From Minnesota Hockey:

The 2016 National Hockey League Draft, which concluded Saturday, June 25th, featured the selection of 11 Minnesota natives, including two taken in the first round. In total, a record setting 12 American-born players were selected in the first round of the Draft, held in Buffalo, New York.

Arizona native Auston Matthews started the Draft off on a high note for the U.S. as he was taken with the first overall pick by the Toronto Maple Leafs. Two more U.S. National Team Development Program (NTDP) alums, Matthew Tkachuk (Scottsdale, Ariz.) and Clayton Keller (Chesterfield, Mo.), were taken in the top 10 picks.

With the 19th pick, the New York Islanders made Kieffer Bellows (Edina, Minn.) the first Minnesotan selected. Bellows will join a long list of State of Hockey natives in the Isles’ organization, including fellow Edina High School alumni Anders Lee. Before moving onto the United States Hockey League (USHL) and NTDP, Bellows won state titles at the Peewee, Bantam and high school levels with his hometown Edina Hornets.

Blaine High School star, and 2016 Mr. Hockey, Riley Tufte (Blaine, Minn.) was drafted 25th overall in the first round by the Dallas Stars. Tufte scored 47 goals and had 31 assists in 25 games during his senior year at Blaine. He added 10 goals and 14 points while playing pre- and post-season with the Fargo Force of the United States Hockey League. The last time two Minnesotans were taken in the first round of the NHL Draft was in 2010 when Tufte’s role model from Blaine, Nick Bjugstad, was selected along with Brock Nelson and Derek Forbort.

To see a complete list of the Minnesotans taken in the 2016 NHL Draft, go to minnesotahockey.org.

From Wild.com:

The Minnesota Wild selected four players during the 2016 NHL Entry Draft Friday and Saturday in Buffalo, N.Y., including three players during rounds 2-7 on Saturday. Minnesota finished the Draft having selected three forwards and a defenseman, including two Americans, one player from Russia and one from Canada. 

Minnesota selected center Luke Kunin (pronounced KUHN-in), 15th overall, during the Draft’s first round Friday night. The 18-year-old (born 12/4/97), totaled 32 points (19-13=32) and 34 penalty minutes (PIM) in 34 games during his first season at the University of Wisconsin in 2015-16, leading the club in goals and shots, and ranking second in points.

The native of Chesterfield, Mo., was the second-youngest player in the NCAA in 2015-16, but tied for third in goals amongst all freshman skaters and became the first Badger to be named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team. The 6-foot, 193-pound forward totaled 33 points (18-15=33) and 28 PIM in 52 games as captain of the U.S. National Team Development Program’s Under-18 Team in 2014-15. Kunin registered 38 points (20-18=38) and 39 PIM in 52 games with the U.S. NTDP’s Under-17 Team in 2013-14. He captained Team USA to a gold medal at the 2015 Under-18 World Championship, scoring six goals in seven games, and helped the U.S. claim gold at the 2014 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.

For more on the Wild’s other draft selections, check wild.com.

Check https://www.nhl.com/ for complete coverage of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.