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A look at past drafts
Written by Ryan Ma   
Tuesday, 10 June 2008

 lecavalier


With the 2008 NHL entry draft just a few weeks away we can look back to the past to see which areas of past NHL entry drafts were typically strong and you’ll be certainly be surprised to see which areas have been shockingly weak.
 

 

Below is a list of players drafted according to draft position since the 1993 NHL entry draft along with some of my picks as to who were the steals of the drafts. 

 

 

1st Overall

93- Alexander Daigle

94- Ed Jovanovski

95- Bryan Berard

96- Chris Philips

97- Joe Thornton

98- Vinny Lecavalier

99- Pat Stefan

00- Rick DiPietro

01- Ilya Kovalchuk

02- Rick Nash

03- M.A. Fleury

04- Alex Ovechkin

05- Sidney Crosby

06- Erik Johnson

07- Patrick Kane

2nd Overall

93- Chris Pronger

94- Oleg Tverdovsky

95- Wade Redden

96- Andrei Zyuzin

97- Patrick Marleau

98- David Legwand

99- Daniel Sedin

00- Dany Heatley

01- Jason Spezza

02- Kari Lehtonen

03- Eric Staal

04- Evgeni Malkin

05- Bobby Ryan

06- Jordan Staal

07- James VanRiemsdyk

3rd Overall

93- Chris Gratton

94- Radek Bonk

95- Aki Berg

96- J.P. Dumont

97- Olli Jokinen

98- Brad Stuart

99- Henrik Sedin

00- Marian Gaborik

01- Alexander Svitov

02- Jay Bouwmeester

03- Nathan Horton

04- Cam Barker

05-Jack Johnson

06- Jon Toews

07- Kyle Turris

4th Overall

93- Paul Kariya

94- Jason Bonsignore

95- Chad Kilger

96- Alexandre Volchkov

97- Roberto Luongo

98- Bryan Allen

99- Pavel Brendl

00- Rostislav Klesla

01- Stephen Weiss

02- Joni Pitkanen

03- Nik Zherdev

04- Andrew Ladd

05- Benoit Pouliot

06- Nik Backstrom

07- Thomas Hickey

5th Overall

93- Rob Niedermayer

94- Jeff O’Niell

95- Daymond Langkow

96- Richard Jackman

97- Eric Brewer

98- Vitali Visnevsky

99- Tim Connolly

00- Raffi Torres

01- Mikko Koivu

02- Ryan Whitney

03- Thomas Vanek

04- Blake Wheeler

05- Carey Price

06- Phil Kessel

07- Karl Alzner

6th Overall

93- Viktor Kozlov

94- Ryan Smyth

95- Steve Kelly

96- Boyd Devereaux

97- Daniel Tkaczuk

98- Rico Fata

99- Brian Finley

00- Scott Hartnell

01- Mike Komisarek

02- Scott Upshall

03- Milan Michalek

04- Al Montoya

05- Gilbert Brule

06- Derrick Brassard

07- Sam Gagner

7th Overall

93- Jason Arnott

94- Jamie Storr

95- Shane Doan

96- Erik Rasmussen

97- Paul Mara

98- Manny Malholtra

99- Krish Beech

00- Lars Jonsson

01- Pascal Leclaire

02- Joffrey Lupul

03-Ryan Suter

04- Rotislav Olesz

05- Jack Skille

06- Kyle Okposo

07- Jakub Voracek

8th Overall

93- Niklas Sundstrom

94- Jason Wiemer

95- Terry Ryan

96- Johnathan Aitken

97- Sergei Samsonov

98- Mark Bell

99- Taylor Pyatt

00- Nikita Alexeev

01- Tuomo Ruutu

02- P.M. Bouchard

03- Braydon Coburn

04- Alex Picard

05- Devin Setoguchi

06- Peter Mueller

07-Zach Hamill

9th Overall

93- Todd Harvey

94- Brett Lindros

95- Kyle McLaren

96- Ruslan Salei

97- Nick Boynton

98- Michael Rupp

99- Jamie Lundmark

00- Brent Krahn

01- Dan Blackburn

02- Petr Taticek

03- Dion Phaneuf

04- Ladi Smid

05- Brian Lee

06- James Sheppard

07- Logan Couture

10th Overall

93- Jocelyn Thibault

94- Nolan Baumgartner

95- Radek Dvorak

96- Lance Ward

97- Brad Ference

98- Nik Antropov

99- Branislav Mezei

00- Mikhail Yakubov

01- Freddie Sjostrom

02- Eric Nystrom

03- Andrei Kostitsyn

04- Boris Valabik

05- Luc Bourdon

06- Michael Frolik

07- Keaton Ellerby

11th Overall

93- Brendan Witt

94- Jeff Frisen

95- Jarome Iginla

96- Dan Focht

97- Jason Ward

98- Jeff Heerema

99- Oleg Saprykin

00- Pavel Vorobiev

01- Dan Hamhuis

02- Keith Ballard

03- Jeff Carter

04- Lauri Tukonen

05- Anze Kopitar

06- Jon Bernier

07- Brandon Suter

12th Overall

93- Kenny Jonsson

94- Wade Belak

95- Teemu Rihijarvi

96- Josh Holden

97- Marian Hossa

98- Alex Tanguay

99- Denis Shvidki

00- Alexi Smirnov

01- Dan Hamhuis

02- Steve Eminger

03-Hugh Jessiman

04- A.J. Thelen

05- Marc Staal

06- Bryan Little

07- Ryan McDonagh

13th Overall

93- Denis Pederson

94- Matthias Ohlund

95- J.S. Giguere

96- Derek Morris

97- Daniel Cleary

98- Michael Henrich

99- Jani Rita

00- Ron Hainsey

01- Ales Hemsky

02- Alex Semin

03- Dustin Brown

04- Drew Stafford

05- Marek Zagrapan

06- Jiri Tlusty

07- Lars Eller

14th Overall

93- Adam Deadmarsh

94- Ethan Moreau

95- Jay McKee

96- Marty Reasoner

97- Michel Riesen

98-Patrick DesRochers

99- Jeff Jillson

00- Vaclav Nedorost

01- Chuck Kobasew

02- Chris Higgins

03- Brent Seabrook

04- Devan Dubnyk

05- Sasha Pokulok

06- Michael Grabner

07- Keven Shattenkirk

15th Overall

93- Mats Lindgren

94-Alexander Kharlamov

95- Jeff Ware

96- Danius Zubrus

97- Matt Zultek

98- Mathieu Chouinard

99- Scott Keiman

00- Artem Kryukov

01- Igor Knyazev

02- Jeese Ninimaki

03- Robert Nilsson

04- Alex Radulov

05- Ryan O’Marra

06- Riku Helenius

07-Alex Plante

16th Overall

93- Nick Stajduhar

94- Eric Fichaud

95- Martin Biron

96- Mario Larocque

97- Ty Jones

98- Eric Chouinard

99- Dave Tanabe

00- Marcel Hossa

01- R.J. Umberger

02- Jakub Klepis

03- Steve Bernier

04- Pettero Nokelainen

05- Alex Bourret

06- Ty Wishart

07- Colton Gillies

17th Overall

93- Jason Allison

94- Wayne Primeau

95- Brad Church

96- Jaroslav Svejkovsky

97- Robert Dome

98- Martin Skoula

99- Barret Jackman

00- Alex Miknov

01- Carlo Colaiacovo

02- Boyd Gordon

03- Zach Parise

04- Marek Schwarz

05- Martin Hanzal

06- Trevor Lewis

07- Alex Cherepanov

18th Overall

93- Jesper Mattsson

94- Brad Brown

95- Petr Sykora

96- Matt Higgins

97- Michael Holmqvist

98- Dmitri Kalinin

99- Konstantin Koltsov

00- Brooks Orpik

01- Jens Karlsson

02- Denis Greshkov

03- Eric Fehr

04- Kyle Chipchura

05- Ryan Parent

06-Chris Stewart

07- Ian Cole

19th Overall

93- Landon Wilson

94- Chris Dingman

95- Dmitri Nabokov

96- Matthieu Descoteaux

97- Stefan Cherneski

98- Robyn Regehr

99- Kirill Safronov

00- Krys Kolanos

01- Shaone Morrison

02- Jakub Koreis

03- Ryan Getzlaf

04- Kauri Korpikoski

05- Jakub Kindl

06- Mark Mitera

07- Logan MacMilan

20th Overall

93- Mike Wilson

94- Jason Botterill

95- Denis Gauthier

96- Marcus Nilson

97- Mike Brown

98- Scott Parker

99- Darrett Heisten

00- Alex Frolov

01- Marcel Goc

02-Daniel Paille

03- Brent Burns

04- Travis Zajac

05- Kendal McArdle

06- David Fischer

07- Angelo Esposito

21st Overall

93- Saku Koivu

94- Evgeni Ryabchikov

95- Sean Brown

96- Marco Sturm

97- Mika Noronen

98- Mathieu Biron

99- Nick Boynton

00- Anton Volchenkov

01- Colby Armstrong

02- Anton Babchuk

03- Mark Stuart

04- Wojtek Wolski

05- Tuuka Rask

06- Bob Sanguinetti

07- Riley Nash

22nd Overall

93- Anders Eriksson

94- Jeff Kealty

95- Brian Boucher

96- Jeff Brown

97- Nikos Tselios

98- Simon Gagne

99- Maxime Ouellet

00- David Hale

01- Jiri Novotny

02- Sean Bergenheim

03- M.A. Pouliot

04- Lukas Kaspar

05- Matt Lashoff

06-Claude Giroux

07- Max Pacioretty

23rd Overall

93- Todd Bertuzzi

94- Yan Golubovsky

95- Miika Elomo

96- Craig Hillier

97- Scott Hannan

98- Milan Kraft

99- Steve McCarthy

00- Nathan Smith

01- Time Gleason

02- Ben Eager

03- Ryan Kesler

04- Andrej Meszaros

05- Nicklas Bergfors

06- Seme Varlamov

07- Jon Blum

24th Overall

93- Eric Lecompte

94- Chris Wells

95- Alexei Morozov

96- Daniel Briere

97- J.F. Damphous

98- Christian Backman

99- Luca Cereda

00- Brad Boyes

01- Lukas Krajicek

02- Alex Steen

03- Mike Richards

04- Kris Chucko

05- T.J. Oshie

06- Dennis Persson

07- Mikael Backlund

25th Overall

93- Kevyn Adams

94- Vadim Sharifijanov

95- Marc Denis

96- Peter Ratchuk

97- Brenden Morrow

98- Jiri Fischer

99- Mikhail Kuleshov

00- Steve Ott

01- Alex Perezhogin

02- Cam Ward

03- Anthony Stewart

04- Rob Schremp

05- Andrew Cogliano

06- Patrik Berglund

07- Patrick White

26th Overall

93- Stefan Bergvist

94- Dan Cloutier

95- Maxim Kuznetsov

96- Jesse Wallin

97- Kevin Grimes

98- Mike Van Ryn

99- Martin Havlat

00- Brian Sutherby

01- Jason Bacashihua

02- Martin Vagner

03- Brian Boyle

04- Cory Schneider

05- Mett Pelech

06- Leyland Irving

07- David Perron

27th Overall

98- Scott Gomez

99- Ari Ahonen

00- Martin Samuelsson

01- Jeff Woywitka

02- Mike Morris

03- Jeff Tambellini

04- Jeff Schultz

05- Joe Finley

06- Ivan Vishnevsky

07- Brendan Smith

28th Overall

99- Kristian Kudroc

00- Justin Williams

01- Adrian Foster

02- Jonas Johansson

03- Corey Perry

04- Mark Fistric

05- Matt Niskanen

06- Nick Foligno

07- Nick Petricki

 

29th Overall

00- Niklas Kronwall

01-   Adam Munro

02-   Hannu Toivonen

03-   Patrick Eaves

04-   Mike Green

05-   Steve Downie

06-   Chris Summers

07-   Jim O’Brien

 

30th Overall

00-    Jeff Taffe

01-    Dave Steckel

02-    Jim Slater

03-    Shawn Belle

04-    Andy Rogers

05-    Vladimir Mihalik

06-    Matthew Corrente

07-  Nick Ross

 

 

 Would you be surprised if I threw out the idea that in terms of points per game a player that is drafted 26 spots after the number one pick actually has a point-per-game average that equates to the point-per-game average of a second overall pick? Look at the table below for the average point-per-game totals from each draft position since the 1993 NHL Entry Draft.

 

 

Draft Pick

Avg Point Per Game Played

1

0.709884

2

0.644033

3

0.576059

4

0.386314

5

0.474198

6

0.480193

7

0.395262

8

0.449716

9

0.28442

10

0.267413

11

0.586944

12

0.555513

13

0.4799

14

0.31746

15

0.523674

16

0.321294

17

0.311801

18

0.383814

19

0.262687

20

0.313375

21

0.343442

22

0.464349

23

0.278398

24

0.579375

25

0.404186

26

0.426446

27

0.630363

28

0.549296

29

0.408425

30

0.453933

 

 

 

As you can see it’s fairly across the board in terms of point-per-game production at each draft position.  Only major outliers are position 4, 9, 10, 19 and 23.
 
Of course those numbers are too good to be true and a little skewed. The average 27th pick in NHL entry drafts averages nearly 300 less games played than the average 2nd overall pick. If you take a look at the data below, from the 6th overall pick to the 14th overall pick there isn’t a large discrepancy between them for the total number of games played. The 17th, 18th, 20th and 21st picked players usually have a similar career path as many 6th to 14th pick players. The 15th, 16th and 22nd drafted players tend to have a very short career NHL span, so we definitely wish good luck to the Preds, Bruins, and the Oilers with their picks this Entry draft. Hopefully the Isles will make good use of their 5th overall pick this draft and find themselves a good complement to their young budding superstar Kyle Okposo.

 

 

Draft Pick

Total Career NHL Games Played

Total Career NHL Points Scored

 1

5322

3778

2

5346

3443

3

5029

2897

4

2762

1067

5

4612

2187

6

3105

1491

7

3757

1485

8

2993

1346

9

3312

942

10

2412

645

11

3462

2032

12

2585

1436

13

3209

1540

14

2835

900

15

1056

553

16

1329

427

17

2415

753

18

2496

958

19

1675

440

20

2572

806

21

2737

940

22

1122

521

23

1972

549

24

2337

1354

25

1529

618

26

1210

516

27

909

573

28

852

468

29

546

223

30

445

202

 

 

 

No surprises here, the first overall player that is taken usually has the most productive career in terms of point production with second and third lagging not too far behind. What’s interesting is the 4th overall players have struggled mightily during their NHL careers and their point totals are very similar to those that were drafted in the early-mid teens. So we wish the St. Louis Blues the best of luck in their pick this entry draft, but with the plethora of talented defensemen this draft, it’s safe to say that those totals probably won’t be swayed too much after this draft. The 11th, 12th and 13th overall picks have shown decent career NHL production, considering they have similar totals to players who were drafted six spots ahead of them during the drafts. The Blackhawks, Ducks (via the Oilers) and the Sabres have history on their side with their picks this entry draft and should probably come out with a decent mid round pick. The biggest surprise definitely goes to the 24th pick. As a whole, they have produced as much points overall as the 8th overall picks since 1993. We definitely wish good luck to the Wild with the nice 24th pick in this season’s NHL entry draft, but the Wild have a history of developing their young talent slowly and by the time this 24th pick is NHL ready, Gabby might be long gone.

Prior to the draft we’ll take a look at a team-by-team analysis of which team has had the best first-round drafting outcome and which teams have had the worst.

 

Any comments as to why the 24th pick have ended up with decent NHL careers or any explanations as to why the fourth overall pick has struggled so mightily during theirs? Comment on them here . You can also venture a guess as to who you think has had the best first round drafting and who has had the worst.
 

 

 

 
Last Updated ( Tuesday, 17 June 2008 ) (0 comments)
 
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