Best player at every NHL Draft pick: #33-64
The 2024 NHL Draft is just around the corner, and while a lot of the build-up to the event is looking toward the future and imaging the careers to come from the players selected, I thought it’d also be fun to take a look back at the best players to come out of the draft – or better yet, the best player taken with each selection.
Thanks to Hockey DB, we have the ability to look at all the players selected at each draft slot, so figured I’d try and identify the best player taken with each pick. Over the next seven days, we’re going to cover Rounds 1-7 and picks 1 all the way to 224. That means we’re following the current format; the Draft used to be longer, with as many as 293 players picked across nine rounds as recently as 2000.
Today, it’s Round 2, which still boasts a class of legendary talent that was slept on by most teams in the early-going of the draft.
As a disclaimer: “Round 2” means picks 33-64. So you’ll find some “second-rounders” here who were third-rounders in their actual draft years.
33. John LeClair
Also Considered: Ryan O’Reilly, John Tonelli
Ryan O’Reilly was one of the top defensive forwards in the league during his peak, taking home the Selke Trophy and Conn Smythe in the same year. But LeClair has a strong case as one of the Hockey Hall of Fame’s biggest snubs. He ranked among the most dominant power forwards of the 1990s, and his numbers are especially great when adjusted for era. Paul Pidutti of Adjusted Hockey makes a compelling case for LeClair here.
34. Doug Weight
Also Considered: No one
This one wasn’t even a contest. Weight has 1,033 points in 1,238 games, and no one else in his class has 300 points or 750 games. His 104 point season alone is more than a third of the points produced over the career of the next closest scorer at this pick, Steve Leach.
35. Sebastian Aho
Also Considered: Matt Cullen, Jamie Langenbrunner, Marc-Edouard Vlasic
There is a bit of projection here, but the likes of Cullen and Langenbrunner were more consistently reliable players than elite, and Vlasic’s fall off made it an easy decision to go with Sebastian Aho. He’s already peaked higher than anyone else at #35, so if he can just sustain the level of play he’s had in his career thus far, this is an easy pick.
36. Geoff Sanderson
Also Considered: Tomas Sandstrom, Jeff Brown, Thatcher Demko
Brown actually has the 11th-highest points per game mark from a defenseman with at least 700 games, but he achieved that in a peak offensive climate. Sanderson, meanwhile, managed 355 goals and 700 points despite spending half his career in Dead Puck conditions, also making it to a pair of All-Star Games.
37. Mats Naslund
Also Considered: No one
Naslund was another player who didn’t get into a ton of games, but when he did, was very productive. In 651 games, he had 634 points, topped off with a 110-point season in 1985-86, the year he also won the Cup. He also won a Lady Byng Trophy in 1987-88, so he at least had some individual hardware to be recognized by.
38. Roman Josi
Also Considered: Eric Desjardins
Desjardins put up similar totals to Roman Josi in his career, but that also came in almost 300 more games. Josi is the most productive player from this draft, and that comes as a defenseman, and he still has more to give in his career. He’s also won a Norris Trophy in 2019-20, and has been a finalist for two more in recent seasons.
39. Charlie Simmer
Also Considered: Jason Robertson, Alex DeBrincat, John Gibson
Robertson and DeBrincat have plenty of potential to be the top player in this slot by the end of their careers, and Gibson at his peak was one of the best goalies in the league, but with 711 points in 712 games, including multiple 100-point seasons and two first-team All-Star nods, Simmer takes this spot for the time being.
40. Chris Chelios
Also Considered: No one
I didn’t even need to think about this one. With 948 points in 1,651 games, three Norrises and three Cups across 25 seasons with the Canadiens, Blackhawks and Red Wings (and seven games with the Thrashers), he’s considered one of the best defensemen in NHL history. He also finished with the 10th-most points as a defenseman, and the ninth-most games played all-time.
41. Dale Hunter
Also Considered: No one
As the only player selected at #41 with more than 1,000 games and 1,000 points, Hunter was the obvious choice here. It also helps that his draft class includes only two goalies (Kevin Weekes and Ondrej Pavelec), one other player with 600+ points, six with only 100+ points, and 10 with only 50+ points.
42. Neal Broten
Also Considered: Mike McEwen
McEwen got some consideration for his comparable production in fewer games and as a defenseman, along with his three Cups, but Broten had more longevity in the league, had more than 900 points, and at least had one Cup to go with it.
43. P.K. Subban
Also Considered: Pat Verbeek
Subban’s final few seasons nearly swung this in Verbeek’s favor considering the now-Ducks general manager had more longevity and a Cup. But since Verbeek also saw his career tail off near the end, I had to go with Subban considering that he was one of the best at his position for six or seven seasons, even winning a Norris in 2012-13.
44. Guy Carboneau
Also Considered: Jose Theodore
This was a close fight, especially with Theodore’s Hart and Vezina Trophy in 2001-02, but despite the fact that Carboneau wasn’t an overly productive player, he has three Selke Trophies, three Cups and a plaque in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
45. Patrice Bergeron
Also Considered: No one
Do I even need to explain this one? On top of the fact that Bergeron was quite productive throughout most of his career, he also redefined the meaning of a two-way forward, and was rewarded as such with six Selkes.
46. Robin Lehner
Also Considered: Mark Osborne
This was certainly one of the weaker pool of players to choose from, as the highest-scoring player in Osborne had just 531 points. But I’m sure a lot of teams would take a starting goalie like Robin Lehner, who was one of the better goalies in the league when on his stride, and was better than given credit for in his Sabres years too.
47. Tyler Toffoli
Also Considered: Yanic Perreault
I’ll give the benefit of the doubt to Tyler Toffoli here, as he’s just 50 points behind Perreault with seemingly plenty of years left in his career to surpass that mark. Plus, he’s got a Cup to his name.
48. Mark Messier
Also Considered: No one
It’s not often you draft a player that goes on to finish third all-time in points and games played and win six Cups, two Harts and a Conn Smythe in what was the third round when Messier was drafted in 1979. He’s most hockey fans’ go-to example of a clutch player or a strong leader, so it’s incredible that the Oilers got him this late.
49. Shea Weber
Also Considered: Mike Cammalleri
Shea Weber’s reputation in the league had quite the roller coaster during his 1,038 games in the league, going from being considered as one of the best defensemen in the league to being overrated to finishing it out as a strong defensive defenseman. He never won a Norris, but he was a finalist three times, including the runner-up twice, and he’s a two-time first-team All-Star.
50. Milan Lucic
Also Considered: I really tried to find someone else
I would have loved to not have Milan Lucic here considering his exit from the league this past season, but there really wasn’t a lot to work with at #50. He was the prototypical power forward in his prime that every team wanted to have, and he has a Cup for his efforts.
51. Patrick Roy
Also Considered: Patrik Elias, Butch Goring
Elias and Goring were “also considered” in the sense that I was debating between the two of them until I scrolled down to the goalies and saw Roy. With four Cups, three Vezinas, three Conn Smythes, third all-time in regular season wins and first in playoff wins, Roy’s resume had a lot on it. There’s a reason why he’s always in the conversation for best goalie of all time.
52. Corey Crawford
Also Considered: Bob Murray
Murray had his moments, but I’m going to go with Crawford on this one. Often considered a product of the early 2010s Blackhawks’ success, he oddly got better as those teams got worse, or perhaps he just had to stand on his head more. And with two Cups, he also wins the team success portion against his fellow Chicago alumnus.
53. Nicklas Lidstrom
Also Considered: No one
There’s been some easy choices among the second-round draft slots, but this might be the easiest one. With the next closest player being William Karlsson, Lidstrom blows the #53 picks out of the water with the career he’s had. With four Cups, a Conn Smythe, seven Norrises and the sixth-most points and games played among defensemen, Lidstrom is considered one of the best defensemen of all time for a reason.
54. Duncan Keith
Also Considered: Chris Osgood
Osgood had his fair share of success, but that could also be attributed to the talented Red Wings teams he was a part of. On the other hand, prime Keith was a driver of that success for those early 2010s Blackhawks teams, with a couple of 60-point seasons, two Norrises and a Conn Smythe on route to their three Cup wins.
55. Jason Pominville
Also Considered: Dmitry Orlov, Brandon Montour
Pominville was never one of the best players at his position, or even a standout, but he managed to have a solid career for himself, especially during his time with Thomas Vanek in Buffalo. While I almost went with Orlov for his underrated defensive game, I settled on Pominville.
56. Zdeno Chara
Also Considered: Mike Vernon, Kevin Dineen
Vernon put up a fight, especially since he’s currently in the Hall of Fame, but let’s be realistic, Chara will be a first ballot candidate once he’s eligible. On top of a Norris and a Cup in his trophy cabinet, he was also one of the best defensive defensemen in the league during his prime, and even in his later years he was still better than most players.
57. Jyrki Lumme
Also Considered: Troy Murray, Matt Stajan
I considered Murray for his 99-point season and his Selke Trophy or Stajan for being the only player to hit 1,000 games in the #57 slot. But, I eventually went with Lumme for being more consistent in his production and putting up similar career totals to Murray despite being on the blueline.
58. Nikita Kucherov
Also Considered: No one
Another one that wasn’t even a contest, the Lightning got arguably the best player in their franchise’s history with a late-second round pick. Nikita Kucherov is tied for 12th all-time in points per game (minimum of 500 games played), has two Cups, two scoring titles and a Hart, and may even have another Hart in a week.
59. Billy Smith
Also Considered: No one
Smith may have been a Los Angeles draft pick, but it was with the Islanders where he put together an excellent career in net. On top of backstopping them to four straight Cups, he also had a Vezina in 1981-82 and a Conn Smythe in 1982-83.
60. Ray Sheppard
Also Considered: Tom Fergus, Tomas Tatar
Sheppard, Fergus and Tatar all produced at similar rates throughout their career, and with nothing in their trophy cases at the NHL level, I went with Sheppard for his 52-goal, 93 point season in 1993-94.
61. Wayne Simmonds
Also Considered: Alex Goligoski, Jason Woolley
Goligoski and Woolley were considered for producing similar numbers to Simmonds, but it’s Simmonds’ prime years as one of the league’s best power forwards that won me over, considering that neither defenseman ever had a similarly consistent peak.
62. Kris Letang
Also Considered: No one
While pick #62 has produced some players with lengthy careers like Kris Draper or David Backes, no one did it quite like Kris Letang. He’s never been good enough in one season to win a Norris, but he’s been consistently strong enough to be the excellent point man for Sidney Crosby, and I’m sure he won’t complain about the lack of personal hardware with three Cups.
63. David Krejci
Also Considered: No one
In a draft slot with no true elite talent, Krejci was as close as you can get to it. He was the perfect complement to Bergeron for the Bruins’ top six centers for the better part of 15 years, and on top of a couple of 70-point seasons, he was also quite productive during the Bruins’ Cup Final runs in 2011 and 2013, leading both playoff seasons in scoring, and getting the Cup in 2011.
64. Kent Nilsson
Also Considered: Brad Richards
Due to spending a good chunk of his career in Europe, Nilsson only got into 553 games at the NHL level, but he certainly made the most of it. He finished his career with 686 points in that brief span, with only one season with at least 40 games played in his career where he was below a point per game. As a result, he’s currently tied for 10th all-time in points per game among players with at least 500 games played.
More entries in the Best Player by Draft Pick series
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