The NHL draft will kick off at 7 p.m. ET Friday night.
The NHL draft will kick off at 7 p.m. ET Friday night. newspaper.li

The NHL Draft kicks off at 7 p.m. ET from the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Penn.

The Edmonton Oilers have the first pick and they are expected to select Russian prospect Nial Yakupov who played junior hockey with the Sarnia Sting. His teammate with the Sting, Alex Galchenyuk, could be selected second.

The Columbus Blue Jackets have the second pick and they are rumored to be shopping the pick among several NHL teams, and even if they keep the pick there is a wide divergence of opinions about who the next best player in the draft is.

The Blue Jackets are also looking for a suitor for Rick Nash, and some observers believe he will be dealt at the draft.

The first round happens Friday night with rounds two through seven taking place on Saturday.

Where to Watch: The draft will be broadcast on the NBC Sports Network starting at 7 p.m. on Friday night. On Saturday the draft coverage switches to the NHL Network with coverage beginning at 10 a.m. ET.

There is live stream available from Canadian broadcaster TSN on their website.

Projected top 10:

1. Edmonton Oilers - Nial Yakupov, RW

2. Columbus Blue Jackets - Filip Forsberg, LW

3. Montreal Canadiens - Ryan Murray, D

4. New York Islanders - Matthew Dumba, D

5. Toronto Maple Leafs - Mikhail Grigorenko, C

6. Anaheim Ducks - Alex Galchenyuk, C

7. Minnesota Wild - Morgan Rielly, D

8. Carolina Hurricanes - Jacob Trouba, D

9. Winnipeg Jets - Teuvo Teravainen, LW

10. Tampa Bay Lightning - Radek Faksa, C

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