This is my seventh 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 2001 draft with the best picks possible:
Pick - Team - Players - Actual Draft Position (Round/Pick)
Round 1
1) :ATL-NHL: - Ilya Kovalchuk* (1/1)
2) :OTT: - Jason Spezza* (1/2)
3) :TBL: - Ales Hemsky* (1/13)
4) :FLO: - Jason Pominville* (2/55)
5) :ANA: - Derek Roy* (2/32)
6) :MIN-NHL: - Mike Cammalleri* (2/49)
7) :MON-NHL: - Stephen Weiss* (1/4)
8) :CLS: - Patrick Sharp* (3/95)
9) :CHI-NHL: - Tomas Plekanec* (3/71)
10) :NYR: - Mikko Koivu* (1/6)
11) :PHO: - Jussi Jokinen* (6/192)
12) :NAS: - R.J. Umberger* (1/16)
13) :EDM: - Marek Zidlicky* (6/176)
14) :CLG: - Tuomo Ruutu* (1/9)
15) :CAR-NHL: - Brooks Laich* (6/193)
16) :VAN: - Ryan Clowe* (6/175)
17) :TOR-NHL: - Christian Ehrhoff* (4/106)
18) :LA: - Cristobal Huet (7/214)
19) :BOS-NHL: - Martin Gerber (8/232)
20) :SJ: - Dan Humhuis* (1/12)
21) :PIT-NHL: - Kyle Wellwood* (5/134)
22) :BUF-NHL: - Ray Emery* (4/99)
23) :OTT: - Peter Budaj* (2/63)
24) :FLO: - Mike Smith* (5/161)
25) :MON-NHL: - Colby Armstrong* (1/21)
26) :DAL-NHL: - Chuck Kobasew* (1/14)
27) :PHI-NHL: - Kevin Bieksa* (5/151)
28) :NJD: - Fedor Tyutin* (2/40)
29) :CHI-NHL: - Jay McClement* (2/57)
30) :LA: - Marek Svatos (7/227)
Round 2
1) :PHO: - Dennis Seidenberg* (6/172)
2) :BUF-NHL: - Petr Cajanek (8/253)
3) :NAS: - Carlo Colaiacovo* (1/17)
4) :FLO: - Marcel Goc* (1/20)
5) :ANA: - P.A. Parenteau* (9/264)
6) :MIN-NHL: - Jordin Tootoo* (4/98)
7) :MON-NHL: - David Moss (7/220)
8) :CLS: - Pascal Leclaire (1/8)
9) :TOR-NHL: - Tim Gleason* (1/23)
10) :NYR: - Johnny Oduya* (7/221)
11) :CLG: - Fredrik Sjostrom (1/11)
12) :NAS: - Stephane Veillieux* (3/93)
13) :EDM: - Pasi Nurminen (6/189)
14) :NJD: - Jussi Markkanen (5/133)
15) :PHO: - Chris Thorburn* (2/50)
16) :CAR-NHL: - Milan Jurcina* (8/241)
17) :TBL: - Mike Komisarek* (1/7)
18) :NJD: - Shaone Morrisonn (1/19)
19) :LA: - Christoph Schubert (4/127)
20) :BUF-NHL: - David Steckel* (1/30)
21) :LA: - Lukas Krajicek (1/24)
22) :EDM: - Brandon Bochenski (7/223)
23) :CLS: - Aaron Johnson* (3/85)
24) :PIT-NHL: - Stanislav Chistov (1/5)
25) :BUF-NHL: - Tomas Surovy (4/120)
26) :CLG: - Tim Jackman* (2/38)
27) :STL-NHL: - Jeff Woywitka* (1/27)
28) :WAS-NHL: - Cody McCormick* (5/144)
29) :CHI-NHL: - Andrew Alberts* (6/179)
30) :NJD: - Jiri Novotny (1/22)
31) :TBL: - Evgeny Artyukhin (3/94)
32) :DET-NHL: - Nathan Paetsch (2/58)
33) :COL-NHL: - Jay Harrison* (3/82)
* denotes still active in the NHL
The first two picks remained the same with Kovalchuk and Spezza going 1 and 2. Goalies for the most part are mostly career back-ups except the surprise starter in Mike Smith going to :FLO:. The draft's top 10-17 picks are all decent current NHLers and the draft as a whole was overall a good draft class with Jay Harrison, who just emerged as an NHL defensemen this season, being the last pick.