2011 NHL Entry Draft: DUB-Style

The 2011 National Hockey League Entry Draft was held at the Xcel Energy Centre in St. Paul, Minnesota. With the first overall pick, the Edmonton Oilers selected forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.

At DUBNetwork, we’ll supply one of these features from now until Christmas Day, culminating with the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.

Here’s a look at the Western Hockey League players chosen in the first round, along with a few statistics.

2011 NHL Entry Draft – Round 1
				NHL
OVERALL	PLAYER	WHL	NHL	GAMES	GOALS	ASSISTS
1	Ryan Nugent-Hopkins*	Red Deer	Edmonton	570	153	247
11	Duncan Siemens	Saskatoon	Colorado	20	1	1
13	Sven Baertschi*	Portland	Calgary	291	66	72
18	Mark McNeill	Prince Albert	Chicago	2	0	0
23	Joe Morrow	Portland	Pittsburgh	162	9	23
NOTABLE
46	Joel Edmundson*	Moose Jaw	St. Louis	303	16	45
67	Adam Lowry*	Swift Current	Winnipeg	391	57	63

Active*

When the Oilers looked a mere 90 miles south of Edmonton to nab Nugent-Hopkins from the Red Deer Rebels, it marked the first time a WHL player had been selected number 1 overall since 1996. That year, the Ottawa Senators made defenceman Chris Phillips of the Prince Albert Raiders the top pick.

Nugent-Hopkins had finished his second full WHL season tied for third in league scoring with 106 points – in his NHL draft year. He appeared in nine playoff games that season, which proved to be his final year of junior hockey.

The Burnaby, British Columbia, native appeared in 62 games for the Oilers as a rookie and has been a mainstay for nine seasons. The challenges experienced by the Oilers organization during the past decade have been well-documented. All told, Nugent-Hopkins has appeared in only 16 playoff games, all of which came during an exciting run during the 2016-17 post-season.

Sven Baertschi, from Switzerland, played in the WHL as an import. A prolific scorer in junior hockey, he has struggled to establish consistency in an NHL career approaching the 300-game plateau.

After a successful WHL career that spanned four seasons and 284 games, Joe Morrow has bounced around the pro ranks. Most recently, he is toiling in the KHL.

Defenceman Duncan Siemens and forward Mark McNeill have had little impact in the NHL.

Of note at the 2011 NHL Entry Draft is defenceman Joel Edmundson, a second-round pick by the St. Louis Blues. The burly rearguard is the owner of a Stanley Cup ring, a member of the championship team last season.

Adam Lowry will soon hit the 400-games played mark as a member of the Winnipeg Jets, while his father Dave leads the charge in Brandon as head coach of the Wheat Kings.

2011 NHL Entry Draft: Rounds 2-7
					NHL
Round	Overall	Player	WHL	NHL	Games	Goals	Assists
2	31	David Musil	Vancouver	Edmonton	4	0	2
	32	Ty Rattie	Portland	St. Louis	98	13	17
	46	Joel Edmundson*	Moose Jaw	St. Louis	305	16	45
	57	Tyler Wotherspoon	Portland	Calgary	30	0	5
3	67	Adam Lowry*	Swift Current	Winnipeg	393	57	64
	73	Keegan Lowe	Edmonton	Carolina	4	0	0
	74	Travis Ewanyk	Edmonton	Edmonton
	84	Harrison Ruopp	Prince Albert	Phoenix
4	106	Michael St. Croix	Edmonton	New York Rangers
	107	Colin Jacobs	Seattle	Buffalo
	111	Kale Kessy	Medicine Hat	Phoenix
	115	Marek Tvrdon	Vancouver	Detroit
	118	Marcel Nobels	Seattle	Philadelphia
5	125	John Persson	Red Deer	New York Islanders	10	1	0
	127	Brenden Kichton	Spokane	New York Islanders
	134	Shane McColgan	Kelowna	New York Rangers
	138	Darren Dietz	Saskatoon	Montreal	13	1	4
	141	Darian Dzuirzynski	Saskatoon	Phoenix
	144	Dominik Uher	Spokane	Pittsburgh	2	0	0
6	156	Darren Kramer	Spokane	Ottawa
	159	Reece Scarlett	Swift Current	New Jersey
	164	Laurent Brossoit*	Edmonton	Calgary	59	24-22-4	2.85
	165	Matej Stransky	Saskatoon	Dallas
	167	Nathan Lieuwen	Kootenay	Buffalo	7	1-4-0	2.98
	175	Richard Nedomlel	Swift Current	Detroit
7	186	Jordan Fansoo	Brandon	Ottawa
	193	Brody Sutter	Lethbridge	Carolina	12	0	0