Was Fleury worth the 1st overall selection?

[zar]

It would take a lot for me to ever consider drafting a goalie 1OA. The guy would have to have god like numbers and an amazing attitude.

 

[Marshy71]

From memory, the pens at that point had holes everywhere - made as much sense in that situation to start the rebuild from the net out.

Winning the cup justified the pick - cant ask for more than that!

 

[Sol]

Short answer: No
Long answer: Big ass nope

 

[lidstromiscool]

Not even close, the Penguins got so lucky with their lottery picks after him. When you screw up a 1st overall selection like they did, it should set your franchise back a few years. They got incredibly fortunate to get Malkin and Crosby. Its also hilarious they managed to piss away another top 3 pick in staal.

 

[Scott Stevens]

3 cups. 100% worth it.

 

[glovesave_35]

I'm not a fan of drafting goalies really high in the draft, but I would say Fleury is/was a successful pick. His particular draft was just absolutely loaded so it's really easy to second guess. He never really had a string of dominant seasons but he has been a part of skme really successful teams.

 

[Scott Stevens]

I'm not a fan of drafting goalies really high in the draft, but I would say Fleury is/was a successful pick. His particular draft was just absolutely loaded so it's really easy to second guess. He never really had a string of dominant seasons but he has been a part of skme really successful teams.

The people here will shout from rooftops “Matt Murray”

I bet my collection of pennyloafers that Matt Murray isn’t nearly as comfy and confident playing for pens without a universally celebrated wonderful fella fleury propping him up.

 

[FissionFire]

No goalie is ever worth 1st overall unless you are drafting a kid who is already as good as Hasek in his prime.

 

[jetsforever]

He's not the best player in that draft, but he was a good pick at #1.

 

[bobholly39]

Yes. He was absolutely worth the #1 overall draft selection. For a few reasons:

1. He is arguably the most important player that could have been to the Pens cups/cup runs. Maybe in a vacuum having Patrice Bergeron as #3C in Pitt sounds better - but Pitt needed a goalie, badly. Fleury has one of the best winning records in the history of the NHL. Maybe he never won a hart/lindsay or even a vezina - but he's always been a super consistent regular season goalie, with some terrific playoff runs (I know he had bad ones too). Considering how those Pitt teams were built - this was essential for their playoff success.

2. It makes no sense to compare Fleury to Bergeron, Getzlaf or Weber. None of those guys were up for consideration at #1. The top 5 players selected were Fleury, Staal, Horton, Zherdev and Vanek. Suter at #7. To me Fleury has had a better career than Staal (maybe it's close).

So yes he was a great first overall pick. If a player in the top 5 drafted had significantly outperformed him in their career - that's when you look back and regret/say bad choice. This isn't the case here. It doesn't mean he's the absolute best player from the whole draft though - it just means in hindsight he remains a great 1st overall pick.

 

[end]

I'm not going to say he was "worth" the 1st overall, but if we assume everything that follows after plays out the same (Malkin, Crosby, Staal), then drafting a center with the 2003 1st overall (which they traded up for from 3rd overall) doesn't make too much sense. Because of Fleury, the Pens had a legitimate NHL starter by 06-07, which is a big part of reliably making the playoffs since then.

 

[BHD]

No goalie is ever worth 1st overall unless you are drafting a kid who is already as good as Hasek in his prime.

I understand the argument for not drafting goalies high, but this is completely unrealistic.

 

[ElLeetch]

Lehtonen #2 over too

2001 - Pascal Leclaire#8, Dan Blackburn #10, Jason Bacashihua #26, Adam Munro #29
2000 - had Ricky #1, and Brent Krahn at 9th
1999 - Brian Finley went 6th. Maxime Ouellet was 22nd , Ari Ahonen went 27th.
1998 - DesRochers and Chouinard went back to pack 14th and 15th (4 total NHL GP)
1997 - Luongo #4, Noronen #21, JF Damphousse #24
1996 - Craig Hiller #23

Thats every goalie taken in the 1st round for six years. ONE goalie turned out to be worth it, being Luongo.

Teams got scared off of drafting a G in the 1st.

 

[shello]

He won them 3 cups so I'd say the Pens would take him again

 

[NinjaKick]

absolutely, I'm a believer in building from the net out

 

[Spirit of 67]

Drafting a goalie 1OA is never a good idea.

I would never draft one in the first round, period.

 

[The Garden]

If they didn't take Fleury they would have taken Eric Staal or Horton.

So yes, it was worth it.

 

[orby]

Yes, he's been an above average goalie for close to 15 years. That doesn't happen often. He had some historically bad playoff runs where he almost singlehandedly blew games/series but the opposite is also true - there's no way the Pens would have beaten the Capitals in 2017 without him, for instance.

 

[LeHab]

Goalies take way longer and are much more unpredictable in how they develop. Perhaps 2003 still had fresh Roy, Hasek & Brodeur heroics around. I doubt we will see a goalie going 1OA in the near future.

 

[Pens x]

With the benefit of hindsight, I wouldn’t take him in the top 10 from that draft year.

 

[ScaredStreit]

Sometimes the best players aren't the right players. 3 Cups later and I don't think Pittsburgh mines the pick.

 

[HP00]

For the role he played for the Penguins and no other sure fire alternative in net in Fleury's stead, I would say it was 100% worth it. You can't argue with the result, some people say that the Pens could have won more without Fleury being a detriment but they there is no proof that an alternative would have done any better.

 

[cvrle1]

I think MAF was not worth 1st overall, but as everyone said, it worked out well enough. Had pens actually developed him properly, instead of jerking him around, he would have been on another level. Thing with MAF is that he was always bit of a headcase. His game had massive swings where you just wouldnt believe it is a same goalie. He was urged at one point to see a shrink (which he refused to do for several years) to try and combat this, and other issues. He truly was Jeckyll/Hyde type of goalie for much of his career, and especially in the playoffs.

And to the folks saying how pens were lucky with their draft pics, sure, they did have their luck. But think of this. If they were truly as lucky as most think, they possibly could have had Sid, OV and Toews. (they may not have gotten Sid if they got OV though, so it is all a what if really)

 

[tony d]

No, he's had a wonderful career but the talent in that draft, I'd take Bergeron, Weber, Getzlaf and possibly Suter ahead of Fleury.

 

[Andrei79]

I thought it was an awful pick at the time and still think it was years later.