrase). Murray signed with the Oilers and played 13 games with the team, where he had three assists. However, he was once again placed on the Injured Reserve and missed the rest of the season. He hasn’t played since.
Alex Galchenyuk
Alex Galchenyuk was selected third overall by the Montréal Canadiens from the Ontario Hockey League’s Sarnia Sting. He missed most of his draft year, playing just two regular-season games, along with six postseason games where he scored twice and had four points.
Over his first seven NHL seasons, the centre was a productive scorer, potting 127 goals and 296 points in 490 games, including a 30-goal and 56-point season in 2015-16 with the Habs.
Galchenyuk’s career unravelled starting in the 2019-20 season, scoring eight goals and 24 points in 59 games. It was the first time he failed to score 10 or more goals since his rookie season, in which only 48 games were played due to the 2012-13 lockout.
The next three seasons saw Galchenyuk play for four teams, the Arizona Coyotes (second stint), Colorado Avalanche, Ottawa Senators, and Toronto Maple Leafs, as the forward scored just 11 goals and 34 points in 105 games.
In Jul. 2023, Galcheyuk was involved in an off-ice incident, and his contract was terminated by the Coyotes before his third stint with the team. Like Yakupov and Murray, Galchenyuk didn’t play in the NHL last season, as he’s spent his last two seasons in the Kontinental Hockey League.
Griffin Reinhart
There are two things that make me irrationally angry regarding the Oilers. One incident occurred in 2017 when Ryan Kesler held Cam Talbot’s pad with under 30 seconds left in Game 5. The other thing is the Griffin Reinhart trade.
Unlike the 2010, 2011, and 2012 drafts, the 2015 draft was arguably the deepest since the turn of the millennium. The Oilers were already lucky enough to win the draft lottery, their fourth in six years, but they had another first-round pick thanks to trading David Perron earlier in 2015.
The Oilers were slated to pick 16th overall, with Mathew Barzal, Kyle Connor, Thomas Chabot, Joel Eriksson Ek, Brock Boeser, and Travis Konecny all on the board. Instead, they traded that pick, along with the 33rd overall pick (Sebastian Aho was picked two selections later), to the New York Islanders for Griffin Reinhart, a fourth overall pick in the 2012 draft.
Reinhart had won two Ed Chynoweth Cups with the Edmonton Oil Kings in 2012 and 2014, along with a Memorial Cup in 2014, but by June 2015, Reinhart was a 21-year-old with eight games of NHL experience.
Defence prospects take longer to develop (look no further than Philip Broberg), but Reinhart played just 29 games as an Oiler, picking up one of his two career regular-season assists. In the 2017 postseason, Reinhart played a game and picked up an assist, making him a point-per-game player in the postseason (sample size be damned)
In the 2017 expansion draft, the Vegas Golden Knights selected him, meaning the Oilers traded a 16th overall pick and a 33rd overall pick for 30 games played by a draft bust. Reinhart never cracked the Golden Knights roster, playing in Russia in 2019-20, playing in Germany in 2020-21, and then in the United Kingdom in 2021-22, retiring as a 28-year-old.
Morgan Rielly
Hindsight is 20/20, but this was the best realistic option the Oilers could’ve selected first overall, and it’d still be a weak first overall pick.
A left-shot defenceman, Rielly was selected fifth overall and has played all 873 of his games with the Toronto Maple Leafs, scoring 87 goals and 513 points. In 2018-19, Rielly scored 20 goals and 72 points, a career-best, but he has consistently produced upwards of 50 points in a season throughout his career.
Rielly has also been productive in the playoffs, scoring 15 goals and 47 points in 70 games, as the Leafs have continuously lost in the first round.
He’s a good player and has played the most of any 2012 draftee, but not first-overall-pick worthy.
Hampus Lindholm
Another solid defenceman who wasn’t first-overall-pick worth is Hampus Lindholm, who was selected sixth overall by the Anaheim Ducks.
The left-shot defenceman played nine seasons in Anaheim, a satellite city of Los Angeles, scoring 57 goals and 222 points in 582 games. Before the 2022 trade deadline, the Ducks sent Lindholm to the Bruins for a sizable package, and Lindholm has spent parts of four seasons with the Bruins.
In 2022-23, he scored 10 goals and 53 points, setting a career-high in the latter category. Throughout Lindholm’s 12-year career, he has 73 goals and 313 points.
Matt Dumba
When I first looked at the top prospects of the 2012 draft before the start of the 2011-12 season, I had my eye on Matthew Dumba because there was no way the Oilers would land the first overall pick for the third consecutive season.
Silly 13-year-old me didn’t know any better, both in terms of my scouting assessment and my naïveté. The right-shot defenceman has been a roster defenceman throughout his career, scoring 84 goals and 258 points in 737 games, mainly with the Minnesota Wild, but he’s played parts of his career with the Arizona Coyotes, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Dallas Stars.
Dumba looked as if he was going to live up to the potential, scoring 14 goals and 50 points in 82 games in 2017-18. The next season, he scored 12 goals and 22 points in 32 games, but suffered a ruptured pectoral muscle in a fight that December and has not been the same since.
Derrick Pouliot
The player with the third-fewest total of games played in the first 11 picks of the 2021 draft is Derrick Pouliot. Drafted eighth overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins, he’s played 226 games with eight goals and 54 points in 226 games. Moreover, he’s played just two postseason games, but he won the Stanley Cup with the Penguins in 2015-16.
Pouliot, a left-shot defenceman, most recently played with the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League, where he scored seven goals and 53 points, the most points he’s had on any team in any league since 2011-12 with the Portland Winterhawks.
Jacob Trouba
Jacob Trouba is one of the better players drafted with the first 11 picks, as the Winnipeg Jets selected him with the ninth overall pick. In his rookie season, he scored 10 goals and 29 points in 65 games. In his Jets career, Trouba scored 42 goals and 179 points in 408 games.
He was eventually traded to the New York Rangers, where the right-shot played parts of six seasons with 31 goals and 136 points in 354 games. This past season, Trouba was traded to the Anaheim Ducks, where he scored one goal and eight points in 53 games.
Once again, it’s a story of a good player who should’ve been nowhere near the first overall pick.
Slater Koekkoek
Slater Koekkoek was selected 10th overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning, playing 186 career games with eight goals and 34 points.
Like Yakupov, Murray, and Reinahrt, Koekkoek played for the Oilers. His final two seasons in 2020-21 and 2021-22 were spent with Edmonton, where he scored a goal and five points in 37 games.
Filip Forsberg
If you had to redraft the 2012 draft, Filip Forsberg would undoubtedly be the first overall pick. Instead, he was selected by the Washington Capitals 11th overall. You may be asking, “but he’s played his entire career with the Nashville Predators”, and you’d be right.
In one of the most lopsided trades in National Hockey League history, the Capitals sent Forsberg to the Predators in exchange for Martin Erat and Michael Latta. Erat was a good player in his career, but he was 31 at the time of the trade and only scored two goals and 27 points in 62 games with the Capitals.
On the other hand, Forsberg has gone on to score 318 goals and 681 points in 780 games, leading the draft class in both goals and points. At the time, it would’ve been insane had the Oilers gone off the board to pick Forsberg with the first overall pick, but he became the best player selected in the 2012 draft.
Feb 29, 2020; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Edmonton Oilers forward Andreas Athanasiou (28) skates during warmup against the Winnipeg Jets at Rogers Place. Mandatory Credit: Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports
The rest of the draft
Other notable players were drafted by the Oilers or went on to play for them later in their careers. Current Oiler Brett Kulak was selected in the fourth round, and 2024-25 Oiler Connor Brown was selected 156th overall in the sixth round.
Moreover, Devin Shore was picked 61st, Andreas Athanasiou was selected 110th, Matt Benning was selected 175th, Jujhar Khaira was selected 63rd by the Oilers, Connor Carrick was selected 137th, Anthony Stolarz was selected 45th, and Seth Griffith was selected 131st.
The most notable Oiler player who wasn’t drafted by the Oilers was Cody Ceci, who was selected 15th overall and has played the second-most games in the draft class at 871. He also started a notable run of picks that found big success in the league.
Tom Wilson was 16th in the 2012 and he has 179 goals and 395 points in 835 games for the Washington Capitals, helping the team win the Stanley Cup in 2018. Following Wilson is Tomáš Hertl, who has the second-most goals and points in the draft class with 252 goals and 549 points in 791 games.
Drafted after Hertl with the 18th overall pick was Teuvo Teräväinen, who has 170 goals and 517 points, the third-most points of the draft class. The other player who could contend with Filip Forsberg as the first overall pick if the 2012 draft were redone in hindsight is netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy, who was selected 19th overall. He’s been terrific in his NHL career, as he has a .917 save percentage and 2.52 goals against average in 545 games. He’s also won the Vezina Trophy, Conn Smythe Trophy, and two Stanley Cups in his career.
Other notable players selected in the first round of the 2012 draft were Scott Laughton, Tanner Pearson, Radek Faska, Zemgus Girgensons, Brady Skjei, Mike Matheson, Mark Jankowski, and Olli Määttä.
There were solid depth players drafted in the second round as well. Jake McCabe was selected 44th, Brock McGinn was drafted 47th, Colton Sissons was drafted 50th, Teddy Blueger was drafted 52nd, Chris Tierney was drafted 55th, Jordan Martinook was selected 58th, and Damon Severson was drafted 60th.
In the third round, Joonas Korpisalo went 62nd, Adam Pelech went 65th, Jimmy Vesey went 66th, Esa Lindell went 74th, Chandler Stephenson went 77th, Shayne Gostisbehere went 78th, Oskar Sundqvist went 81st, Matt Murray went 83rd, Colton Parayko went 86th, and Frederik Andersen went 87th.
One of the best defencemen in the league was drafted in the fourth round, as the Hurricanes selected Jaccob Slavin 120th overall. Other notable players drafted in the fourth round are Erik Gustafsson, Josh Anderson, Cedric Paquette, Brett Kulak, and Andreas Athanasiou.
The fifth round only has a few notable players, namely the reigning back-to-back Vezina Trophy winner, Connor Hellebuyck. Ben Hutton, Alex Kerfoot, and Colin Miller were also selected in this draft.
In the sixth round, two Oilers (Connor Brown and Matt Benning) make up two of the three players with 400 or more games played. Vinny Hinostroza has also played over 400 games, scoring 59 goals and 161 points in 412 games.
The seventh round only had one player active in the NHL last season, Jaycob Megna, who has four goals and 27 points in 193 career games. Joakim Ryan and Christian Djoos were two other players selected in the seventh round with 100 or more games played. Nikita Gusev just missed out, playing 97 career games.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Oilersnation, FlamesNation, and Blue Jays Nation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.
