Wild has found success in all areas of the draft

ST. PAUL -- The Minnesota Wild is currently armed with eight selections in the 2018 NHL Draft, which takes place this weekend in Dallas.
Minnesota holds the 24th pick in the first round, which occurs Friday evening with seven selections following during the draft's conclusion on Saturday.
In addition to its first-round pick, Minnesota has three picks in the third round and two in the fifth to go along with single selections in the sixth and seventh rounds. Minnesota does not hold picks in the second or fourth rounds.

General Manager Paul Fenton will be taking the lead on his first draft as GM of the club. Senior VP of hockey operations Brent Flahr will continue to play a major role in selections as well.
The Wild has had varying degrees of success in the draft during its history. Below is a look at some of the best players Minnesota has selected in each of the seven rounds in its 18-year draft history:

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1st Round

Mikko Koivu -- 2001 (6th pick)
The Wild hit the jackpot in each of its first two drafts, taking Marian Gaborik with the third pick in 2000 before selecting Koivu sixth overall the following year.
Gaborik has had a fantastic NHL career, scoring 407 goals and 815 points while playing in more than 1,000 games, including 502 with Minnesota between 2000 and 2009.
But Koivu gets the nod as the Wild's best first rounder ever based on the fact he's played each one of his 925 career games with Minnesota and is the club's all-time leader in games played, assists, points, shots on goal, overtime goals and plus/minus, among others.
He's also the first full-time captain in Wild history, an honor he's carried since October of 2009.
Honorable mention:Gaborik, Brent Burns (2003), Mikael Granlund (2010), Jonas Brodin (2011), Matt Dumba (2012)
RELATED: Complete Wild coverage of the 2018 NHL Draft is available at [wild.com/draftcentral.]

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2nd Round

Nick Schultz -- 2000 (33rd pick)
The first second-round pick in franchise history, Schultz broke into the NHL for the first time as a 19-year-old in 2001.
A star in the Western Hockey League, the expansion Wild built a strong foundation by selecting Gaborik in the first round of its first draft and taking Schultz 30 picks later, giving Minnesota both a forward and a defenseman that would go on to play in more than 1,000 NHL games.
Schultz was never a big point producer, but he was a steady, beloved defensive defenseman who skated in 743 games with the Wild before he was traded to Edmonton in 2014. At the time, Schultz held the franchise record for games played in a Wild uniform.
After leaving Minnesota, Schultz played 128 games for the Oilers, 189 with the Philadelphia Flyers and nine more with the Columbus Blue Jackets before retiring following the 2016-17 season, having skated in 1,069 career games. He's one of five players from the 2000 Entry Draft to reach 1,000 NHL games.
Honorable mention: Jason Zucker (2010), Marco Scandella (2008), Josh Harding (2002)

3rd Round

Cal Clutterbuck -- 2006 (72nd pick)
A 35-goal scorer in the Ontario Hockey League, Clutterbuck has never been a big-time goal scorer in the NHL. But he was a very solid player for the Wild during six seasons here and was one of the most popular players on the team for his willingness to put his body on the line every night.
Clutterbuck debuted in Minnesota during the 2007-08 season but became a regular the following year, routinely leading the league in hits over the next five seasons.
His best offensive season came in 2010-11, when he scored 19 goals and had 34 points, numbers that still rank among his career best.
Clutterbuck was traded to the New York Islanders in 2013, where he has continued to be among the most willing hitters in the game.
In 714 NHL games, Clutterbuck has scored 109 goals and 206 points, but his biggest impact -- literally and figuratively -- has come away from the scoresheet.
Honorable mention:Stephane Veilleux (2001), Clayton Stoner (2004)

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4th Round

Ryan Jones -- 2004 (111th pick)
The fourth round has been tough sledding traditionally for the Wild, with perhaps its best pick in the round ironically being someone who never suited up in a game for the NHL club.
Plucked out of Miami University, Jones played in four games with the Wild's AHL affiliate in Houston before being dealt to the Nashville Predators in 2008. Jones would play in 46 games with the Predators that season, scoring seven goals and 17 points.
His best years came with Edmonton in 2010-11 (18 goals) and 2011-12 (17 goals, 33 points) before he eventually transitioned to Europe, where he's played the past four seasons in Germany.
Jones played in 334 NHL games, scoring 54 goals and 100 points.
Honorable mention: Justin Falk (2007)

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5th Round

Nick Seeler -- 2011 (131st pick)
Seeler has played in just 22 regular season games in the NHL but it looks like he's got the talent and ability to stick.
Making his debut with the Wild last season, Seeler assisted on four goals but brought a grittiness and physical aspect to his game Minnesota has lacked on the back end.
When Ryan Suter missed the final few games of the regular season and the team's entire playoff series against Winnipeg, Seeler elevated in the lineup and looked the part.
Once a longshot to even make the NHL, Seeler looks like someone the Wild can build around moving forward.
Honorable mention: Kirill Kaprizov (2015), Carson Soucy (2013)

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6th Round

Darcy Kuemper -- 2009 (161st pick)
A stud with the Red Deer Rebels during his final season in the Western Hockey League in 2010-11, Kuemper made his NHL debut just two seasons later, posting a 2.08 goals-against average in six games during his first cup of coffee in the League.
At the very least, it showed the Wild it had a young goaltender to keep around in the future.
Kuemper served as the primary backup the following four seasons with perhaps his most impactful season coming in 2013-14, when he played in 26 games during the regular season and six more in the playoffs. He started five games during the Wild's first-round series with the Avalanche, posting a .913 save percentage and 2.03 goals-against average in those games before sustaining an injury late in Game 7. Minnesota eventually won that game on an overtime goal by Nino Niederreiter.
Kuemper played in 102 games (starting 89 of them) over five seasons with Minnesota before signing with the Los Angeles Kings as a free agent last summer. He was traded to the Arizona Coyotes during the season, where he signed a two-year contract extension last February.
Honorable mention: Matt Foy (2002), Christoph Bertschy (2012)

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7th Round

Erik Haula -- 2009 (182nd pick)
A star at the University of Minnesota and at Shattuck-St. Mary's before that, Haula was no stranger to fans in the State of Hockey when he debuted with the Wild during the 2013-14 season.
Haula got better each season he was with the Wild, scoring six goals as a rookie that year and seven more in 72 games the season after that before cracking double digits for the first time with 14 goals in 2015-16 to go with a plus-21.
Haula posted 15 goals and 26 points in his final season with Minnesota in 2016-17 before being selected by the Vegas Golden Knights in the NHL Expansion Draft last summer. He went on to score 29 goals and 55 points in 76 games during Vegas' inaugural season.
Honorable mention: Derek Boogaard (2001), Anton Khudobin (2004), Tyler Graovac (2011)
Related:
- Fenton, Flahr prepare for new GM's first draft with Wild - Where Wild selects in 2018 NHL Draft - A look at past No. 24 overall picks - How 2017 Wild draft picks fared last season