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Oilers take Yakupov with first pick, rest of night filled with surprises

PITTSBURGH — James Mirtle, The Globe and Mail, Jun. 22 2012

In a night full of drama everywhere else, the Edmonton Oilers went the safe route and stuck with the consensus first overall pick on Friday at the NHL draft.

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Their prize for bottoming out in the standings this time around is Nail Yakupov, a slick Russian winger who scored 80 goals the past two seasons with the Ontario Hockey League’s Sarnia Sting and is believed to be a Pavel Bure type in the best case scenario.

“I’m excited and I can’t believe it,” Yakupov said shortly after putting on an Oilers jersey for the first time. “My parents are excited – they’re crying… I wanted to cry, too.”

Yakupov joins a growing cast of elite young talent in Edmonton that’s led by Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – all of whom were taken in the first round in the past four drafts.

Both Hall and Nugent-Hopkins – the first overall picks in 2010 and 2011 – stepped into the NHL immediately after they were drafted, something Yakupov believes he is prepared for.

“I think yeah, why not?” he said, doing little to dispel his reputation as somewhat cocky. “I have lots of time for work in the summer and work with Edmonton [to] try to make the team. I think I’m ready for the NHL.”

“I love the confidence,” Oilers GM Steve Tambellini said of his latest addition. “With that comes the courage to back it up.”

Yakupov’s selection at No. 1 was widely expected in the weeks leading up to Friday’s first round, although there had also been plenty of speculation the past two days that the Oilers could take Everett Silvertips defenceman Ryan Murray in order to fill a positional need.

Instead, Murray went to the Columbus Blue Jackets at No. 2, allowing the Montreal Canadiens to take the player they had coveted in Sting centre Alex Galchenyuk.

It really wasn’t until the Toronto Maple Leafs pick at No. 5 that the first real surprise came.

Widely expected to be looking for a forward, Leafs GM Brian Burke instead went with Moose Jaw Warriors defender Morgan Rielly, who some scouts have compared to Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson.

“We had this player rated first overall,” Burke said. “I wouldn’t say that if it wasn’t true.”

That pick, along with the New York Islanders taking Griffin Reinhart at No. 4, started a run of seven defencemen in a row – which combined with Murray’s selection set a new NHL record with eight blueliners in the first 10 picks.

While this was a draft considered deep on blueliners, many were expected to go in the middle of the first round. Instead the streak meant forwards like Filip Forsberg, Mikhail Grigorenko and Teuvo Teravainen – all projected to potentially go in the top five – were in for an uncomfortable wait in the stands.

Forsberg fell to 11th to the Washington Capitals followed by Grigorenko to the Buffalo Sabres one pick later.

Teravainen, whose size was likely the issue, dropped to the Chicago Blackhawks all the way at 18th.

Those top prospects sliding – along with three high profile trades that saw Jordan Staal, Mike Ribeiro and Lubomir Visnovsky all change teams before the first eight picks were made – will make this one of the more intriguing drafts to look back on in the years to come.

After all the night’s wheeling and dealing on the draft floor, Tambellini’s choice to simply stick with Yakupov may have seemed rather mundane, but it was likely the correct one given his skill set.

Just as Staal fetched three quality assets in the Penguins deal with the Carolina Hurricanes, the Oilers can now always move one of their talented forwards for help on the back end in the hopes of finally exiting the league’s basement.

“We know and the players know that expectations are higher,” Tambellini said. “And they should be. You’re starting to hear some of the young players talk about they want to compete for a playoff spot. And that’s what they should be talking about.”

Later in the night, two of the other Canadian teams followed the trend with the Leafs and took blueliners. The Winnipeg Jets went with big American blueliner Jacob Trouba at ninth while the Ottawa Senators selected a hometown favourite in Ottawa 67s defenceman Cody Ceci.

The Calgary Flames, who had the 14th overall pick, traded down to 21st with the Buffalo Sabres in order to nab Mark Jankowski and get back a second-round pick.

The Vancouver Canucks then took Belleville Bulls centre Brendan Gaunce at 26th as one of the final picks on Day 1 of the draft.

Canadian team picks

1. Edmonton: Nail Yakupov, LW, Sarnia Sting (OHL)

3. Montreal: Alex Galchenyuk, C, Sarnia Sting (OHL)

5. Toronto: Morgan Rielly, D, Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL)

9. Winnipeg: Jacob Trouba, D, U.S. Under-18 (USHL)

15. Ottawa: Cody Ceci, D, Ottawa 67s (OHL)

21. Calgary: Mark Jankowski, C, Stanstead College (MPHL)

26. Vancouver: Brendan Gaunce, C, Belleville Bulls (OHL)