With the two-day 2020 National Hockey League Draft getting underway tonight (October 6) at 6 P.M. CT and will be held virtually, the umdbulldogs.com staff couldn't think of a better time to pass along the following related nuggets:

• A total of 113 Bulldogs have been chosen in the NHL Draft over the years -- the first was center Murray Keogan in 1970 (second round; 23rd overall by the St. Louis Blues) and the latest being current sophomore forward Quinn Olson (3rd round, 92nd overall by Boston in 2019).

• The Minnesota North Stars/Dallas Stars have drafted more Bulldogs (11) than any other NHL franchise followed by the New York Rangers (8), Philadelphia Flyers (8), Montreal Canadiens (7), Atlanta/Calgary Flames (6), Chicago Blackhawks (6), Los Angeles Kings (6) New York Islanders (6) and St. Louis Blues (6). At the other end of the spectrum, the Vegas Golden Knights have not drafted a Bulldog in either of their first two NHL seasons while the Detroit Red Wings, Edmonton Oilers, Florida Panthers, Nashville Predators, San Jose Sharks and Atlanta/Winnipeg Jets have each chosen just one UMD player in their respective histories. 

• The Bulldogs have produced four first-round picks in Riley Tufte (25th by Dallas in 2016), Dylan Olsen (28th overall by Chicago in 2009) , Matt Niskanen (28th overall by Dallas in 2005) and Larry Wright (8th overall by Philadelphia in 1971) and eight second-rounders -- Keogan, Perunovich, Dennis Vaske (New York Islanders in 1986), Rusty Fitzgerald (Pittsburgh Penguins in 1990), Michael Gergen (Pittsburgh in 2005), Mason Raymond (Vancouver Canucks in 2005), Justin Faulk (Carolina Hurricanes in 2010) and defenseman Dylan Samberg (WInnipeg Jets in 2017).

• Since 1970, at least one Bulldog has been selected in every NHL Draft except seven -- 1973, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2002, 2014 and 2015. The biggest UMD harvest came in 1983 with nine draftees while 1990 (eight) was next.

• Olson, junior forward Cole Koepke (6th round, 183rd overall by Tampa Bay in 2018), sophomore forward Luke Loheit (7th round, 194th overall by Ottawa in 2018), senior forward Nick Swaney (7th round, 209th overall by Minnesota in 2017), junior forward Noah Cates (fifth round; 137th overall by Philadelphia in 2017) and transfer senior defenseman Matt Cairns (3rd round, 84th overall by Edmonton in 2016) are the six 2020-21 Bulldogs to be drafted thus far.

• Dave "Moose" Langevin (New York Islanders-1974/Edmonton Oilers-1974) and John Rothstein (Chicago Blackhawks-1976/Minnesota Fighting Saints-1974) are the lone two Bulldogs to be chosen in both the NHL and World Hockey Association drafts. The now-defunct WHA held an amateur draft between 1973 and 1977.