The 2012 NHL Entry Draft will begin tonight in the CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh. The entire first round will begin at 7 PM EST and run approximately three hours for all 30 selections. Television coverage of the first round will begin on the NBC Sports Network and then switch to CNBC or the NHL Network at 9 PM EST for the third hour of coverage. You can also follow the draft online at NHL.com; this post goes into detail of all of the coverage available for this draft weekend. The New Jersey Devils have the 29th overall pick, so they'll likely make their pick on CNBC.
This post is an open discussion for everything that happens today. The second day of the draft will begin tomorrow at 10 AM and we'll have a separate open discussion post for rounds two through seven. This is the place to talk about the trade already made today (e.g. Sergei Bobrovsky to Columbus for a second and two fourth round picks), how excited you are that the 2013 NHL Draft will be at the Rock, and what picks and deals are made this evening. Feel free to make your case as to who you want the Devils to draft and who they should avoid. Of course, please point out who just made a good/bad pick as well as which commentator (coughPierreMcguirecough) is freaking out too much about a certain prospect if any.
Please follow the rules at all times (keep it clean, keep it legal, keep it relevant, and let's not post stupid fly-by-night rumors either) and talk about the first round in the comments. Thanks for reading.