eived from the Hurricanes to grab the smooth-skating 18-year-old."I think the nervous part of that deal was we wanted to get Pouliot with that pick," Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma said. "When that thing was done it culminated with a sigh of relief."Pittsburgh stayed busy on Saturday, grabbing goaltenders Matthew Murray and Sean Maguire, forwards Theodor Blueger, Oskar Sundqvist,Nike Free Run Pink, Matia Marcantuoni and Anton Zlobin and defenceman Clark Seymour.The additions at the blue line further bolster a system stocked with talent, including Joe Morrow, their top pick a year ago. It's the depth inside the system that made Michalek expendable."The younger players we drafted are ready to play and we needed to create some space for them," Shero said.It's been a difficult two months for the Penguins, who were thumped out of the playoffs by the Philadelphia Flyers in the first round of the playoffs. Though the franchise remains stocked with talent, Shero acknowledged a change in direction was necessary.As for what the Penguins do next, he's not sure. The only thing he's certain of is the fact they have options."There's a lot of good teams out there, a lot of good situations," Shero said. "We have to formulate our game plan but we're in a different position than we were a few days ago."___AP Sports Writer Joedy McCreary in Raleigh, N.C., contributed to this report.
NEW YORK, N.Y. - The New York Rangers selected centre Cristoval Nieves in the second round of the NHL draft on Saturday.The 6-foot-3, 184-pound Nieves,Nike Air Max 2013 Blue, taken 59th overall, split time last year with Kent prep school in Connecticut and Indiana of the United States Hockey League. He finished with eight goals and 36 assists in 33 combined games for the two teams.The Rangers picked Swedish defenceman Calle Andersson in the fourth round and right wing Thomas Spelling of Denmark in the fifth round.
PITTSBURGH – Marc Bergevin had just completed his first NHL Draft as general manager of the Montreal Canadiens, and the beaming smile on his face was a dead giveaway for how he felt it had gone.Bergevin and amateur scouting director Trevor Timmins made the most of the Canadiens' six picks in the final six rounds of Saturday's portion of the NHL Draft, grabbing several prospects who were ranked higher than they were ultimately selected and greatly improving the depth of a prospect pool that was beginning to thin out considerably."I'm very excited,Nike Free 5.0 LuckGreen," Bergevin said. "For my first draft, time will tell, but I feel really proud of the guys that we picked today."The Canadiens selected NHL Central Scouting's third-ranked European skater, right wing Sebastian Collberg, at No. 33 and then took defenseman Dalton Thrower, the 26th-rated North American skater,Jordan 13 Black White Yellow, at No. 51. The two became Montreal's first second-round picks since 2008.2012 NHL DRAFTOilers grab Yakupov with No. 1 pickBy Mike G. Morreale - NHL.com Staff WriterWith the first pick in the 2012 NHL Draft, the Edmonton Oilers selected 18-year-old right wing Nail Yakupov, making him the first Russian-born player chosen No. 1 overall since Alex Ovechkin in 2004. READ MORE › Pittsburgh trades Jordan Staal to Hurricanes Run on defenseman, big trades dominate Draft Galchenyuk aims to play in Montreal next season"We added a lot of talent, a lot of scoring upside and we added some toughness, some grit and some physicality as well," said Timmins, who was particularly pleased to grab Collberg. "Only time will tell, but right now we're very happy. It's like Christmas Day -- Santa Claus arrived and now we've opened our gifts. Now it's time to get to work to try and help these players develop further to reach their full potential. That's our job now."The Canadiens' next two picks -- Kamloops Blazers right wing Tim Bozon at No. 64 and Windsor Spitfires center Brady Vail at No. 94 – also were projected to be selected far quicker than they ultimately were; they were ranked No. 42 and No. 38, respectively, on NHL Central Scouting's list of North American skaters. The Canadiens opted for Charles Hud