Hey guys. This is my ninth segment of "Who They Should Have Drafted". I go back and look at the past NHL entry drafts and go through and re-draft the 1st two rounds based on statistics only.
So here we go, this is the 1st two rounds of the 2003 draft with the best picks possible:
Pick - Team - Players - Actual Draft Position (Round/Pick)
Round 1
1) :PIT-NHL: - Eric Staal* (1/2)
2) :CAR-NHL: - Ryan Getzlaf* (1/19)
3) :FLO: - Marc-Andre Fleury* (1/1)
4) :CLS: - Corey Perry* (1/28)
5) :BUF-NHL: - Zach Parise* (1/17)
6) :SJ: - Patrice Bergeron* (2/45)
7) :NAS: - Mike Richards* (1/24)
8) :WIN: - Nathan Horton* (1/3)
9) :CLG: - Jeff Carter* (1/11)
10) :MON-NHL: - Dustin Brown* (1/13)
11) :PHI-NHL: - Milan Michalek* (1/6)
12) :NYR: - Ryan Kesler* (1/23)
13) :LA: - Loui Eriksson* (2/33)
14) :CHI-NHL: - Dion Phaneuf* (1/9)
15) :NYI: - Joe Pavelski* (7/205)
16) :SJ: - Lee Stempniak* (5/148)
17) :NJD: - David Backas* (2/62)
18) :WAS-NHL: - Shea Weber* (2/49)
19) :ANA: - Nikolai Zherdev (1/4)
20) :MIN-NHL: - Ryan Suter* (1/7)
21) :BOS-NHL: - Brent Seabrook* (1/14)
22) :EDM: - Jimmy Howard* (2/64)
23) :VAN: - Andrei Kostitsyn* (1/10)
24) :PHI-NHL: - Brent Burns* (1/20)
25) :FLO: - Jaroslav Halak* (9/271)
26) :LA: - Dustin Byfuglien* (8/245)
27) :LA: - Tobais Enstrom (8/239)
28) :ANA: - Matt Carle* (2/47)
29) :OTT: - Clarke MacArthur* (3/74)
30) :STL-NHL: - Matt Moulson* (9/263)
Round 2
1) :CAR-NHL: - Kyle Brodziak* (7/214)
2) :PIT-NHL: - Brian Elliott* (9/291)
3) :DAL-NHL: - Steve Bernier* (1/16)
4) :TBL: - Patrick O'Sullivan (2/56)
5) :NAS: - Braydon Coburn* (1/8)
6) :DAL-NHL: - Patrick Eaves* (1/29)
7) :NAS: - Corey Crawford* (2/52)
8) :FLO: - Robert Nilsson (1/15)
9) :CLG: - David Jones* (9/288)
10) :MON-NHL: - Maxim Lapierre* (2/61)
11) :TBL: - Brad Richardson* (5/163)
12) :NJD: - Eric Fehr* (1/18)
13) :SJ: - Jan Hedja* (4/106)
14) :LA: - Kyle Quincey* (4/132)
15) :BOS-NHL: - Daniel Carcillo* (3/73)
16) :CLS: - Shane O'Brien* (8/250)
17) :SJ: - Nigel Dawes (5/149)
18) :NYI: - Bruno Gervais* (6/182)
19) :NAS: - Brian Boyle* (1/26)
20) :NYR: - Drew Miller* (6/186)
21) :EDM: - Dan Fritsche (2/46)
22) :CHI-NHL: - John Mitchell* (5/158)
23) :NYI: - Anthony Stewart* (1/25)
24) :DAL-NHL: - Alexandre Picard* (3/85)
25) :FLO: - Kevin Klein* (2/37)
26) :MIN-NHL: - Jeff Tambellini (1/27)
27) :TOR-NHL: - Kamil Kreps (2/38)
28) :NYI: - Marc-Antoine Pouliot* (1/22)
29) :CHI-NHL: - B.J. Crombeen* (2/54)
30) :VAN: - Mark Stuart* (1/21)
31) :MON-NHL: - Nate Thompson* (6/183)
32) :STL-NHL: - Marc Methot* (6/168)
33) :COL-NHL: - Colin Fraser* (3/69)
34) :DET-NHL: - Ryan Potulny (3/87)
35) :BUF-NHL: - Nathan Paetsch (7/202)
36) :BOS-NHL: - Zach Stortini* (3/94)
37) :OTT: - Tanner Glass* (9/265)
38) :EDM: - Ryan O'Bryne* (3/79)
* denotes still active in the NHL
This may go down as one of the greatest draft classes ever. So many players from this class have went on to be great NHL players. This class has 8 players that have served as captains in their careers. The :NYI: continue to shape their team into a first year Stanley Cup contender adding Pavelski, Gervais, and Stewart. Any team that picked in the top 20 got a good return on their pick with the exceptions of pick #19 and, in my opinion, pick #16.
Be on the look out for the next blog, there are only 8 more blogs remaining with 2010 & 2011 being short blogs with not much statistics available.