Who should have gone No.1 in past Drafts

danishh

Registered User
Dec 9, 2006
33,018
53
YOW
im gonna add in some homerism here

93 - daigle is the biggest bust ever (maybe stefan?), but remember he was hyped like crosby that draft year.

94 - Alfredsson is easily better than jovo, elias, smyth, etc.

96 - After watching chris phillips for a long time, i still think he is the best player to come out of that draft. Good defenceman are much more valuable than good forwards, and a defenceman that can make his partners elite (see Chara, Z or Train, A) is definitely worth more than top 20 forwards (briere). The only other player i would consider here is Chara, but look how played before and after his time with phillips...

1999 - this one is a tossup between sedins and havlat. It could be decided in the next couple of years though, depending on weather havlat stays healthy. Either way, havlat at 26 was a steal

2000 - Heatley would probably be tops here, but id say its very close between him and dipietro, considering how much more valuable a star goalie is than a star winger.

2001 - kovalchuk is leading now, but barely. I would be tempted to argue that jason spezza would be a better pick in retrospect now, considering he will be in the top 3 in league assists for a while now. (after crosby and thornton).
 

40oz

..........
Jan 21, 2007
16,953
5
im gonna add in some homerism here

93 - daigle is the biggest bust ever (maybe stefan?), but remember he was hyped like crosby that draft year.

94 - Alfredsson is easily better than jovo, elias, smyth, etc.

96 - After watching chris phillips for a long time, i still think he is the best player to come out of that draft. Good defenceman are much more valuable than good forwards, and a defenceman that can make his partners elite (see Chara, Z or Train, A) is definitely worth more than top 20 forwards (briere). The only other player i would consider here is Chara, but look how played before and after his time with phillips...

1999 - this one is a tossup between sedins and havlat. It could be decided in the next couple of years though, depending on weather havlat stays healthy. Either way, havlat at 26 was a steal

2000 - Heatley would probably be tops here, but id say its very close between him and dipietro, considering how much more valuable a star goalie is than a star winger.

2001 - kovalchuk is leading now, but barely. I would be tempted to argue that jason spezza would be a better pick in retrospect now, considering he will be in the top 3 in league assists for a while now. (after crosby and thornton).

Daigle was also very full of himself. If you remember his famous quote: "I'm glad I got drafted first, because no one remembers number two." (the 2nd pick just so happened to be Chris Pronger)
 

Sens Rule

Registered User
Sep 22, 2005
21,251
73
I would still have taken Bryan Berard at #1 in '95. He was the best player in that draft. Some guys have had better careers, but marring an eye injury I still think Berard would have been one of the top 10 defensemen of all time. He's still a top 2 guy with only one eye.

You think he would have been top 10 ALL-TIME? He played for quite a few seasons before the eye injury and he was not anything like Potvin, Robinson, Coffey, Park, MacInnis, Chelios - there is no chance he was making the HHOF. His highest potential was Gonchar but not quite as good overall if he had a longer career with one eye.

Berard was/is a decent D-Man but I don't think he is/was better than Redden. He has a very good goal scorer for a D-Man.
 

nags

Registered User
Sep 27, 2006
597
40
1981: Chris Chelios, Ron Francis, Al MacInnis and Grant Fuhr all had better careers than Dale Hawerchuk

1992: I'd take Sergei Gonchar easily over Roman Hamrlik

Please tell me your joking. Hawerchuk carried the jets for a decade. The only reason his career isn't considered as one of the best that has ever played is because he ran into Gretzky and company. Had some of the best hands that ever played in the NHL.
 

theduke35

Registered User
Jul 4, 2006
100
0
2000 - Heatley would probably be tops here, but id say its very close between him and dipietro, considering how much more valuable a star goalie is than a star winger.


What!?! Where is the love for Lundqvist in 2000. he was drafted 205th overall. He's alot better than dipietro and could contend with heatley.
 

LogiquePaR4dOcKs

Registered User
Mar 29, 2007
393
0
Helsinki, FIN
1990 - Jagr
1991 - Lindros(he was just so dominant from 1992 to 1999. Forsberg's luck hasn't been much better than Big E's in terms of health and it took Niedermayer until 2003 to reach elite status.)
1992 - Gonchar
1993 - Pronger
1994 - Alfredsson(albeit he was eligible already in 1991)
1995 - Iginla
1996 - Kaberle
1997 - Thornton
1998 - Lecavalier
1999 - Zetterberg
2000 - Heatley

I don't think the drafts from about 2001 on can really be evaluated yet(as in who should have gone first...), barring 2005 and Crosby(no jinx please).
 

Stephen

Moderator
Feb 28, 2002
77,850
51,520
Year No.1 pick....................Should be No.1
2006 Erik Johnson ............. Jonathan Toews?
2005 Sidney Crosby
2004 Alex Ovechkin
2003 M-A Fleury................. Eric Staal
2002 Rick Nash
2001 Ilya Kovalchuk........... Jason Spezza?
2000 Rick DiPietro.............. Dany Heatley
1999 Pavel Stefan.............. Martin Havlat
1998 Vincent Lecavalier
1997 Joe Thornton
1996 Chris Phillips............. Tomas Kaberle
1995 Bryan Berard............. Jarome Iginla
1994 Ed Jovanovski........... Daniel Alfredsson
1993 Alexandre Daigle........ Chris Pronger
1992 Roman Hamrlik
1991 Eric Lindros............... Peter Forsberg
1990 Owen Nolan............... Jaromir Jagr
1989 Mats Sundin.............. Nicklas Lidstrom
1988 Mike Modano
1987 Pierre Turgeon............. Joe Sakic
1986 Joe Murphy ................ Brian Leetch
1985 Wendel Clark............. Joe Nieuwendyk
1984 Mario Lemieux
1983 Brian Lawton.............. Steve Yzerman
1982 Gord Kluzak................ Doug Gilmour
1981 Dale Hawerchuk........... Chris Chelios
1980 Doug Wickenheiser...... Paul Coffey
1979 Rob Ramage............... Ray Bourque
 

barfy2000

Registered User
Jun 23, 2005
1,784
1
Whitby, Ontario
1982 Should be Scott Stevens who was taken 5th.

Stevens is a good choice, as is Andreychuk but you could certainly make a case for Gilmour or Housley. 4 different types of players I guess.

Oh...and for 2002...I'd take Bouwmeester..but really...any one of the top 4 could have a case made for them...Hell even Ryan Whitney can't be counted out yet...He's coming along quite well...
 

PensFan101

Forever Champions.
Apr 23, 2007
2,123
411
Owen Sound
This made m laugh. Gartner is nowhere near Bourque and Messier. Not even in the same stratusphere.

Perfect example of how Gartner is so underrated... 700+ goals and most people don't know who he is. He doesn't have the so called "leadership" of Messier, or the trophies like either of the other two, but in terms of skill, I'd say he was better than Messier, regardless of statistics. Remember, messier also had Wayne in the hayday, so while he was still a fantastic player, a great in his own right, I still think gartner>>> Messier.
 

TheRedressor

Registered User
Oct 3, 2005
3,972
32
If Lundqvist can grab a Vezina or two while adding a Stanley Cup to his resume he will be the # player out of the 2000 draft.
 

Foy

Registered User
Jun 6, 2006
20,876
0
2000 - Heatley would probably be tops here, but id say its very close between him and dipietro, considering how much more valuable a star goalie is than a star winger.


What!?! Where is the love for Lundqvist in 2000. he was drafted 205th overall. He's alot better than dipietro and could contend with heatley.
Lundqvist isn't consistent enough to be as good as Ricky D. Lundqvist is a great goaltender when he's on, but when he's off, he just isn't worth lick. I'd rather have Ricky D on my team if I didn't have to deal with his contract.
 

Foy

Registered User
Jun 6, 2006
20,876
0
This made m laugh. Gartner is nowhere near Bourque and Messier. Not even in the same stratusphere.

That statement just shows how much you don't know about Gartner.
There's a reason all THREE are in the Hall of Fame.
 

sticknrink

Registered User
Aug 17, 2006
7,773
26
London
1989 Bure

Bure - Sakic line OMG

1988 Selanne >> Modano

Meh, if we're looking back in retrospect; the one pick that really haunts Vancouver is in 1990 when we picked Nedved #2 overall and Jagr went #5.

Vancouver had already taken Linden in 1988 and Bure in 1989. Had Jagr went to Vancouver in 1990; Vancouver could very well have won the cup with a line of Bure-Linden-Jagr.

Ahh to dream ...
 

hgo

Registered User
Mar 21, 2004
7,890
0
Manhattan
If Lundqvist can grab a Vezina or two while adding a Stanley Cup to his resume he will be the # player out of the 2000 draft.
DiPietro could do exactly the same, though. We'll have to wait and see.

The argument that could be made is that the Islanders would be doing great with Heatley and Luongo right now. Not to mention Jokinen.
 

ECWHSWI

TOUGHEN UP.
Oct 27, 2006
28,604
5,423
Or you about Gartner...

I mean...the guy was an incredible player...but Gartnet ain't an all time great...

FIFTEEN seasons of 30+ goals... EIGHT seasons of 40+ goals... 708 goals in his career...


Yeah, agreed, far from great... :help:
 

shortcat1

Registered User
Jan 25, 2005
898
2
Downtown Palau, ON
Yeah for sure.
Checked out the Leafs that year, what a brutal draft, 9 players drafted, only one picked 239 Pierre Hedin has played in the NHL and that was only 3 games.

Well... that was WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY better than the Canadiens draft production for that year...

1999
39 R Alexander Buturlin
58 D Matt Carkner
97 D Chris Dyment
107 G Evan Lindsay
136 L Dusty Jamieson
145 R Marc-Andre Thinel
150 D Matt Shasby
167 D Sean Dixon
196 G Vadim Tarasov
225 Mikko Hyytia
253 L Jerome Marois

Total games played in the NHL? - 0 - :cry::cry::cry:
 

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