We Three Kings!

Pittsburgh, PA -  The Edmonton Oil Kings are proud to announce three players were chosen at the 2012 NHL Entry Draft in Pittsburgh including a team record two players selected in the opening round.  West Vancouver, B.C. native Griffin Reinhart becomes the highest ever draft pick for the Oil Kings after being picked 4^th overall by the New York Islanders.     Henrik Samuelsson jumped up from his mid-season Central Scouting ranking of 75^th all the way to 27^th overall.   The Phoenix Coyotes chose him with their first pick of the draft connecting him back to the city where he grew up while his dad was coaching with the Coyotes.

The Edmonton Oilers continued their streak of selecting Edmonton Oil Kings at the draft using their second pick (32^nd overall) to select Oil Kings forward Mitchell Moroz.  The Calgary, AB native is a power forward listed at 6 foot 1 and 208 pounds.    Moroz just finished his first full season of major junior hockey after being called up for a total of 8 games with the Oil Kings over the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons.    His breakout campaign in his draft eligible season included 16 goals, 9 assists for 25 points in 66 games played.   He added another 4 goals and 4 assists in the Oil Kings remarkable Championship playoff off run this spring.

The Oilers previous Edmonton Oil Kings connections include Cameron Abney (3^rd Round, 2009), Kristians Pelss (7^th Round, 2010), Travis Ewanyk (3^rd Round, 2011), Martin Gernat (5^th Round, 2011) and Mitchell Moroz (2^nd Round, 2012).

The three players chosen in the draft is just one shy of the Oil Kings franchise record set in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.   With the expected graduation of Captain Mark Pysyk (Buffalo, 1^st Round, 2010) and Pelss to the pro ranks, the Oil Kings will now have a total of 8 NHL drafted players on their 2012-13 roster with the possibility of adding another with the upcoming CHL Import draft Wednesday June 27^th.