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Backdraft 2012: Ranking the forwards, defensemen & goalies from the 2012 NHL draft

Backdraft 2012: Ranking the forwards, defensemen & goalies from the 2012 NHL draft

Take a look back at the 2012 NHL draft: We've ranked the top 10 forwards and top 10 defensemen by career NHL points and goalies by career NHL wins.

FORWARDS: Here are the top 10 highest-scoring forwards selected in the 2012 NHL draft, with draft position and NHL games played:

FORWARDS

Draft position

NHL GP

NHL Points

Alex Galchenyuk

3rd overall

275

160

Filip Forsberg

11th overall

182

133

Nail Yakupov

1st overall

252

111

Tomas Hertl

17th overall

200

102

Zemgus Girgensons

14th overall

202

70

Tanner Pearson

30th overall

146

59

Tom Wilson

16th overall

231

50

Teuvo Teravainen

18th overall

115

44

Chris Tierney

55th overall

122

41

Mikhail Grigorenko

12th overall

142

41

NOTES:

--Patience: The majority of players drafted in 2012 are 22 years old and still developing. So, it's way too early to call Nail Yakupov a bust despite a rough start to his NHL career in Edmonton. At the same time, it's fair to say the No. 1 overall pick has been eclipsed by Alex Galchenyuk (third overall pick) and Filip Forsberg (11th overall pick), and several other 2012-drafted forwards have done more on a per-game basis. A 30-goal season skating on Connor McDavid's line would go a long way to re-establishing Yakupov as (perhaps) the best player from his draft.

--Nine of the top 10 highest-scoring forwards from 2012 were drafted in the first round, with second-rounder Chris Tierney (55th overall pick by the San Jose Sharks) the exception.

--Fifteen of the 16 forwards drafted in the first round have already appeared in at least one NHL game, and 10 of them have played at least 100 NHL games. Mark Jankowski, selected 21st overall by the Calgary Flames, has yet to appear in the NHL. Patience.

DEFENSEMEN: Here are the top 10 highest-scoring defensemen selected in the 2012 NHL draft, with draft position and NHL games played: 

DEFENSEMEN

Draft position

NHL GP

NHL Points

Morgan Rielly

5th overall

236

92

Hampus Lindholm

6th overall

236

 92

Jacob Trouba

9th overall

211

 72

Olli Maatta

22nd overall

165

 57

Cody Ceci

15th overall

205

 56

Ryan Murray

2nd overall

160

 49

Shayne Gostisbehere

78th overall

66

46

Mathew Dumba

7th overall

152

44

Damon Severson

60th overall

123

 38

Colton Parayko

86th overall

79

 33

 NOTES:

--Everybody loves drafting defensemen: Eight of the top 10 selections in the 2012 draft were defensemen, led by Ryan Murray at second overall, Griffin Reinhart fourth overall and Morgan Rielly fifth overall. Rounding out the top 10: Hampus Lindholm (sixth overall), Mathew Dumba (seventh overall), Derrick Pouliot (eighth overall), Jacob Trouba (ninth overall) and Slater Koekkoek (10th overall). Reinhart, the second defenseman drafted, has struggled the most at the NHL level to this point.

--Other defensemen drafted in Round 1: Cody Ceci (15th overall), Olli Maatta (22nd overall), Michael Matheson (23rd overall), Jordan Schmaltz (25th overall) and Brady Skjei (28th overall). Schmaltz is the only one who hasn't yet appeared in an NHL game.

--Shayne Gostisbehere 78th overall?! Colton Parayko 86th overall?! In conclusion, the 2012 draft is looking like a good one for defensemen.

GOALIES: A total of nine goalies selected in the 2012 NHL draft have appeared in at least one NHL game. Here they are ranked by NHL wins, with draft position and NHL games played:

GOALIES

Draft position

NHL GP

NHL Wins

Frederik Andersen

87th overall

125

77

Andrei Vasilevskiy

19th overall

40

18

Joonas Korpisalo

62nd overall

31

16

Connor Hellebuyck

130th overall

26

13

Matt Murray

83rd overall

13

9

Linus Ullmark

163rd overall

20

8

Marek Mazanec

179th overall

27

8

Chris Driedger

76th overall

2

0

Malcom Subban

24th overall

1

0

NOTES:

--Second time's a charm: Frederik Andersen was originally drafted 187th overall by the Carolina Hurricanes in 2010, but he wasn't signed so he re-entered in 2012 and was picked 87th overall by the Anaheim Ducks. At 26 years old, he's four years older than most of the other netminders who were drafted in 2012.

--Andrei Vasilevskiy (19th overall pick) and Malcom Subban (24th overall pick) were drafted in the first round, while Oscar Dansk (31st overall pick) was the first selection in Round 2.

--Matt Murray, who's coming off a Stanley Cup championship with the Pittsburgh Penguins, was the 10th goalie drafted and 83rd overall pick in 2012. Since he's only played 13 regular-season NHL games, he's still considered a rookie for the 2016-17 season.

More in the 'Backdraft' series:

Backdraft 2011: Landeskog, Hamilton and Gibson on top

Backdraft 2010: Seguin, Fowler and Andersen setting the pace

Backdraft 2009: Tavares, Hedman and Lehner at head of 2009 NHL draft class

Backdraft 2008: Stamkos, Karlsson and Holtby sit in No. 1 spot in positional rankings

Backdraft 2007: Kane, Subban and Darling lead the way

Backdraft 2006: Backstrom, Johnson and Mason top the positional rankings

Backdraft 2005: Crosby, Yandle and Quick headline the 2005 draft derby

Backdraft 2004: Ovechkin, Streit and Rinne lead the way

Backdraft 2003: Staal, Weber and Fleury rank No. 1 by position

Backdraft 2002: Nash, Keith and Lehtonen at head of class

Backdraft 2001: Kovalchuk, Zidlicky and Anderson on top

Backdraft 2000: Heatley, Visnovsky and Lundqvist lead the rankings

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