NHL Draft, Etc...

In a not-so-shocking move, the Tampa Bay Lightning selected 18-year-old center Steven Samkos with the first pick in this year's NHL draft. I'm feeling older and older every day...

Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin stole a bit of the draft's thunder when it was announced earlier today that the new Continental League in Russia (Malkin's home country) would make him the highest-paid hockey player in the world if he became a part of its inaugural season. Some reports have said he's not interested in a return to Russia, but $12.5 million of tax-free income per year might be hard to resist...

Anyway, here are the rest of the first-round picks:

No. 2 - Los Angeles Kings - defenseman Drew Doughty
No. 3 - Atlanta Thrashers - defenseman Zach Bogosian
No. 4 - St. Louis Blues - defenseman Alex Pietrangelo
No. 5 - Toronto Maple Leafs (from New York Islanders) - defenseman Luke Schenn
No. 6 - Columbus Blue Jackets - forward Nikita Filatov
No. 7 - Nashville Predators - (from Toronto Maple Leafs) - forward Colin Wilson (a fellow Terrier, though he only stuck around for a year)
No. 8 - Phoenix Coyotes - right wing Mikkel Boedker
No. 9 - New York Islanders (from Florida Panthers) - center Joshua Bailey
No. 10 - Vancouver Canucks - center Cody Hodgson
No. 11 - Chicago Blackhawks - center Kyle Beach
No. 12 - Buffalo Sabres (from Edmonton Oilers) - defenseman Tyler Myers (born in Houston)
No. 13 - Los Angeles Kings (from Buffalo Sabres) - defenseman Colten Teubert
No. 14 - Carolina Panthers - center Zach Boychuk
No. 15 - Ottawa Senators (from Nashville Predators) - defenseman Erik Karlsson
No. 16 - Boston Bruins - center Joe Colborne
No. 17 - Anaheim Ducks (from Calgary Flames) - defenseman Jake Gardiner
No. 18 - Nashville Predators (from Ottawa Senators) - goaltender Chet Pickard (first goalie)
No. 19 - Philadelphia Flyers (from Colorado Avalanche) - defenseman Luca Sbisa
No. 20 - New York Rangers - defenseman Michael Del Zotto
No. 21 - Washington Capitals (from New Jersey Devils) - center Anton Gustafsson
No. 22 - Edmonton Oilers (from Anaheim Ducks) - center Jordan Eberle
No. 23 - Minnesota Wild (from Washington Capitals) - defenseman Tyler Cuma
No. 24 - New Jersey Devils (from Minnesota Wild) - left wing Mattias Tedenby
No. 25 - Calgary Flames (from Montreal Canadiens) - center Greg Nemisz
No. 26 - Buffalo Sabres (from San Jose Sharks) - center Tyler Ennis
No. 27 - Washington Capitals (from Philadelphia Flyers) - defenseman John Carlson
No. 28 - Phoenix Coyotes (from Dallas Stars) - winger Viktor Tikhonov
No. 29 - Atlanta Thrashers (from Pittsburgh Penguins) - center Daultan Leveille
No. 30 - Detroit Red Wings - goaltender Thomas McCollum

All in all, there were 12 centers, 12 defensemen, four wingers and two goalies to go in the first round. Seventeen picks were born in Canada, six in America, three in Sweden, two in Russia and one apiece in Denmark and Switzerland. The oldest was Tikhonov at 20 years, one month and eight days, while Leveille is the youngest and won't be 18 until August 10.

The draft will pick up again tomorrow, starting with the second round. You can find the full results here.