The Oilers selected 18-year old Russian forward Nail Yakupov with the No. 1 pick in the NHL draft on Friday night, hoping Yakupov is the next piece of a core that includes center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and winger Taylor Hall, the top picks in the previous two drafts, respectively.

The NHL draft is sticking close to the league's headquarters in New York. The league announced Friday the 2013 draft will be held at the Prudential Center, the home of the Devils in Newark, N.J. The 2014 edition will be at the Wells Fargo Center, home of the Flyers.

Sharks GM Doug Wilson was more open than usual as he talked about his team's focus leading up to Friday night's NHL entry draft in Pittsburgh, according to a San Jose Mercury report. "We will be looking for certain wingers," he said this week, abandoning the standard line that San Jose looks for the best available player regardless of position.

Henrik Samuelsson admits he was too young to remember what life was really like when his dad was as a member of the Penguins in the early 1990s. Still, Henrik knows how special it would be for dad to hear his son's name called on the stage at Consol Energy Center during the NHL Draft in the city where he won two Stanley Cups. "Dad had some good memories [in Pittsburgh]," Henrik Samuelsson told NHL.com. "The fact I was born there and that he spent so much time there and won two Cups is special. Hopefully for the two of us, I'll get drafted." Samuelsson is one of five Pennsylvania natives with a good shot at hearing his name at some point in the draft.

Finnish forward Teuvo Teravainen may be small in stature but he's already a proven performer. The 17-year-old Teravainen had as impressive a second half to the season as one could possibly have in their draft year after being promoted to Jokerit in the SM-Liiga, the top professional league in Finland. "He joined Jokerit right after the Christmas break [after a fast start with the club's Under-20 team] and proved to be a player with outstanding hockey sense and great overall skill," NHL Director of European Scouting, Goran Stubb, told NHL.com. Central Scouting expects Teravainen to be the first player from Finland off the board. He's ranked No. 2 behind Sweden's Filip Forsberg on Central's final list of draft-eligible skaters from Europe.

Filip Forsberg possesses a resume as one of the more dynamic prospects to come out of Sweden. The question is, will the forward bring his incredible game to the NHL next season? "I have one more year on my contract in Sweden for Leksand, so that's what I'm aiming for right now," Forsberg told NHL.com. "I have to be ready moving away from my hometown and country. It's a big step. You have to be ready hockey-wise and social-wise." Forsberg is a marketable prospect for any club looking to bolster its offense in the early stages of the first round of the 2012 NHL Draft. Forsberg's agent in Sweden, Claus Elefalk, said he feels his 17-year-old client is at least one year away from playing regularly in the NHL.

With the Stanley Cup Final settled, it's time to take a look at how the first round of the 2012 NHL Draft will look. The first 14 picks were set by the results of the NHL Draft Lottery held in April. New Jersey, which lost in Game 6 of the Cup Final, will pick No. 29, while the Cup champion Kings will take No. 30.

According to a report from Tom Gulitti of the Bergen Record, the Devils will not surrender their first-round pick in the 2012 NHL Draft. The Devils faced a Tuesday deadline if this would be the year in which the club gives up its first-round pick for signing Ilya Kovalchuk as a free agent two summers ago. Under the terms of the punishment, New Jersey must relinquish its first-round pick between 2011 and 2014.