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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