Round 1 of the 2012 NHL Draft continues at Consol Energy Center, and the Penguins and their trade of Jordan Staal highlighted the first half of the 1st Round. The Staal trade instantly ignited the Pittsburgh crowd just after the Minnesota Wild made the No. 7 overall pick. The Pens acquired the No. 8 pick in the trade and used it on defenseman Derrick Pouliot.
The Pens selection of Pouliot was part a of a run on defenseman in the 1st Round, as seven straight blue-liners were selected from picks four through 11. Surprisingly, Filip Forsberg, who was rated as one of the top five prospects in the draft, fell all the way to the Washington Capitals at No. 11. The first sixteen picks so far at Consol:
| 1 | Nail Yakupov | RW | Edmonton Oilers | Sarnia |
| 2 | Ryan Murray | D | Columbus Blue Jackets | Everett |
| 3 | Alex Galchenyuk | C | Montreal Canadiens | Sarnia |
| 4 | Griffin Reinhart | D | New York Islanders | Edmonton |
| 5 | Morgan Rielly | D | Toronto Maple Leafs | Moose Jaw |
| 6 | Hampus Lindholm | D | Anaheim Ducks | Rogle Jr. |
| 7 | Mathew Dumba | D | Minnesota Wild | Red Deer |
| 8 | Derrick Pouliot | D | Pittsburgh Penguins | Portland |
| 9 | Jacob Trouba | D | Winnipeg Jets | U.S. national team development |
| 10 | Slater Koekkoek | D | Tampa Bay Lightning | Peterborough |
| 11 | Filip Forsberg | C | Washington Capitals | Leksand |
| 12 | Mikhail Grigorenko | C | Buffalo Sabres | Quebec |
| 13 | Radek Faksa | C | Dallas Stars | Kitchener |
| 14 | Zemgus Girgensons | C | Buffalo Sabres | Dubuque |
| 15 | Cody Ceci | D | Ottawa Senators | Ottawa |
| 16 | Thomas Wilson | RW | Washington Capitals | Plymouth |
In a cool gesture, with the No. 17 pick, the Chicago Blackhawks sent Pittsburgh native Brandon Saad to the podium to announce their selection of Teuvo Teravainen. Saad received a nice ovation from the hometown crowd.
For more on the NHL Draft, check out SB Nation's NHL hub page.