The Bruins were unquestionable winners in the 2010 draft when they chose Tyler Seguin with the No. 2 overall pick. However, this year’s draft was a little different.

The Carolina Hurricanes picked left winger Phillip Di Giuseppe with the 38th overall pick in this year's draft. The 18-year-old played 39 games for the University of Michigan last season, tallying 25 points.

Buffalo went with Mikhail Grigorenko for the 12th overall pick. The 6-foot-3 Russian center led all Quebec Major Junior Hockey League rookies with 45 goals and 85 points. This is a good addition for the Sabres, who missed the playoffs last season, finishing ninth in the Eastern Conference.

The Philadelphia Flyers drafted Scott Laughton with their first round pick. Laughton, drafted 20th overall, is a 6-foot center who played in 64 games for Oshawa of the OHL Amateur League last season, scoring 21 goals with 32 assists.

Washington might also be a draft winner. Filip Forsberg, a 6-foot-2 Swedish center, helped his country win a gold medal at the 2012 Junior World Championships. He scored 21 goals in 36 games for the Leksand Junior team of the Sweden junior league in 2010-11. He could be a great addition to a team that is already stacked with offense. By offense, we mean Alex Ovechkin.

P.K. Subban's younger brother, Malcolm Subban, was drafted by the Bruins with the 24th overall pick. The Bruins needed a goalie after losing Tim Thomas, despite having Tuukka Rask in between the pipes for the majority of the upcoming season. Subban finished fourth in the league with a 2.50 goals against average in his second OHL season. He was 25-14 in 39 games. 

Now you know a little bit about the NHL's up-and-coming stars. It might take a season or two for these guys to make their names well-known in the league, but it's time for you to vote on which team made the biggest wave in this year's draft.

Which team made the biggest waves in this year's NHL Draft?

But in the end, it was the host Penguins who stole the show at the 2012 NHL Entry Draft in Pittsburgh.

The Penguins pulled off the biggest deal of the weekend, shipping Jordan Staal to Carolina for a package that included Brandon Sutter, Brian Dumoulin and the eighth overall pick.

In one fell swoop, the Penguins not only dealt the biggest name to get moved all weekend, they even managed to get in on all the major draft storylines.

This was a draft full of family ties. Pittsburgh got that started by reuniting Staal with his brother Eric in Carolina, while getting one of the ever-growing second generation of the Sutter clan back in return. Brandon Sutter is the son of Brent Sutter, one of six Sutter brothers to play in the NHL. Winnipeg added another Sutter to the NHL family on Saturday, drafting Lukas Sutter, son of Brent’s brother Rich, in the second round.

The addition of Dumoulin, a Biddeford, Maine native who plays at Boston College, got the Penguins involved in the revival of New England prospects that was one of the dominant storylines of the second day of the draft. Even the Bruins, who have not dipped into local waters frequently in recent years, started their day by taking Charlestown’s Matt Grzelcyk in the third round.

Dumoulin may have been ahead of his going in the second round of the 2009 draft, but he has plenty of company now after this year witnessed a resurgence in New England talent available.

Pittsburgh completed the trifecta by getting in on the run on defensemen in the first round, using the eighth pick to take blueliner Derrick Pouliot. Pouliot was of eight defensemen picked in the top 10. Overall, a record-tying 13 blueliners were picked in the first round, including another by Pittsburgh when the Penguins took Olli Maatta with their own pick at No. 22.

But it was the Staal deal that really made Pittsburgh the No. 1 story of this draft. While Nash, Ryan and Luongo all stayed put at least for now, the Penguins wasted no time in shipping Staal out after he turned down a reported 10-year, $60 million extension.

Staal was set to hit free agency after the upcoming season, and there was little hope of retaining him after he rejected that contract proposal. The Penguins banked on getting a better return for him now than waiting until the trade deadline, but still faced a challenge in getting full value.

Carolina may have been the only destination that could turn Staal into more than a one-year rental because of the presence of his brother, but the Hurricanes knew that too. Still, Pittsburgh general manager Ray Shero was able to get a strong package back in return.

And he wasn’t done, as Shero later sent defenseman Zbynek Michalek to Phoenix for a third-round pick and two prospects. That cleared $4 million off of Pittsburgh’s cap for the next three years. Coupled with $2 million in savings in going from Staal’s $4 million deal to Sutter’s $2 million cap hit, the Penguins can now be players on the free-agent market.

Shero wasn’t able to make another deal with Nashville for the rights to pending free agent defenseman Ryan Suter, but he can still make a play for either Suter or winger Zach Parise on July 1. If he can land either, the Penguins could be the top story in free agency as well, and those moves could keep Pittsburgh in the spotlight all the way to the Cup next spring.

Have a question for Douglas Flynn? Send it to him via Twitter at @douglasflynn or send it here. He will pick a few questions to answer every week for his mailbag.

For the Bruins, there is some merit to their annual optimism. For a team that came into what was generally considered a weak draft with a late first-round pick and no selections at all in the second and fourth because of trades, Boston came away with some hope for the future.

"We believe we got a potential starting goaltender [on Friday]," Director of amateur scouting Wayne Smith told reporters in Pittsburgh, where the 2012 NHL Entry Draft wrapped up Saturday with Rounds 2-7. "We wanted to add some size and some toughness and we added that down the stretch, and we added some character players. I think all in all it was a complete success for us."

The Bruins made their big splash on Friday, using their first-round pick on goalie Malcolm Subban. The brother of Montreal defenseman P.K. Subban is determined to make a name for himself and has the skill to potentially do just that, but is several years away from being ready for the NHL.

The players picked in the remaining six rounds on Saturday won't jump right to the NHL either, but they also possess some traits that the Bruins were happy to add to their organization.

After picking up an extra pick in a deal with Tampa Bay that sent the Lightning the rights to restricted free agent Benoit Pouliot, Boston had five picks in the second day of the draft. The Bruins ended up putting together a complete starting lineup, adding two defensemen, a left wing, a center and a right wing to the netminder they grabbed on Friday.

It's unlikely all six will make it to the NHL, let alone ever start together in Boston, but it was a balanced draft that adds some depth to every position.

Bruins bullish on local product

The Bruins didn't have to look far to find their first pick of the day. All they had to do was head over to Charlestown to find defenseman Matt Grzelcyk. Actually, they probably didn't have had to go even that far. They could have just stayed inside and asked his father all about him. John Grzelcyk has been a member of the Garden bull gang for decades. Now in a few years his son could be skating on the ice his father used to set up.

"It's kind of a shock, but I couldn't be happier," said Matt Grzelcyk, who will be attending Boston University next year. "Being a hometown kid, this is exactly what you dream of. I'm just happy it came true."

Grzelcyk wasn't sure he would be drafted at all because of his lack of size at 5-foot-9, 171 pounds, but the Bruins used their third-round pick (85th overall) for the slick-skating blueliner who has spent the past two years in Ann Arbor with the U.S. Development Program.

"He's the type of kid that plays much bigger than he is," Smith said. "He's got a Bruins mentality. I mean, he plays to win. He plays hard. He's tough to play against. He plays a virtually mistake-free game. His decision-making and ability to move the puck are second to none in this draft."

Small center has knack for coming up big

The Bruins stayed small with their next pick, but moved up front and took center Sean Griffith with the fifth-round pick (131st overall) acquired in the Pouliot trade. Griffith is also 5-foot-9 and 180 pounds, but was third in the Ontario Hockey League in goals with 45-40-85 totals in 68 games with London, where he teamed with current Bruins prospect Jared Knight.

"They were timely goals," Smith said. "He's a big-time player. He rises to the occasion. [London owners and coaches] Dale and Mark Hunter both were preaching his game. They both feel he brings that quality that they shared when they played, that ability to win pucks, to win races. He's not going to bowl you over. He's not a real big guy, but he has a real high hockey IQ and an NHL shot and an NHL release."

Rugged forwards ready to bring the Payne

After drafting a kid from London's entry in the OHL, the Bruins added a forward who was actually born in London, England with their own fifth-rounder (145th overall). Cody Payne is aptly named as he used his 6-foot-2, 201-pound frame to bring plenty of pain to opponents, racking up 107 penalty minutes and 13 fighting majors in 60 games split between Oshawa and Plymouth in the OHL. The Bruins think he can do more than just brawl though.

"He showed that he can play," Smith said. "There's no question he can fight. You can pull them up on youtube and enjoy. He's as tough a customer as there comes, but in our system we play four lines and you have to be able to play. And he showed there's potential for him to be a National Hockey League player."

Seventh-rounder Colton Hargrove plays a similar style, and also hails from an unlikely hotbed, having been born in Dallas. The 205th overall pick is headed to Western Michigan University after playing in Fargo (USHL), where the 6-foot-1, 215-pounder had 16-22-38 totals and 140 penalty minutes last year.

"He's also a big, strong kid," Smith said. "He's very physical and very tough. I'm sure Bruins fans will get a chance to know and enjoy them when their day comes."

Family affair on the blue line

Between those picks, the Bruins selected a defenseman who should be familiar to at least one member of the Boston front office. Boston's sixth-round pick (175th overall) was Matthew Benning, the nephew of Bruins assistant general manager Jim Benning, who played nine seasons as a defenseman in the NHL.

Matthew Benning's father, Brian, also enjoyed a long NHL career. Matthew Benning was initially hesitant about joining the family business, but has emerged as a hard-nosed defenseman with a bright future of his own. The 6-foot, 218-pounder had 4-14-18 totals with 87 penalty minutes in 44 games with Spruce Grove (AJHL). He plans to play for Dubuque (USHL) next year, and already has a number of colleges interested in him.

"Benning is a big, strong kid," Smith said. "He's very raw right now. He moves the puck extremely well. He has a chip on his shoulder. When he's on the ice people know. He's the kind of guy that when you're on the way to the bench he'll give you a shot to the head just because you looked at him at him."

"We were really excited about this pick because he's a late-bloomer and wasn't sure he wanted to play hockey because of the pressure of the family legacy," Smith added. "But now he's fully committed to playing and I believe he's a National Hockey League player."

The Bruins believe they have added a few future NHLers in this year's draft.

Have a question for Douglas Flynn? Send it to him via Twitter at @douglasflynn or send it here. He will pick a few questions to answer every week for his mailbag.

Photo via Twitter / @NaokoFunayama

After the first round alone took three hours and 33 minutes on Friday night, Rounds 2-7 took just 2:45 combined on Saturday.

The second day also lacked the big-name trades that marked Friday's festivities. The Bruins did make one deal, sending the rights to restricted free agent Benoit Pouliot to Tampa Bay for the rights to unrestricted free agent forward Michel Ouellet and a fifth-round pick.

After taking goalie Malcolm Subban in the first round, Boston added five more players on Saturday. They actually could fill out a complete starting lineup card with the players they selected, as they drafted two defensemen (Matthew Grzelcyk, 3rd round, 85th overall; Matthew Benning, 6th round, 175th overall), a center (Seth Griffith, 5th round, 131st overall), a left wing (Colton Hargrove, 7th round, 205th overall) and a right wing (Cody Payne, 5th round, 145th overall) to go with Friday's netminder (Subban, 1st round, 24th overall).

211. Los Angeles: The Stanley Cup champs close out the 2012 Draft, tabbing defenseman Nick Ebert with the final pick.

Mr. Irrelevant was actually ranked 96th among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting. He had 6-33-39 totals in 66 games with Windsor (OHL).

205. BOSTON: The Bruins head to the hockey hotbed of Dallas for their final pick, taking Colton Hargrove in the seventh round.

The left wing from Texas is 6-foot-1, 215 pounds and had 16-22-38 totals and 140 penalty minutes with  Fargo (USHL) last year.

189. Carolina: The seventh and final round is under way in Pittsburgh and more locals are having their draft day dreams come true.

The Hurricanes just took left wing Brendan Collier of Charlestown/Malden Catholic, while Dallas went with defenseman Dmitry Sinitsyn at 183. Sinitsyn is from Moscow, but will play at UMass-Lowell this season.

175. BOSTON: The Bruins add another defenseman, and this one should be familiar to at least one member of the Boston front office.

The Bruins used their sixth-round pick to take blueliner Matthew Benning, the nephew of Bruins assistant general manager Jim Benning, who played nine seasons in the NHL as a defenseman with Toronto and Vancouver. Matthew Benning's father, Brian, also enjoyed a long NHL career with St. Louis, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Edmonton and Florida.

Matthew Benning was ranked 176th by NHL Central Scouting. The 6-foot, 218-pounder had 4-14-18 totals with 87 penalty minutes in 44 games with Spruce Grove (AJHL).

145. BOSTON: After taking a center from the London Knights of the OHL, the Bruins use their second pick in the fifth round on a forward from London, England.

Right wing Cody Payne was born in the United Kingdom, but also played in the OHL, splitting last season between Oshawa and Tyler Seguin's old stomping grounds in Plymouth. Payne did some stomping of his own with 5-11-16 totals, 107 PIMs and 13 fighting majors in 60 games. He brings some size at 6-foot-2, 201 pounds and was the 146th-ranked North American skater by NHL Central Scouting.

138. San Jose: The Sharks have frequently mined the local area for talent, and they have done so again with the selection of center Daniel O'Regan with this pick.

O'Regan was born in Germany, where his father, Tom, played after a stint with the Penguins, but played his high school hockey at the St. Sebastian School in Needham, Mass.

The Islanders also picked a local prep schooler with Doyle Somerby, a 6-foot-5, 220-pound defenseman from Marblehead, Mass. and Kimball Union Academy, at No. 125.

131. BOSTON (from Tampa Bay): With the pick acquired from the Lightning in the Benoit Pouliot deal, the Bruins add another playmaking center in Seth Griffith.

Griffith is small at 5-foot-9, 180 pounds, but was productive in junior, putting up 45-40-85 totals with 49 penalty minutes in 68 games with London (OHL). He was the 158th-ranked North American skater by NHL Central Scouting.

115. Carolina (from Boston): With the pick acquired last summer from the Bruins for Joe Corvo, the Hurricanes take defenseman Trevor Carrick. He was the 44th-ranked North American skater after posting 6-13-19 totals in 68 games with Mississauga (OHL).

If you missed it earlier, the second round pick the Bruins gave up in the Tomas Kaberle deal ended up with Dallas, and the Stars took center Mike Winther at No. 54. He was the 21st-ranked North American skater and had 32-24-56 totals in 71 games with Prince Albert (WHL).

11:24 a.m.: There's been another deal, this one involving a couple of clubs north of the border as Toronto sends the rights to goalie Jonas Gustavsson to Winnipeg for a 2013 seventh-round pick.

That's quite a fall for "The Monster," who was once called the best goalie outside the NHL but never really lived up to that hype. Gustavsson is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent, but if signed could give the Jets some insurance if they have trouble signing restricted free agent netminder Ondrej Pavelec.

106. Ottawa: Two of Day 2's themes come together as the Senators take a guy with both New England roots and ties to a current NHLer, selecting defenseman Timothy Boyle in the fourth round.

Boyle, a defenseman from Hingham, Mass. who played at Nobles, is the brother of Rangers forward Brian Boyle. Timothy Boyle is a little smaller at 6-foot-1, 185 pounds and is headed to Union College next year.

Boyle's Nobles teammate Andy Gilmour went to Minnesota at No. 98, so it's been a good round for the prep school in Dedham, Mass.

99. Carolina: It's been a big week for Erik Karlsson, signing a new $45.5 million deal, winning the Norris Trophy and now being drafted by the Hurricanes in the fourth round. OK, so this is actually a different Erik Karlsson. This one is a speedy left wing, and Carolina can only hope he develops into anything close to as big an impact player as his namesake.

10:55 a.m.: The Bruins have gotten into the trading action, sending the rights to restricted free agent forward Benoit Pouliot to Tampa Bay for the rights to unrestricted free agent forward Michel Ouellet and a fifth-round pick (131 overall).

Ouellet, 30, had 16-15-31 totals in 55 games with AHL champion Norfolk last year. He has played 190 games in the NHL, but his last stint was a three-game stay with Vancouver in 2008-09. He did put up back-to-back seasons of 16-16-32 and 19-29-48 in Pittsburgh in 2005-06 and 2006-07.

Pouliot had 16-16-32 totals in his first and only year in Boston last season.

85. BOSTON: The Bruins have made their first pick of the second day, and tapped into the local talent pool as well with defenseman Matthew Grzelcyk.

He's a Charlestown boy, but has played the last two seasons in the U.S. Development Program, putting up 2-20-22 totals in 56 games with the under-18 squad this past year. He's on the small side for a defenseman at 5-foot-9, 171 pounds, but the Bruins haven't shied away from undersized blueliners in recent years.

75. Calgary: After just two goalies were picked in each of the first two rounds, there's been a run on netminders early in the third.

Six of them have been taken in the first 22 picks of this round, including South Portland, Maine native Jon Gillies to the Flames here.

10:41 a.m.: While the picks continue to roll in, there is some other news around the NHL. The Avalanche have announced that forward Matt Duchene, the third overall pick in 2009, has been re-signed to a two-year, $7 million deal.

66. Nashville: The draft has quickly moved on to the third round, but the local flavor continues with the Predators taking forward Jim Vesey of North Reading, Mass.

Vesey was passed over in last year's draft, but responded by shattering EJHL scoring records with a 48-43-91 line in 45 games for South Shore.

The Rangers got into the act as well, taking Cristoval Nieves from the Kent School (Conn.) at No. 59.

53. Tampa Bay and 56. St. Louis: New England is on the board, with a pair of local high school products going late in the second round.

The Lightning stuck first by taking right wing Brian Hart, a Cumberland, Maine native who played at Phillip Exeter last year. The Blues followed with another right wing, Reading, Mass. native and St. John's Prep product Samuel Kurker.

51. Montreal: The Bruins spiced up the rivalry with the Habs in the first round by taking Malcolm Subban, brother of Canadiens defenseman P.K. Subban.

Now the Habs have added a potential spark to that rivalry in a more traditional sense, drafting rugged defenseman Dalton Thrower, one of the toughest players available in the draft. The Habs could definitely use an infusion of grit and this pick shows new GM Marc Bergevin might have a different approach to that aspect of the game than the previous regime.

47. Carolina: The family connections continue with Carolina taking Guelph forward Brock McGinn, brother of Colorado's Jamie McGinn.

The Hurricanes know a thing or two about brother combinations, having reunited Jordan and Eric Staal with Friday's blockbuster deal to bring Jordan Staal to Carolina from Pittsburgh.

39. Winnipeg: The Jets continue the trend of family ties that began in the opening round by picking Lukas Sutter early in the second.

He's part of the huge hockey clan of Sutter, which includes his father Rich and his uncle Darryl, who guided the Kings to the Cup this year.

In the first round, there were a number of sons and brothers picked, including goalie Malcolm Subban by the Bruins. Subban's brother plays on the other side of hockey's oldest rivalry, with P.K. Subban a defenseman for Montreal.

Other family connections included Griffin Reinhart, son of former Canucks and Flames defenseman Paul Reinhart, selected fourth overall by the Islanders, Mark Jankowski, grandson of Red Wing Lou Jankowski and grand-nephew of the legendary Red Kelly, taken 21st by Calgary, Brendan Gaunce, whose brother Cameron Gaunce is in the Colorado system, picked 26th by Vancouver, Henrik Samuelsson, son of the infamous Ulf Samuelsson, selected 27th by Phoenix and Stefan Matteau, whose father, Stephane Matteau, lifted the Rangers past New Jersey in 1994 Eastern Conference Final, taken by those very same Devils with the 29th pick.

35. Toronto: The Leafs take advantage of the depth on defense in this draft by taking Matt Finn early in the second round.

The Guelph (OHL) blueliner was projected as a first-rounder. Toronto now has added two impressive young defensemen, with Morgan Rielly picked at No. 5 on Friday.

31. Columbus: The Blue Jackets open Day 2 by taking the top netminder remaining on the board in Oscar Dansk.

The Swedish goalie was considered in the same class as first-rounders Andrei Vasilevski and Malcolm Subban by many scouts.

10 a.m.: The draft is back under way in Pittsburgh. The picks will come fast and furious on Day 2, but we'll keep you updated on all the interesting and noteworthy selections throughout the day, plus any more trades that go down around the league.

So stick with our live blog to stay updated on all the action in one of the NHL's biggest events of the year. 

9:30 a.m.: The draft will resume down in Pittsburgh in about half an hour. Columbus will be on the clock with the first pick of the second round.

The Blue Jackets, and the teams to follow, will have plenty of quality options with some interesting names that slid out of the first round Friday night. Those include defensemen Matt Finn and Dalton Thrower, forwards Phillip DiGiuseppe, Tim Bozon, Martin Frk, Gemel Smith and Lukas Sutter and goalie Oscar Dansk. Jim Vesey, arguably the top New England player available, is also still waiting to have his name called.

8 a.m. ET: The opening round of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft proved eventful Friday. History was made with eight defensemen picked in the top 10 and a record-tying 13 blueliners chosen overall.

And that was just the undercard to a big night of trades, headlined by the host Penguins sending Jordan Staal to Carolina for Brandon Sutter, Brian Dumoulin and the eighth overall pick. Naturally, that pick was used on a defenseman, with Pittsburgh taking Derrick Pouliot.

The Bruins made waves with their pick at No. 24, spicing up the ancient rivalry with Montreal by selecting goalie Malcolm Subban, the brother of Canadiens defenseman P.K. Subban.

There are plenty more prospects with strong bloodlines available as the draft concludes on Saturday with the second through seventh rounds.

The Bruins don't pick again until the third round, where they hold the 85th overall selection. Boston traded its second-rounder to Toronto in the Tomas Kaberle trade, and the Leafs sent it on to Colorado in a deal for John-Michael Liles, and the Avalanche moved it once more to Washington as part of a trade for Semyon Varlamov.

Boston is also without its fourth-round pick, which was sent to Carolina for Joe Corvo, but does have picks in the fifth (145), sixth (175) and seventh rounds (205).

The drafts resumes at 10 a.m. in Pittsburgh. The picks will come fast and furious on Day 2, and there's sure to be some more trades, so stay with the NESN.com live blog as we'll keep you up to speed on everything happening.

Whatever the reason, Mikhail Grigorenko fell in the 2012 NHL Draft. Once considered a lock for the top five, Grigorenko waited until pick No. 12 to hear his name called, when the Buffalo Sabres gladly did him the honor.

Gringorenko's tumble was puzzling. Sure, he's Russian, and the threat of the KHL is always looming, but Grigorenko repeatedly stated that he was committed to playing in North America. And yes, Grigorenko struggled in the QMJHL Playoffs, but doesn't the kid get a break for playing through the postseason with a case of mono? With a little digging, the rumors of Grigorenko's age are also unfair, with no way to prove their accuracy.

Picking apart Grigorenko on the ice is a bit more warranted, though. He is known for having a spotty work ethic, and his lack of grit and willingness to go into the corners isn't an ideal trait. In that sense, Grigorenko has to mature. But in every other aspect of hockey, the Russian-born center is wise beyond his years.

The QMJHL had its hands full with Grigorenko this season. The 6-foot-3-inch playmaker collected 85 points in 59 games this season with the Quebec Remparts, displaying outstanding vision, hands and scoring touch throughout the year.

That's the type of production generally seen from top 10 picks, but the Sabres got their hands on Grigorenko later than expected after an early run that saw eight defensemen drafted in the first 10 selections.

Offensive prospects like Grigorenko don't grow on trees, and teams drafting in the top 10 may kick themselves once he develops. Despite his perceived baggage, Grigorenko presents as much upside as any prospect in this class. It wasn't long ago that debate was stirring over whether Grigorenko could pass Nail Yakupov and be the first player off the board.

Letting upside like Grigorenko's slip away is risky. And as a result of 11 teams taking that risk, the Sabres now have a stud center prospect to go with their 2011 first-round selection, Joel Armia, and their other first-rounder in 2012, Latvian forward Zemgus Girgensons.

Slowly but surely, the Sabres are piecing together a stable of forward prospects that will be tough to contain in a few years' time. Eastern Conference defensemen and goaltenders should be on notice.

The Bruins were not planning on extending a qualifying offer to Pouliot, who signed a one-year, $1.1 million deal with the team last July. Pouliot had a career-high 32 points in 74 games for Boston this season. With no plans to bring him back, the Bruins decided to get some value.

Ouellet was a fourth-round pick in the 2000 NHL Draft and spent last season playing for the Norfolk Admirals in the AHL. He has amassed 116 points in 190 career NHL games.

Peter Chiarelli and the Boston Bruins weren't expecting to get much when selecting at the back end of Friday night's NHL draft. But when all was finished, the team was very pleased with their selection.

Malcolm Subban, a young goalie and brother of Canadiens defenseman P.K. Subban, was the Bruins selection at No. 24 of Friday's first round. The netminder gives the B's some depth at the position moving forward and presents an interesting case, as he's got the agility and athleticism sought after in a top-tier goalie.

Check out the video above to hear Chiarelli break down his prize prospect on NESN Daily.

Turns out they only had to worry about a relative of one of the biggest pests currently annoying the Bruins with his antics.

The Bruins passed on forward Henrik Samuelsson, son of infamous cheap shot artist Ulf, leaving him for Phoenix three picks later. Instead, with the 24th overall pick they opted for goalie Malcolm Subban, brother of Montreal defenseman and chief agitator P.K.

Just when you thought there was no way to add a new wrinkle to the ancient feud between the Original Six rivals, along come the brothers Subban to spice things up to a whole new level.

"The rivalry's just about to begin," Malcolm Subban joked to reporters in Pittsburgh. "I don't know if he's going to like me too much. To be honest I never liked him too much."

The possibility of seeing the Subban siblings going head to head in a few years is a tantalizing storyline, but this selection was purely a hockey decision.

Subban was the top-ranked North American goalie available who put up some impressive numbers in his second season with the Ontario Hockey League's Belleville Bulls. Subban was 25-14-0 in 39 games, posting the fourth-best goals-against average in the OHL at 2.50 and tying for the fifth-best save percentage at .923. Not bad for a kid who followed in his older brother's skates as a defensemen until making the move to the crease when he was 12.

Despite the late start, Subban drew praise from scouts for his great reflexes, lateral movement, post-to-post coverage and athleticism. He's still a work in progress though, with issues with his rebound control and some questions about his glove hand. He's also dealt with nagging groin injuries during his junior career which could cause some concern.

But the positives far outweigh any negatives when it comes to the potential Subban possesses, which earned the praise of NHL Central Scouting's Al Jensen.

"I see Malcolm as Carey Price," Jensen is quoted in Subban's profile on NHL.com. "He's calm and poised. I find [Marc-Andre] Fleury as more of an acrobatic goalie and getting out there, but Malcolm is very good with his positioning with outstanding lateral ability and quickness. He can make the big save to turn a game around, but he covers post-to-post so well with his butterfly. His leg extension is incredible and he has a very quick glove hand."

That skillset was enough to get the Bruins to buck their recent trend of avoiding netminders in the early rounds. They haven't taken a goalie in the first round since selecting Hannu Toivonen with the 29th pick in 2002. Since Peter Chiarelli took over as general manager in 2006, the Bruins had drafted just three goalies in any round, taking Michael Hutchinson in the third round in 2008, Zane Gothberg in the sixth in 2010 and Lars Volden in the sixth in 2011.

The Bruins had further augmented their organizational depth at the position by signing Adam Morrison out of the Western Hockey League in March and Niklas Svedberg out of Sweden earlier this offseason.

That didn't deter Chiarelli from grabbing Subban when he was available late in the first round. If he develops as the club hopes, it could give the team a well-rounded nucleus from their last three first-round picks. Tyler Seguin, the second pick of the 2010 draft, has already emerged as a star up front, while Dougie Hamilton, the ninth selection last year, is expected to make the leap to the NHL on Boston's blue line this coming year.

Boston has long groomed Tuukka Rask to take the reins in net and the 25-year-old Finn has a long and bright future ahead of him, but now the Bruins may just have another elite netminder in the pipeline to push Rask in a few years the way Rask's presence helped push Tim Thomas to new heights in recent years.

And if he can push the buttons of his brother along the way in the next generation of Boston-Montreal clashes, all the better.

Have a question for Douglas Flynn? Send it to him via Twitter at @douglasflynn or send it here. He will pick a few questions to answer every week for his mailbag.

10:54 p.m.:

The host Penguins made the biggest splash, trading Jordan Staal to Carolina for the eighth pick, Brandon Sutter and Brian Dumoulin. They used that pick on defenseman Derrick Pouliot, one of 13 blueliners taken on the night as defensemen dominated Day 1 of the draft.

Despite their plethora of talented young forwards, Edmonton didn't join the run on defensemen and added another forward with the top pick, selecting right wing Nail Yakupov.

The Bruins also stayed away from the blue line, but still made one of the most interesting picks of the night when they took goalie Malcolm Subban at 24. Subban will have an interesting perspective on the Boston-Montreal rivalry when he reaches the Bruins, as he is the brother of Habs defenseman P.K. Subban.

Rounds 2-7 will be held Saturday in Pittsburgh, with the second round starting at 10 a.m. Check back here for updates on all the action throughout the day.

30. Los Angeles: The Stanley Cup champion Kings close out the opening round by selecting Tanner Pearson.

A forward with Barrie (OHL), Pearson finally gets picked in his third year of eligibility for the draft. He put up 37-54-91 totals in 60 games with the Colts.

29. New Jersey: After surprisingly holding on to this pick, the Devils take the son of a former Rangers hero, Stefan Matteau. His father, Stephane Matteau, famously beat the Devils with a dramatic goal in the Eastern Conference Final in 1994.

The Devils have to surrender a first-round pick in the next three years for circumventing the cap in their initial contract with Ilya Kovalchuk. Most expected they would give up this pick since they were picking so late in the round, but New Jersey defied expectations and held on to it. They will have to surrender a first-round pick in 2013 or 2014.

28. New York Rangers: The Rangers add another college-bound blueliner with Brady Skjei, a Lakeville, Minn. native who will stay in state next year when he attends the University of Minnesota.

He's regarded as one of the best skaters available in this year's draft and could add even more mobility to the Rangers blue line in a few years.

27. Phoenix: The Coyotes take Henrik Samuelsson, the son of Ulf Samuelsson, who used to work as an assistant coach in Phoenix.

Henrik Samuelsson split the past season playing for his father with Modo in Sweden before coming to Canada to play for Edmonton in the WHL. The 6-foot-2, 195-pound center kept up the family tradition by being suspended four times by the WHL while playing just 28 games for the Oil Kings.

26. Vancouver: The Canucks add some size up front with center Brandan Gaunce of Bellville (OHL).

Gaunce had 28-40-68 totals in 68 games, but is known more for his grit and size (6-foot-2, 215 pounds).

25. St. Louis: The Blues get back to the defensive dominance of the draft, selecting blueliner Jordan Schmaltz from Green Bay (USHL).

24. BOSTON: Leave it to the Bruins to find a way to spice up the Boston-Montreal rivalry even more. Boston grabs goalie Malcolm Subban with its first-round pick.

Yes, that is the brother of Habs defenseman P.K. Subban, who has been a lightning rod in many of the most recent clashes between the Original Six rivals.

Malcolm Subban was 25-14-0 with a 2.50 GAA and a .923 save percentage with Bellville (OHL) last year.

23. Florida: The Panthers grab a player headed to Boston one pick ahead of the Bruins. Defenseman Mike Matheson has committed to Boston College after playing last year for Dubuque (USHL).

The Bruins are now on the clock.

22. Pittsburgh: The hometown fans get more good news as the Penguins grab Olli Maatta, a Finnish defenseman who played for London (OHL) and was expected to go earlier than this.

He's a solid two-way player who was sidelined with a concussion, but still was very highly regarded. The Bruins would probably have loved to see him slip two more spots.

21. Calgary (from Nashville via Buffalo): The hot potato pick of the draft, the Flames finally use it after it was traded twice to pick Mark Jankowski, who has strong bloodlines but could be a reach at this point.

He grandfather Lou played for Detroit, his uncle Ryan is a scout for Montreal and his great-uncle is the legendary Red Kelly. He's committed to attend Providence College next year.

20. Philadelphia: The Flyers receive a warm welcome from the Pittsburgh fans as they select forward Scott Laughton.

He's a solid two-way forward who had 21-32-53 totals in 64 games for Oshawa (OHL) and can also play a shutdown role.

19. Tampa Bay (from Detroit): Lightning GM Steve Yzerman landed an extra first-rounder from his longtime club in a three-way deal involving Steve Downie and Kyle Quincey.

He uses it to take the first goalie of the draft, Russian netminder Andrei Vasilevski, who raised his stock with a strong performance in the World Juniors. The Lightning have addressed their goalie needs through free agency (signing Riku Helenius), trade (Anders Lindback from Nashville) and now the draft.

18. Chicago: The Blackhawks grab another talented forward who slipped a bit, selecting Finnish left wing Teuvo Teravainen.

9:29 p.m.: The Kings won't pick until the final selection of the first round, but the Stanley Cup champs have made some news, with TSN reporting that Los Angeles has re-signed pending free agent forwards Jarret Stoll and Colin Fraser.

17. San Jose: The Sharks grab the second Czech center of the first round, selecting Tomas Hertl, who had 12-13-25 totals in 38 games with Slava in the Czech Republic.

16. Washington: The Capitals use their second first-round pick to add some size and toughness with rugged forward Tom Wilson.

He's one of the biggest hitters and best fighters available in the draft, but there are questions about his offensive upside. He did perform well in the playoffs though, and has drawn comparisons to Milan Lucic.

15. Ottawa: As we reach the midway point of the opening round, the Senators dip back in the defense pool. And they didn't have to travel far to find Cody Ceci.

Ceci played his junior hockey in Ottawa with the OHL's 67s, putting up 17-43-60 totals in 64 games.

14. Buffalo (from Calgary): The Sabres, who had two first-round picks coming into the night, flip the pick (No. 21) they got from Nashville for Paul Gaustad and their second-rounder to move up to this spot.

They use it to add another center, Latvian Zemgus Girgensons, who is scheduled to attend the University of Vermont next year after scoring 44 points in 43 games for Dubuque (USHL). 

13. Dallas: The Stars, who traded away Mike Ribiero earlier in the evening, restock their forward corps with center Radek Faksa.

He's another big European center (6-foot-3, 203 pounds) who came over to North America to play junior. He left the Czech Republic to play for Kitchener (OHL), where he had 29-38-67 totals in 62 games.

12. Buffalo: The high-ranked forwards that slipped during that defense run are being scooped up now, with the Sabres selecting center Mikhail Grigorenko.

He's a skilled pivot with good size (6-foot-3, 200 pounds) whose work ethic has been questioned. He's from Russia, but played in North America for Quebec (QMJL), where he had 40-45-85 totals in 59 games, but struggled in the postseason.

11. Washington (from Colorado): The Caps use their first of two picks in the opening round on Swedish forward Filip Forsberg.

This pick came from the Avalanche in the deal for goalie Semyon Varlamov, and the Caps get great value as Forsberg slips much further than expected thanks to the big run on defensemen in the top 10.

10. Tampa Bay: The Lightning close out the top 10 with (what else?) another defensemen. At least this one has one of the all-time great hockey names with Slater Koekkoek out of Peterborough (OHL).

Koekkoek was another top prospect who missed time with an injury, playing just 26 games (5-13-18 totals) due to a shoulder injury.

9. Winnipeg: There's no letup on the run on defensemen, with the Jets joining the party with the selection of Jacob Trouba.

He's a Minnesota native out of the U.S. Development Program who is expected to head to the University of Michigan next year, though he may also play junior in Kitchener (OHL). Either way, he won't be headed to Manitoba just yet.

8. Pittsburgh (from Carolina): With the eighth pick just acquired from Carolina, the host Penguins grab a defenseman as well with Derrick Pouliot.

Pouliot is an offensive defenseman from Portland (WHL), where he had 11-48-59 totals in 72 games this past season.

8:10 p.m.: The eighth pick has changed hands in the first blockbuster trade of the night. Host Pittsburgh is now on the clock after sending center Jordan Staal to Carolina for that pick, forward Brandon Sutter and defense prospect Brian Dumoulin.

Staal will get a chance to play a bigger role after being buried behind Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin in Pittsburgh, and now joins his brother Eric Staal in Carolina.

Dumoulin is a Biddeford, Maine native and defenseman at Boston College. He was a second-round pick by the Hurricanes in 2009.

7. Minnesota: The Wild follow the trend as well with yet another defenseman, taking Matt Dumba.

Dumba brings more of a physical presence than some of the other blueliners taken so far, but also has offensive upside (20-37-57 totals in 69 games with the WHL's Red Deer). That's five defensemen in the top seven picks so far.

6. Anaheim: The Ducks continue the run on defensemen with Hampus Lindholm.

That's higher than most projected for Lindholm, but the Swedish blueliner was one of the fastest risers in the days leading up to the draft so it's not a shock to see him go here.

5. Toronto: Finally with a first-round pick they haven't traded to the Bruins, the Leafs at last can get some benefit from missing the playoffs once again as they round out the top five by taking Morgan Rielly.

Rielly, like Galchenyuk, missed much of the season with a knee injury, but may have the most offensive upside of any blueliner in this year's draft. he had 3-15-18 totals in 18 games with Moose Jaw (WHL).

4. New York Islanders: The Islanders with the first mild surprise of the draft, taking defenseman Griffin Reinhart fourth overall.

It's not a huge reach, as Reinhart is very well regarded. The son of former NHLer Paul Reinhart is the first of many players with family ties to current and former NHLers expected to be picked this year. He also continued New York's upgrade on defense after the Isles traded for Lubomir Visnovsky earlier in the evening.

7:34 p.m.: While Montreal was making its picks, a former Canadien was reportedly being traded. Mike Ribeiro is headed to Washington, with Dallas getting Cody Eakin and a second-round pick (54th overall) in exchange. 

3. Montreal: Just three picks into the draft, the Habs are the second team to pluck a player from the Sarnia Sting by selecting forward Alex Galchenyuk.

He was limited to just two games last year by a knee injury. Had he had a healthy season, he may have flipped spots with teammate Yakupov. 

2. Columbus: No surprises early, as the Blue Jackets keep the second pick and use it on top-rated defenseman Ryan Murray.

The solid two-way blueliner from Everett (WHL) may be the most NHL-ready of the defensemen available this year.

7:22 p.m.: Between the top two picks there is another trade to report, with the Islanders acquiring defensemen Lubomir Visnovsky from Anaheim for a 2013 second-round pick. Visnovsky had 6-21-27 totals in 68 games last year, but led all NHL defensemen with 18-50-68 totals in 2010-11.

1. Edmonton: The Oilers stick to the script and go with Nail Yakupov with the first pick.

That adds another talented young forward to the Edmonton core. He's from Russia, but played his junior hockey in the OHL with the Sarnia Sting, where he had 31-38-69 totals in just 42 games.

7:10 p.m.: The Oilers are officially on the clock as commissioner Gary Bettman opens the draft. Edmonton is picking first for the third straight year. Right wing Nail Yakupov is expected to be the pick, though the Oilers, who picked forwards Taylor Hall and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins the last two years, are more in need of defense and could surprise.

7 p.m.: The draft will begin in just a few minutes, but the prospects will continue to share the spotlight with some veterans as trade rumors continue to swirl in Pittsburgh.

So far Sergei Bobrovsky is the only veteran on the move, heading from Philadelphia to Columbus. But bigger names could move as well, with the likes of Rick Nash, Bobby Ryan, Jordan Staal and Roberto Luongo involved in plenty of speculation.

Keith Yandle's name has come up as well. The Flyers may not be done dealing after shipping out Bobrovsky, as Phoenix's Yandle could be the answer to filling the void on the Philly blue line with Chris Pronger continuing to suffer from post-concussion symptoms. CSN Philadelphia has reported that the Flyers are among the teams interested in Yandle.

6:45 p.m.: The first pick has yet to be made in Pittsburgh, but NHL fans can already start making their plans for the next two drafts. And they won't have to leave the Atlantic Division for the foreseeable future.

The league announced on Friday that New Jersey will host the 2013 Draft and the 2014 Draft will return to the Keystone State, with Philadelphia playing host that year.

6:30 p.m.: The draft will begin officially in a little over a half hour, but there has already been some action in Pittsburgh.

The Flyers have been involved in a trade featuring a Russian goalie for the second straight year. After trading for Ilya Bryzgalov before the 2011 draft, this time Philadelphia dealt Sergei Bobrovsky to Columbus for second- and fourth-round picks in this draft and a fourth-rounder next year.

There could be another goalie on the move in the near future as well. Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli revealed earlier Friday that Tim Thomas has waived his no-trade clause, which was set to expire on July 1 anyway. Thomas is still planning to sit out the season, but the Bruins could deal his rights to a team looking to use his $5 million cap hit to reach the salary cap floor.

8 a.m. ET: The NHL Awards were held Wednesday in Las Vegas, officially putting a close to the 2011-12 season.

On Friday, the start of a new season begins, and the foundation for many seasons to come will be laid with the 2012 NHL Entry Draft in Pittsburgh.

The first round will be held on Friday night, with rounds 2-7 to follow on Saturday.

For the third year in a row, Edmonton will be on the clock first with the No. 1 pick. The Oilers added forwards Taylor Hall and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins with the last two top picks, and another forward is the near-consensus No. 1 prospect again with right wing Nail Yakupov of the Ontario Hockey League's Sarnia Sting expected to be the first name called.

But will the Oilers be tempted to trade the pick to get help elsewhere rather than add yet another talented young forward? Or perhaps they will shun the conventional wisdom and tap into a talented pool of defense prospects earlier than expected? Ryan Murray of the Western Hockey League's Everett Silvertips leads a strong corps of blueliners expected to dominate the first round.

The Bruins would love to land one of highly-regarded defensemen themselves. But unlike the last two years when the Phil Kessel trade gave them high picks from Toronto to land Tyler Seguin (second overall in 2010) and Dougie Hamilton (ninth in 2011), the Bruins have just their own pick in the opening round. Barring a trade, the Bruins won't walk to the podium until the 24th pick.

The draft is always a time for plenty of wheeling and dealing too. So in addition to picking up top prospects, teams may also have a chance to acquire some big-name veterans with the likes of Rick Nash, Bobby Ryan and Roberto Luongo the subject of trade rumors.

The draft begins at 7 p.m. Stay with the NESN.com live blog, as we'll keep you up to speed on everything happening.

But even without any games and the threat of more labor strife, there's no shortage of action around the NHL. The entry draft will take place in Pittsburgh on Friday and Saturday, which should produce not only a new crop of talented young prospects for the league, but also some movement of key veterans on the trade front. That will be followed by even more wheeling and dealing when the free agency period opens next Sunday.

Not surprisingly, the draft, trade talk and free agency possibilities dominated the questions sent in this week, and I tried to hit upon all those subjects in the latest edition of the Bruins Mailbag. As always, I'd like to thank all the readers who sent in questions and apologize in advance if I wasn't able to get to yours. Please keep submitting your questions and I'll answer as many of them as I can throughout the offseason.

If [Dougie] Hamilton makes the roster next year, who becomes the seventh D? [Torey] Krug? [The top] 6 D being Zdeno Chara/Dennis Seidenberg, Johnny Boychuk/Dougie Hamilton and Adam McQuaid/Andrew Ference?
– Ian DeVere via Twitter (‏@manicmoonlight)

Krug is a possibility, though I think it would probably be best for his development to play regularly in Providence rather than sit in the press box in Boston as a seventh defenseman in his first full pro season. That's why I think the Bruins will likely add a veteran defenseman in free agency to play that role. It could be someone familiar like Mike Mottau or a newcomer. Ideally, it will be someone who is at a stage of his career that he would be willing to play a limited role and sit out frequently, but also capable of stepping into the lineup when needed.

If they don't add a veteran, then Krug will be competing against other internal candidates like Matt Bartkowski, Andrew Bodnarchuk, Colby Cohen, David Warsofsky and Tommy Cross. But like Krug, all of those defensemen are young and still developing and likely would be better served playing in Providence. There's also some cap implications to consider. Krug's entry-level deal includes bonuses that put him at a $1.7 million cap hit, so the Bruins may also look to sign a veteran closer to the league minimum at around a third of that cost.

Forget about Tim [Thomas] for the moment and focus on why the Bruins haven't signed Tuukka Rask? What is the deal?
– Stephanie O’Keefe via Facebook

I don't think there's anything to worry about yet. It's not unusual at all for restricted free agents to still be unsigned at this point. Look at last year when it took most of the summer to finalize a deal for Brad Marchand, which didn't come until Sept. 14.

If you look around the league, there have not been many RFAs signed yet. That's especially true on the goalie market. The Canucks still have not signed Cory Schneider, while Montreal elected arbitration with Carey Price. Ondrej Pavelec in Winnipeg and Devan Dubnyk in Edmonton are awaiting new deals as well. It's probably no coincidence that all those netminders are still unsigned, as the agents for each are probably waiting to see who will sign first to help set the price range for the RFA goalie market.

What possibilities of veteran leadership do you see for the Bruins like [Mark] Recchi and [Brian] Rolston provided the last two years?
– Jake Brod via Twitter (‏@JakeBrod12)

I don't think the Bruins will necessarily bring in another veteran like that for that purpose. I don't believe there is really a need for that anymore. The Bruins have a strong leadership group in place, especially with Chris Kelly and Gregory Campbell now returning. That pair combined with Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron, Andrew Ference and Shawn Thornton, among others, gives the Bruins more than enough veteran presence, experience and leadership. Recchi was invaluable when he was here with how he mentored some of the younger players and helped show the entire team what it took to go deep in the playoffs and capture a Cup. But now almost this entire roster has experienced that firsthand, and can draw upon their own knowledge and lessons learned in 2011.

I actually don't think serving in that role was the reason they added Rolston at the trade deadline last year either. It was a nice added benefit that he happened to possess so much experience and had a Cup ring on his resume from his early days with the Devils, but he was acquired more to add depth up front, though he ended up surprising everyone with how productive he was down the stretch after struggling with the Islanders. If the Bruins do add a veteran up front, it will be more with an eye toward improving their depth and providing some offensive production, rather than adding more leadership to an already veteran group.

Do you see the Bruins trading Tim Thomas to a team like the Islanders or Avalanche to get them closer to the cap floor and rid us of his contract?
– Steve Simonelli via Facebook

That appears to be the only option to get Thomas' $5 million cap hit off their books as long as he remains committed to sitting out the season. Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli on Friday did reveal that Thomas has waived his no-trade clause. That was due to expire on July 1 anyway, but now it gives the Bruins an option to deal him at the draft or anytime before the start of free agency as well. Thomas has not reversed his decision to sit out the season though, so the deals Chiarelli could consider would still involve trading Thomas to a team looking to use his cap hit to reach the floor.

There's no guarantee such a trade will come to fruition though. Teams such as the Islanders and Avalanche that you mentioned, or Phoenix, Winnipeg or Nashville may like the idea of saving $5 million from the cap floor, but there's always the risk Thomas could change his mind. Then they would be on the hook to pay him his $3 million salary. They could trade him at that point, but then they would be scrambling to reach the floor again. There's also no guarantee that the floor will remain as high as it has been or stay in place at all once a new CBA is reached. That uncertainty could make a cap floor deal difficult to consummate.

Doug, the TSN mock draft has the Bruins taking the Russian goalie [Andrei] Vasilefski who played in the World Junior Championships. I like Tom Wilson as another [Milan] Lucic type. Who do you think the Bruins will target at 24?
– James Paul, St. John's

It's always hard to project picks that late in the draft with so many possible scenarios playing out in the selections ahead of them. I do know Peter Chiarelli has talked about the strength of the defensemen in this year's first round. There are at least 10 solid blueliners that would look good in Black and Gold, but the run on those guys could keep any from reaching the Bruins at 24. It's possible the Bruins could move up if they see a chance to grab one of them, and Chiarelli said on Friday afternoon that there was about a 20-percent chance of the Bruins moving up in the first round.

Chiarelli also mentioned looking to add size and possibly another goalie in the draft. I would be surprised if the Bruins went the goalie route in the first round though. The Bruins have focused more on adding long-term projects in goal in the late rounds, like Zane Gotherberg (6th round in 2010) and Lars Volden (6th round in 2011). They also recently signed Niklas Svedberg, as well as Adam Morrison back in March, and Chiarelli admitted the Svedberg signing took some of the pressure off adding another goalie through the draft.

If they stay at 24 and none of the defensemen the Bruins covet are available, I wouldn't be surprised to see them add the size up front that Chiarelli also cherishes. That would bring a guy like Wilson into the mix if he is still on the board, or possibly a second generation kid like Stefan Matteau (son of former Ranger Stephane Matteau) or even (shudder) Henrik Samuelsson (son of Cam Neely archnemesis Ulf Samuelsson). That last one could be a tough sell in Boston, so let's just hope Wilson or one of those d-men is still on the board.

Have questions for Douglas Flynn’s mailbag? Leave them in the comments section below, send them to him via Twitter @douglasflynn or send them here. He will pick a few questions to answer every week. Be sure to check back to see if your question was answered.

Peter Chiarelli and the Boston Bruins are hoping to spend the offseason preparing for a run at another Stanley Cup title. That process begins on Friday at the 2012 NHL Draft.

Chiarelli is confident in the Bruins draft strategy heading into the weekend, and he's also optimistic that the B's will be able to find a high-level prospect in their first-round spot at No. 24. The B's seem to believe the talent in this year's draft pool is very deep and Chiarelli expects the Bruins to take advantage.

Check out the video above for more on the Bruins upcoming draft from NESN Daily.

Barring a trade to move up, the Bruins will have to wait until the 24th selection before making their first trip to the podium. But even though Boston won't be making its first pick as early as when they nabbed Tyler Seguin second overall in 2010 and Dougie Hamilton ninth in 2011 with picks culled from the Leafs in the Phil Kessel trade, Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli is still confident there will be some solid options at the back end of the opening round.

"Sometimes it's not bad to pick at the end of the draft and see what happens," Chiarelli said in a conference call Monday. "You just don't control your own destiny as much."

Chiarelli sees a separation in prospects coming at around the midway point of the first round and wouldn't rule out trying to move up into that higher tier, but also thinks there will be players the Bruins have targeted available at 24.

"The draft, in general, I think is going to go in different paths after 15 or 16," Chiarelli said. "There seems to be a drop-off around there, and I think teams are going to different directions. So I think we're going to get guys that we have fairly high on our lists."

Still, it requires a different approach when picking so late in the round, with so many variables affecting which prospects may still be available.

"You have to really go into more different combinations and scenarios for the later pick," Chiarelli said. "If this player goes there, what if this player goes there, what about moving down because we can get that player? There's a lot more scenarios to discuss, and then your quality of player, while still good, is obviously not as good at this point than those players higher up."

That requires extra work not only on the scenarios that could unfold, but on unearthing everything they can find out about the prospects who could be available when the Bruins pick.

"So you really drill down more," Chiarelli said. "There's been more meetings and discussions over more minute detail in these players to try and drill down to get the right player."

The Bruins believe the right player should be there at 24, but they have contingencies in place if they want to move around the draft board.

"We identify a cluster of players that we feel that probably at least two or three of them will be there when we pick," Chiarelli said. "At the table we'll have five or six trade-down scenarios, five or six trade-up scenarios, and I'll have tried to cue up or at least plant the seeds leading into Friday, then on Friday I'll flesh them out as the draft progresses."

The Bruins didn't have to worry about moving anywhere to get the players they coveted the last two years. They may have to be a little more proactive this year if they are determined to land a specific prospect, but they should be able to come away with a quality selection even if they opt to stand pat at 24.

Have a question for Douglas Flynn? Send it to him via Twitter at @douglasflynn or send it here. He will pick a few questions to answer every week for his mailbag.

That doesn't mean the Bruins are done building the foundation of their future blue line. While Hamilton has emerged as one of the top defensive prospects in the league and is likely to make the leap to the NHL this coming season, the Bruins are still looking to build up their organizational depth on defense after selecting forwards with their first-round picks in each of the previous five years.

In a conference call on Monday to discuss the upcoming draft, Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli reiterated his long-standing philosophy to draft the best player available without regard to position. But the depth on defense in this year's draft class may enable the Bruins to both address a need and nab the best player available when they make the 24th selection in the opening round Friday in Pittsburgh.

"I think there's a lot of defensemen, a lot of good defensemen in this draft," Chiarelli said. "If we don't get a defenseman we'll be fine because there's always good players, but we're hoping that some will slip. I've never seen the number of NHL defenseman this large."

Russian right wing Nail Yakupov is expected to continue the streak of forwards going first overall that dates back to 2007, but after Yakupov the blueliners should reign. The likes of Ryan Murray, Matt Dumba, Morgan Reilly, Griffin Reinhart and Jacob Trouba will be among the next handful of names called, but quality defensemen should be available throughout the first round with Cody Ceci, Derrick Pouliot, Hampus Lindholm, Matt Finn and Olli Maatta among the other promising blueliners available.

After the 24th pick, the Bruins don't select again until the third round (85th overall), then have one pick each in the fifth (145), sixth (175) and seventh (205) to further augment the Bruins' future on the blue line and elsewhere. They gave up their second rounder to Toronto in the Tomas Kaberle deal and their fourth rounder to Carolina for Joe Corvo, neither of whom did much to improve the Bruins defense in the past or present.

Chiarelli could try to get more picks in trades, but he has already found other ways to supplement the Bruins' prospect pool by signing defenseman Torey Krug as a free agent out of Michigan State and goalie Niklas Svedberg out of Sweden.

"I think as a manager you try and have your seven picks one way or another," Chiarelli said. "So, in my mind, that would give us seven with those two [Krug and Svedberg]. But having said that, if I can acquire another pick it would be nice, but right now I think we've shown some success in trading some picks. If you want to win so sometimes you have to sacrifice picks."

Even with Svedberg, goaltending is an area the Bruins may still want to address in the draft. They've used sixth-round picks on Zane Gothberg and Lars Volden the last two years, but may look to add another netminder to the system in this draft.

"This year like we seemed to talk more about goalies and that kind of quieted down a little bit after we signed Svedberg, but he's 23," Chiarelli said. "We've got some good young ones in the pipeline, but that's an area that I'd maybe like to get a little deeper."

Chiarelli also stressed the need to add size in all positions to his scouts, so look for the Bruins to try to get bigger in this year's draft as well.

Have a question for Douglas Flynn? Send it to him via Twitter at @douglasflynn or send it here. He will pick a few questions to answer every week for his mailbag.

The draft is always a hotbed of trade activity, second only to the in-season trade deadline for getting deals done. But this year the trade talk leading up to the draft, which takes place Friday and Saturday in Pittsburgh, has been even more intense than usual.

“There is a lot more chatter this year at this time,” Chiarelli said in a conference call with reporters on Monday.

“I think historically there’s always this talk, but I don’t know if there’s this much talk,” Chiarelli added. “It always does ramp up right now because there’s picks that will be available on Friday and Saturday. Specifically to this year, I think it’s a function of the shallow pool of free agents. So you’ve got teams that may not delve into the free agency or they’re trying to be proactive and trying to acquire guys prior to free agency because when the pool is shallow, the prices get pretty high.”

The prices on the trade market aren’t exactly a bargain, either. Columbus may finally trade star forward Rick Nash this week, but the Blue Jackets haven’t come down on their demands even after being unable to find a taker at the deadline. Edmonton and Columbus may also be open to dealing the top two picks in the draft, but those selections won’t come cheap.

The Bruins aren’t likely to get into the Nash sweepstakes and have their lineup largely set for the upcoming season. That leaves Chiarelli content to be largely a spectator in this coming wave of moves, waiting instead to explore the options in free agency and the second round of deals that will follow later in the summer.

“The reality is that the trade market right now is the most active,” Chiarelli said. “What will happen is, come July, that will take a bit of a backseat to free agency. And once we go through that first trounce of free agents, then the trade market will reemerge.

“Right now with the trade market the way it is, I’ll make some calls, but frankly I’m more apt to wait until the free agent market and then the secondary market,” Chiarelli added. “I call it the secondary trade market, but it’s fairly significant. My objective will probably be to wait unless something falls in my lap.”

If Chiarelli does get an offer he can’t refuse, it’s not likely to come completely out of the blue. He noted just how much time and effort goes into getting a deal done, and how many of the trades that take place this week at the draft will have had their origins in talks before last year’s deadline.

“A lot of the work you do leading up to the trade deadline does carry over,” Chiarelli said. “What I try to do along those lines is try to plant seeds, set up deals at the trade deadline for the summer or for the fall. There’s a lot of legwork that goes into making a trade. They’re hard to do now. My preparation for this trade market and the upcoming trade markets starts before the trade deadline.

“Usually those deals that happen or are talked about at the trade deadline are more for the moment,” Chiarelli added. “But you do get a sense of where guys feel where their roster might be in late June or early July.”

After re-signing Daniel Paille, Gregory Campbell and Chris Kelly in recent weeks to keep the bulk of the 2011 Cup-winning lineup intact, Chiarelli knows where his roster stands as the draft approaches. But he’s always exploring every option to improve his club. This week’s draft will provide plenty of opportunities to do that, and not just by adding new prospects to the system with the Bruins’ own picks.

Have a question for Douglas Flynn? Send it to him via Twitter at @douglasflynn or send it here. He will pick a few questions to answer every week for his mailbag.

Well, scratch that idea for the Bruins. Tim Thomas and his ever-shifting personality made sure that this offseason would be anything but typical for Boston, as the former Conn Smythe Trophy winner's surprise retirement announcement set off a roster chain reaction that the team is still dealing with.

However, Bruins news goes well beyond Thomas, as the team recently locked up a pair of centers. They are looking forward to the arrival of a fresh-faced 19-year-old this coming season and excited to get a winger back from a concussion.

So, which of these Bruins storylines are you following most closely this offseason?

Which Bruins storyline are you following the closest this offseason?

When the brain trusts of all 30 teams gather in one place, plenty of business gets done. Draft weekend may be second only to the trade deadline when it comes to making deals, and this year’s draft next Friday and Saturday in Pittsburgh promises to be no different.

Big name veterans like Rick Nash, Roberto Luongo and Jay Bouwmeester could be on the move, and a deal for the rights to pending free agent Ryan Suter is also possible.

Columbus features to be one of the primary movers, with the possibility of star forward Nash finally getting his wish for a trade. The Columbus Dispatch reported Friday that the Blue Jackets have had “significant” trade talks with seven teams, while several others have “kicked the tires.”

Acquiring Nash will still cost mightily. Columbus’ asking price proved too high to complete a deal at last year’s trade deadline, but the Blue Jackets aren’t going to come down too much on their demands for the face of their franchise, and with so many interested parties they may not have to. If high draft picks are going to be included in any package for him, the Blue Jackets will want to get a deal done before Friday’s first round to kick-start their latest rebuilding project.

Columbus general manager Scott Howson might want to be careful how he proceeds. His last big draft day deal didn’t work out too well for the Blue Jackets. Last year he shipped Jakub Voracek, the eighth overall pick and a third-rounder to Philadelphia for Jeff Carter. Voracek and Sean Couturier, who was taken with that eighth pick, made significant contributions to the Flyers right away, while Carter never warmed to the idea of playing in Columbus and eventually forced his way out of town, landing in Los Angeles and helping the Kings win the Cup.

Howson seems undeterred. He’s also made it known that the No. 2 pick in this year’s draft is in play as he’s open to any options to help right the ship in Columbus after finishing dead last in the NHL this past season.

“We’d be open to any suggestions,” Howson told Sportsnet 960 The Fan in Calgary on Thursday. “It’s not an easy trade to trade out of the two slot, or one slot or three slot for that matter.

“We’ve certainly listened to people,” Howson added. “We’ve had a couple of expressions of interest on the pick in terms of moving down. We wouldn’t want to move too far down so we’ll just see how it plays out next week. Traditionally, and if history repeats itself, teams get a little more serious about exchanging picks as we get closer to the draft on the draft floor.”

Moving down appears to be the only option. Despite their horrid record, the Blue Jackets didn’t win the lottery. Instead Edmonton earned the right to pick first for the third straight season. The Oilers also shopped that pick, but on Friday reports surfaced that Edmonton was resigned to holding on to the pick when they couldn’t find a taker for their trade demands.

The Oilers are in a bit of a bind. The clear-cut top pick this year is talented Russian forward Nail Yakupov, but the Oilers are already loaded with young talent up front with the likes of the last two No. 1 overall selections, Taylor Hall and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, plus Jordan Eberle.

Edmonton’s real need is on defense. That’s what they were seeking to get in return for this year’s top pick, but Sportsnet’s Mark Spector reported that the Oilers were rebuffed in efforts to pry young blueliners Jake Gardiner and P.K. Subban out of Toronto and Montreal, respectively.

The Oilers will now have to choose between taking the top player in Yakupov and adding to their stockpile of young forwards, or perhaps reaching a bit to fill a need with a defenseman like Ryan Murray. If they go the latter route, Columbus will be sitting pretty with the chance to grab Yakupov or auction that right to the highest bidder.

Edmonton isn’t expected to finalize their decision until next Thursday or Friday, but either way they go, things are sure to be interesting next Friday. They always are at the draft, especially when there are veterans as well as prospects up for grabs.

Have a question for Douglas Flynn? Send it to him via Twitter at @douglasflynn or send it here. He will pick a few questions to answer every week for his mailbag.

Despite the Columbus Blue Jackets finishing with the league's worst record, the Oilers won the draft lottery and hold the No. 1 overall pick for the third straight year.

The phrase "Fail for Nail" sprouted up during this past season for a reason. Sarnia Sting winger Nail Yakupov has been the wire to wire favorite to be the first player taken in this year's draft. And even though Edmonton has drafted forwards Tyler Hall and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Yakupov is still the favorite to hear his name called first.

Everett defenseman Ryan Murray has also crawled his way up draft boards, but he has to fight through talented forwards Mikhail Grigorenko and Filip Forsberg to be a top three pick at the end of June.

Below, check out predictions for every first-round pick.

1. Edmonton Oilers — Nail Yakupov, Winger, Sarnia Sting (OHL)

Yakupov is the runaway favorite to be selected first overall in the 2012 NHL entry draft. The Russian-born winger has been terrorizing the OHL since entering the league last season. Yakupov is a special player with insane offensive skills. Speed, vision and shooting are among his many outstanding attributes. For a rebuilding team like the Oilers, drafting the best available player is the way to go, regardless of the need for defense. If they really want to address the blue line, trading the pick and getting some value would be wise.

2. Columbus Blue Jackets — Filip Forsberg, Winger, Leksands (SWE)

Mikhail Grigorenko was pushing to be the top player drafted at times this season, but his stock has dropped a bit due to questions about his work ethic. The Blue Jackets miss out on Yakupov after some terrible luck at the lottery, but Filip Forsberg is the best European skater in the draft and a nice consolation prize.

3. Montreal Canadiens — Mikhail Grigorenko, Center, Quebec Ramparts (QMJHL)

The Canadiens should be doing backflips if Grigorenko is available at No. 3 overall. At 6-foot-2, Grigorenko has the size to match his incredible offensive ability. He also has added value as the best center in the draft. This pick is a no-brainer.

4. New York Islanders — Ryan Murray, Defenseman, Everett Silvertips (WHL)

Ryan Murray also has a real chance to be taken No. 1 by Edmonton. He rebounded after a slow start to the season, and the Islanders would love to add some organizational depth on defense.

5. Toronto Maple Leafs — Alex Galchenyuk, Center, Sarnia Sting (OHL)

Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke isn't afraid to take a risk, so he will have no problem taking a chance on the talented Alex Galchenyuk, who suffered a torn ACL back in October but has since returned to the ice. Perhaps he could be the answer for Toronto at center.

6. Anaheim Ducks — Morgan Rielly, Defenseman, Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL)

Morgan Rielly is the ideal power play quarterback. He handles the puck as well as any defenseman in this class and has tons of vision on the rush.The Ducks still need help on the back end in the worst way.

7. Minnesota Wild — Jacob Trouba, Defenseman, United States U-18 (USHL)

The Minnesota Wild don't shy away from American-born propsects, and Jacob Trouba is a good one. He has the poise, positioning and defensive awareness that is rare from a 17-year-old. Trouba is a strong passer but doesn't have the offensive game that some of the other d-men in this class possess.

8. Carolina Hurricanes — Griffin Reinhart, Defenseman, Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL)

Griffin Reinhart has all of the tools. At 6-foot-4, Reinhart has plenty of size to go with his offensive skill.

9. Winnipeg Jets — Mathew Dumba, Defenseman, Red Deer Rebels (WHL)

The run on defense continues with Mathew Dumba, who is an exciting player to watch. He's a big risk-taker and loves to throw his weight around on defense. His shot from the point is a laser, and he is an excellent skater. Dumba is also a great leader.

10. Tampa Bay Lightning — Cody Ceci, Defenseman, Ottawa 67's (OHL)

Cody Ceci's draft stock is on the rise after the talented rearguard put together an incredible 2011-12 campaign in Ottawa. Ceci was one of few draft-eligible players invited to play with Canada at the World Juniors.

11. Washington Capitals (via Colorado Avalanche) — Teuvo Teravainen, Winger, Jokerit (FIN)

A dynamic offensive playmaker, Teuvo Teravainen will be exactly what the Washington Capitals are looking for.

12. Buffalo Sabres — Zemgus Girgensons, Center, Dubuque Fighting Saints (USHL)

Committed to the University of Vermont for 2012, Zemgus Girgensons displays great instincts in the offensive zone. Girgensons stood out at the World Junior Championship on an overmatched Latvia team.

13. Dallas Stars — Hampus Lindholm, Defenseman, Rogle (SWE)

The Dallas Stars drafted Jamie Oleksiak last year, but Hampus Lindholm is a great value at this spot, and depth is important on defense.

14. Calgary Flames — Sebastian Collberg, Winger, Frolunda (SWE)

Sebastian Collberg thrives on speed. The Swedish winger has an excellent shot that he is not afraid to let go from all over the ice. If he had a more well-rounded game, he may crack the top 10. The Flames need help all over the ice.

15. Ottawa Senators — Brendan Gaunce, Center, Belleville Bulls (OHL)

The Senators were a surprising team in the Eastern Conference this season, and their system is ripe with young talent. Add Brendan Gaunce, a productive center, to the mix, and Ottawa could be an elite offensive team down the road.

16. Washington Capitals — Oli Maatta, Defenseman, London Knights (OHL)

The first overall pick in the 2011 CHL Import Draft, Olli Maatta has come from Finland and done a fine job with the London Knights. He is well polished in his own end and produces well on offense thanks to his passing ability. Maata struggled mightily at the World Juniors but should still be a first-round pick.

17. San Jose Sharks — Pontus Aberg, Winger, Djurgarden (SWE)

Pontus Aberg has the skating ability to be a top 10 selection in the 2012 NHL draft. But concerns about his consistency and defensive abilities have caused him to drop a bit.

18. Chicago Blackhawks — Andreie Vasilevksi, Goalie, Russia

Standing at 6-foot-4, Andrei Vasilevksi is the most highly regarded goaltending prospect available in the 2012 NHL draft. This may come as a surprise after a somewhat disappointing showing at the World Juniors, but scouts are still very high on the Russian goalie.

19. Tampa Bay Lightning (via Detroit Red Wings) — Malcolm Subban, Goalie, Belleville Bulls (OHL)

Malcolm Subban is the second goaltender to crack the top 20 and could end up being the first goalie off the board. The Rexdale, Ontario, native posted a 2.50 goals against average and a .923 save percentage this season.

20. Philadelphia Flyers — Slater Koekkoek, Defenseman, Peterborough Petes (OHL)

The most impressive aspect of Slater Koekkoek's game is his ability to consistently play sound defense despite logging tons of minutes. That's the sort of thing scouts love to see. He is as smart as he is poised in his own end. Philly needs to add some talent on defense with Chris Pronger and Kimmo Timonen aging.

21. Buffalo Sabres (via Nashville Predators) — Matt Finn, Defenseman, Guelph Storm (OHL)

After going offense with their first pick, the Sabres draft defense with their second first-rounder. Matt Finn is a well-rounded rearguard who may need some time to develop before making an impact in the NHL.

22. Pittsburgh Penguins — Radek Faksa, Center, Kitchener (OHL)

The Penguins are already stacked at center, but adding a player of Radek Faksa's caliber never hurt anyone.

23. Florida Panthers — Brady Skjei, Defenseman, United States U-18 (USHL)

The Panthers had a tremendous season, but the rebuilding effort is far from complete. Brady Skjei is a good value and fills a need for organizational depth on the blue line.

24. Boston Bruins — Tom Wilson, Winger, Plymouth Whalers (WHL)

Tom Wilson seems destined to be a Boston Bruin. The 6-foot-4 winger plays a physical style that will make him an instant fan favorite in the Hub of Hockey. Without too many needs, the Bruins have the luxury of drafting for value, and Wilson would be a perfect organizational fit.

25. St. Louis Blues — Tomas Hertl, Winger, Slavia (CZE)

Tomas Hertl provides more offensive skill for a team that could definitely use it.

26. Vancouver Canucks — Derrick Pouliot, Defenseman, Portland Winterhawks (WHL)

Boasting one of the worst prospect pools in all of hockey, the Vancouver Canucks need to add talent at any position.

27. Phoenix Coyotes — Jarrod Maidens – Center, Owen Sound Attack (OHL)

Best known for his game-winning goal in last year’s Memorial Cup, Jarrod Maidens is a hard working center with a strong two-way game. He has also improved his offensive output this season, averaging just under a point per game.

28. New York Rangers — Stefan Matteau, Winger, United States U-18 (USHL)

Stefan Matteau is a scorer with an edge. He racked up over a hundred penalty minutes this season, all while improving exponentially as an offensive player, leading his team in points. He’s the type of guy the Rangers always seem to target.

29. New Jersey Devils — Oscar Dansk, Goalie, Sweden

It's no secret that Martin Brodeur needs to be replaced in the near future.

30. Los Angeles Kings –Andreas Athanasiou, Forward, London Knights (OHL)

Andreas Athanasiou is a flashy playmaker up front. He'll have to refine his all-around game at the next level, but his offensive upside makes him a fringe first-round prospect.

Thumbnail via Facebook/Nail Yakupov

But that isn’t anything to worry about. In fact, last season’s numbers indicate Rask is more than ready to become the starting netminder. Rask had better numbers than Thomas in the 2011-12 regular season, with a .929 save percentage and a 2.05 goals against average.

There are plenty of moves to be made for the Bruins with a lot still to change before the 2012-13 season begins. Fortunately, NESN.com NHL writer Douglas Flynn answered all your questions in a Twitter chat on Wednesday.

Fans joined the chat by using the hashtag #NESNLive. Check out the conversation below.

[View the story "Bruins Will Be Fine With Tuukka Rask in Net" on Storify]

For every "can't-miss" prospect that pans out and delivers on his supposed ability, it seems, there's a bust waiting right around the corner, to haunt the team that whiffed on an important pick.

The Astros selected Carlos Correa with the first overall pick in this year's edition, taking a leap of faith that the young shortstop will one day be a cornerstone of their franchise.

With the MLB draft under way this week, every team in baseball will be hard at work trying to sort through the hundreds of prospective players, looking to lock up a highly touted youngster or find a diamond in the rough.

But with baseball's draft dragging on for as long as 40 rounds, it doesn't get the same buzz that the other leagues do when selecting their players.

The NFL and NBA drafts are far and away more popular than their MLB and NHL counterparts, but it could very well be up for debate how important each league's respective draft is.

Football and basketball have the advantage of providing instant gratification for the drafting teams, as players taken can often contribute to the team right away. But basketball teams only get two rounds to select players, and there is usually a sharp drop-off of talent outside of the top lottery picks. Football has seven rounds, but the amount of free agent player movement in the league could also be considered just as — if not more — important than the draft.

Bruins fans are well aware of how big of an impact a draft can have — Tyler Seguin springs to mind — but the hard salary cap in hockey also make the free agent game a huge part of managing a roster.

Each league's draft brings with it the promise of new talent and a chance at future success. When looking at all four, however, which one is the most important for a team to succeed?

Which league's draft is most important to a team's future success?

Thumbnail photo via MLB.com

Just a day after the Shawinigan Cataractes were awarded the Memorial Cup, 105 talented draft eligibles were evaluated at the 2012 NHL Scouting Combine.

To many, the significance of the combine is slim to none. But some interesting storylines developed this week that will have an impact on the draft at the end of the month.

What is the deal with Mikhail Grigorenko's character concerns?

Much has been made in recent weeks about perceived character concerns surrounding Mikhail Grigorenko of the Quebec Ramparts. The gifted playmaker is the most talented center prospect in the draft, but some scouts are concerned about his ability to go into the dirty areas and put in the work at the next level. While he didn't work out at the combine this week due to illness, Grigorenko participated in interviews and spoke with teams, which will be a particularly important part of the process for the Russian star. He has a real chance to be drafted No. 3 overall by the Montreal Canadiens.

Is Alex Galchenyuk healthy?

Alex Galchenyuk entered his draft-eligible season with his Sarnia Sting teammate Nail Yakupov as a heavy favorite to be a top ten pick. But back in October, Galchenyuk tore his ACL, derailing his season and sending his draft stock into flux. This week, all eyes were on Galchenyuk, as teams were hoping to ensure his health before investing a top ten draft pick in him. The Wisconsin-born forward put forth a solid effort in his workouts, but teams will leave it to their doctors for the final evaluation on his knee.

What will the Oilers do with the top pick?

Nail Yakupov has been the wire-to-wire favorite to be drafted first overall in the 2012 NFL Draft. But not many people expected the Edmonton Oilers to be drafting first for the third consecutive season. With the selections of Taylor Hall and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in consecutive years, some think Ryan Murray, the draft's top defensive prospect, makes the most sense for Edmonton. Rumors were flying this week that the Oilers are still uncertain about what they will do with the top pick, according to the Fourth Period. Passing on Yakupov would be a major organizational blunder. The team will either trade the pick or draft Yakupov. Any other scenario would throw a huge wrench into the top of the draft.

Is Cody Ceci ready to step in right away?

Cody Ceci was a steady riser throughout the 2011-12 season, and it appears he may crack the top ten, according to TSN. Scouts expect Ceci to be the type of player that can jump right into the NHL and contribute. It's not easy to do, but that type of quick transition will make him highly sought after on draft night.