Less than five hours after the National Hockey League’s entry draft concluded Saturday, the Philadelphia Flyers, in a surprising move, traded former University of New Hampshire standout James van Reimsdyk to the Toronto Maple Leafs for defenseman Luke Schenn.

The two are among the most talented young players in the league.

Van Reimsdyk, 23, was drafted second overall by the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft and chose to forgo his final two years of college eligibility at UNH to sign an entry-level NHL contract starting in the 2009–10 season.

In three years with the Flyers, he has scored 47 goals and 52 assists for 99 points. During the 2010-11 campaign, Van Reimsdyk scored seven playoff goals.

However, injury limited Van Reimsdyk to just 43 games last season.

Schenn was the Maple Leafs fifth overall pick in the 2008 draft and is one of the top defensemen in the league. Since his inaugural season of 2009-10, he has missed just six regular season games.

According to NBCPhiladelphia.com, Schenn is about to begin the second year of a five-year contract worth $18 million. According to capgeek.com, Schenn’s salary cap hit is $3.6 million for this season. By contrast, this coming NHL season will be the first of van Riemsdyk’s 6-year, $25.5 million contract, which comes with a $4.25 million cap hit through the 2017-18 season.

In other draft news, a trio of ice hockey standouts who prepped in the Granite State this past winter were selected in Saturday’s NHL Entry Draft. Among the locals who were selected are Phillips Exeter Academy wingers Brian Hart and Matthew Beattie, and Kimball Union Academy defenseman Doyle Somerby.

Hart, a right winger, was chosen by the Tampa Bay Lightning as the 23rd pick of the second round and 53rd overall, while his teammate, Beattie, was the Vancouver Canucks 26th pick of the seventh round (207th player chosen).

Somerby, who patrolled the blue line at KUA, was selected with the fifth round’s fourth pick and 125th pick overall by the New York Islanders.

Hart is six-feet, two-inches tall and weighs 203 pounds. He was the second leading scorer in New England last season with 65 points. He scored 31 goals and accumulated 34 assists. US Hockey Report named Hart the Player of the Year in New England Prep School Hockey.

Matt Beattie was New England’s leading point producer a year ago, finishing with 73 points on 39 goals and 34 assists. The sharp shooter is 6-3 and weighs 173 pounds.

Both Hart and Beattie were named First Team All New England players.

Somerby has been called an eye-opener by scouts for his defensive prowess. The 6-4, 232-pounder scored three goals and was credited with 20 assists during his two years at KUA.

The Boston Bruins, meanwhile, made OHL goalie Malcolm Subban their first pick in the draft, coming 24th overall in the first round. Boston also took USHL defenseman Matthew Grzelcyk in the third round, OHL youngsters Seth Griffin (C) and Cody Payne (RW) in the fifth round, AJHL player Matthew Benning (D) in the sixth round and USHL left winger Colton Hargrove in the seventh.

The Los Angeles Kings selected left wing Tanner Pearson with their first round pick (30th overall), and followed with fourth round selection Nikolay Prokhornkin (LW), a Russian Jr., fifth round choice Colin Miller (D) of the OHL, sixth round pick Paul Ladue (D) of the USHL and seventh rounder Nick Ebert (D) of the OHL.