So I'm going to Re-draft only the first overall picks over the last 20 years of drafting with all of the insight that he have of how the players careers are going and have turned out. My picks will be taken for straight up value, not what the team was looking for at the time. To Conclude my into I will be explaining why i make the choices i make ONLY when i disagree with a pick. if I agree I'm not going to bother explaining why
1998:
Original pick was Vincent Lecavalier
My Pick is Pavel Datsyuk
Although Vincent Lecavalier is the leader in points for the entire draft class and was a fantastic player for many many years I've gotta say that the 171st overall STEAL has to be the best pick in the draft year. the Red Wings absolutely stealing a franchise player late in the draft. Datsyuk was almost a point per game through his career with 918 points in 953 games only 29 points behind Levavalier in 259 games. and I almost everyone hates using +/- as a stat to show how good a player is but COME ON +249 in his career that's unreal and I wouldn't bring that stat up if i didn't recognize how good Datsyuk was defensively as well. Long story short Vinny was good but Pavel was better
1999:
Original pick was Patrik Stefan
My Pick is Henrik Zetterberg
The 1999 draft was a weaker draft for sure but again im going to say hats off to Detroit for another crazy steal. honestly the top 3 in this draft for me would be him then the Sedins and if you gave it to the Sedins I would understand why. all 3 players were superb and for Patrik Stefan... that was a "Wiff" of a pick, similar to his "Wiff" am I right? Henrik Zetterberg having a better PPG average then either Sedin and scoring more goals then Henrik in about 350 less games for me its a clear winner and stand out more to me because he was picked 210th, even though I said im picking out of pure value I would still chose Zetterberg. Smart, fast and a good shot he was deadly during his prime. truely great player
2000:
Original pick was Rick DiPietro
My Pick is Dany Heatley
It was a tough pick between Heater or Gaborik but I had to chose Heatley, Kronwall/Visnovsky is also up there for me as they are the highest point per game defenders and very solid defenders for a long time but they were nowhere close to Heater or Gaborik. Heatley was absolutely DYNAMITE for a long time one of the best goal scorers drafted in the 2000s being the second highest goal scoring player with 130ish less games played the Gaborik. Being a 50 goal scorer twice,
2001:
Original pick was Ilya Kovalchuk
My Pick is Ilya Kovalchuck
I hate picking him because he ditched the NHL for a while but he was the best player
2002:
Original pick was Rick Nash
My Pick is Duncan Keith
Controversial but i'm going to have to stick to my guns, Nash was really solid but Keith was one of if not the best defender all around from 2007-2017 over these years he racked up serious hardware , 5 and he led the Chicago BlackHawks through their unbelievable run and is a 2 time 60 point scoring defender. Keith wasnt just good he was the best(arguably).
2003:
Original pick was Marc-Andre Fleury
My Pick is Brent Burns
This one I feel hardcore flame coming for me not choosing Getzlaf but hear me out. Burns started his career as a forward and never really caught traction until he was moved to defense. Burns was a late bloomer and his stats are unbelievable from defense since 2014-2015 he hasn't registered under 60 points a season. he is probably one of the best all around defenders. nobody can play the defensive and offensive game that he can from the point.
2004:
Original pick was Alex Ovechkin
My Pick is Obechkin
DUH
2005:
Original pick was Sidney Crosby
My Pick is Crosby
DUH
2006:
Original pick was Erik Johnson
My Pick is Giroux
This was probably my toughest pick yet, because how can you chose between Backstrom, Kessel, Giroux, Toews and Marchand i honestly believe that Giroux has been the best player in that group. Backstrom had Ovi for his whole career so thats a help to his high career totals,not to take anything away from him cuz he is a great player. Toews had an amazing team around him, Kessel not so much but now he is on Pittsburgh putting up crazy numbers, he is just not as 2 dimensional as Giroux is. and marchand was more of a late bloomer but again benefits from a great team. And I dont like him at all. Giroux really stepped up in 2010-2011 leading his team as a 22 year old with a declining Briere second in scoring. since then Giroux has been the face or Philly
2007:
Original pick was Patrick Kane
My Pick is Patrick Kane
DUH
2008:
Original pick was Steven Stamkos
My Pick is Steven Stamkos
But Erik Karlsson is very close, very very close
2009:
Original pick was John Tavares
My Pick is John Tavares
But Victoir Hedman is very close
2010:
Original pick was Taylor Hall
My Pick is Tyler Seguin
Hall is very good and arguably better then Seguin but I find Seguin although having an off year (kind of) has been a more consistent 2 way player who is defensively sound and offensively sound. Hall was the carry of NJD and off of a hart trophy win but seguin season in and season out has been awesome and will continue to do so for many years. close one but it goes to Seguin in my Opinion
2011:
Original pick was Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
My Pick is Nikita Kucherov
an awesome steal from TBL picking him 58th overall. Kucherov has shown to be one of the most dynamic players in the league and without a doubt top 5 if not top 3 for me. hes Fast, dummy silky hands a great shot and awesome hockey IQ he is on a crazy pace at the moment playing on a stacked TBL lineup but I think its him being great not the team being great. other players thrive off of playing with him, not the other way around.
2012:
Original pick was Nail Yakupov
My Pick is Morgan Rielly
Maybe a bit of a rushed pick as Rielly is just exploding this year truely showing how gifted offensively he is, still young and has his mistakes but he is truly a skilled defender who has great hockey IQ. Filip Forsberg is a close second but its gotta be Rielly
2013:
Original pick was Nathan MacKinnon
My Pick is Nathan MacKinnon
Barkov and Monahan are close but Mack is unreal
2014:
Original pick was Aaron Ekblad
My Pick is Braden Point
Rash pick? maybe. But this year Point has exploded and shown to be a highly skilled player. he is currently second on the team with points, playing first line minutes with Kucherov. now my second pick would be Pasternak because he is also unreal. This is the best way i can explain it, Point has a higher ceiling then Pasternak but I think its less likely for him to hit his ceiling then for Pasternak to hit his. Point is doing great and this is a crazy good breakout season for him but im unsure if he will continue producing like this for his career where as Pasternak I think for sure will be an elite goal scorer for years to come
2015:
Original pick was Connor McDavid
My Pick is Connor McDavid
DUH (but this draft class is unreal and has tons of great players)
2016:
Original pick was Auston Matthews
My Pick is Auston Matthews
close one for him and Laine but as it stand now I believe Matthews>Laine
2017:
Original pick was Nico Hischier
My Pick is Elias Petterson
Petterson has shown this year that he is an elite scorer and is no joke, 2 injuries this year has held him back, but with 44 points in 39 games in his rookie season Petterson has a hopefully long career putting up tons of points for the Nucks
2018:
Original pick was Rasmus Dahlin
My Pick is Rasmus Dahlin
good draft class so far tho
Thats it, my last 20 years of first overall picks! hope you enjoyed and agree with most of my picks, if you disagree tell me why in the replys and if you wanna follow my twitter is @AmatureAnalyist THANKS!
P.S yes I know my explanations shrunk the father up we got, cant say as much about the newer players and im a hockey history buff so i love writing about older hockey. also i put this is main boards cuz it isnt really a Mock draft and im not sure where else to put this. if mods think it should be somewhere else please move it, thanks!
