NHL Family Relations at 2010 NHL Draft

There was a number of players drafted this weekend that have familial relations with former or current NHLers.

Nick Bjugstad (selected 19th overall by Florida) is the nephew of Scott Bjugstad who played nine NHL seasons spanning 317 games between 1983-84 and 1991-92 with the Minnesota North Stars, Pittsburgh Penguins and Los Angeles Kings.

Jarred Tinordi (selected 22nd overall by Montreal) is the son of Mark Tinordi, who totaled 1,514 penalty minutes in 12 NHL seasons as a defenseman with the New York Rangers, Minnesota North Stars, Dallas Stars and Washington Capitals from 1987-99 -- Jarred wears 24, the same number as his father.

Kevin Hayes’ (selected 24th overall by Chicago) older brother, Jimmy, was selected 60th overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2008. He is also the second cousin of former NHLers Tom Fitzgerald and Keith Tkachuk.

Charlie Coyle (selected 28th overall by San Jose) is the cousin of former NHL players Tony Amonte and also related to Bobby Sheehan. Amonte was drafted 68th overall in 1988 by the New York Rangers and had 900 points in the NHL playing for New York, Chicago, Phoenix, Philadelphia and Calgary (1991-2007). Sheehan was selected by the Montreal Canadiens 32nd overall in the 1969 amateur draft playing 310 NHL games (1969-70 to 1981-82).

Brock Nelson (selected 30th overall by New York Islanders) is the nephew of Dave Christian who was a member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic gold medal-winning team and enjoyed an NHL career that spanned over 1000 games and totaled 773 points. His grandfather, Billy Christian, and great uncle, Roger Christian, played on Team USA’s 1960 gold-medal winning men's hockey team. Gordon Christian, also his great uncle, played hockey for the University of North Dakota (1947-1950) and was a member of the U.S. Olympic team that won silver in 1956.

In later rounds we also saw the following bloodlines:

• Tyler Pitlick - Edmonton. Nephew of former NHL defenseman Lance Pitlick.
• Dalton Smith - Columbus. Son of former NHLer Derrick Smith
• Christian Thomas - NY Rangers. Son of former NHLer Steve Thomas
• Brock Beukeboom - Tampa Bay. Son of former NHL Jeff Beukeboom
• Max Reinhart - Calgary. Son of former Calgary Flames standout Paul Reinhart
• John Ramage - Calgary. Son of former Calgary Flame Rob Ramage 
• Luke Walker - Colorado. Son of former NHLer Gordie Walker

Also of note, Tom Kuehnhackl was drafted by Pittsburgh. He is the son of German hockey legend Erich Kuehnhackl.

Here's something else of interest - the country breakdown of the 210 players drafted:

Canada             99
United States       59
Sweden               20
Russia                8
Finland               7
Czech Republic       5
Germany               5
Slovakia              2
Switzerland           2
Denmark               1
Latvia                1
Norway                1
TOTAL              210