Best player at every NHL Draft pick: #65-96
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 imagining 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 3, which still has its fair share of talented options but also starts to see the pool thin out at some picks.
As a disclaimer: “Round 3” means picks 65-96. So you’ll find some “third-rounders” here who were fourth-rounders (and maybe even fifth-rounders) in their actual draft years.
65. Kirk Maltby
Also Considered: Mikko Makela, Adam Pelech
The first pick of the third round is quite the wake-up call from the first two installments of this series. No goalie played more than six games, and the highest-scoring player in Makela had just 265 points. I almost went with him for the damage he did in only 423 games, but Maltby managed to get 1,000 games in the NHL and won four Stanley Cups with the Red Wings.
66. Adam Fox
Also Considered: John Ogrodnick
Ogrodnick’s production over 928 games, highlighted by his 55-goal, 105-point season in 1984-85, made this interesting. But in just five seasons, Adam Fox has established himself as one of the best defensemen in the NHL right now, and he managed to get a Norris Trophy in just his second season.
67. Mark Recchi
Also Considered: No one
With only one other player at pick #67 having played more than 1,000 games, and no one else having more than 500 points, Recchi and his 1,533 points easily takes the top spot here. With three Cups, a few 100-point seasons and a 50-goal season, it’s easy to see why he lasted as long as he did in the league.
68. Tony Amonte
Also Considered: No one
Fun fact: only 26 players drafted at #68 have played a game in the NHL, with 28 never playing a game. We’re reaching that territory already folks. Anyways, as the only player with at least 1,000 games or even 250 points, never mind the 900 he finished with, Amonte is the easy choice here.
69. Jari Kurri
Also Considered: Glenn Anderson
The Oilers sure made a couple of nice picks here! It’s funny to see how the only two players to hit 1,000 points at #69 were drafted in back-to-back years by the same team, but both players played big roles in the Oilers’ dynasty. That said, I have to go with Kurri here, due to the extra 300 points to his name, as well as a Lady Byng Trophy.
70. Rob Blake
Also Considered: No one
While Gilles Meloche playing almost 800 games as a goalie is impressive, Blake had a significantly more successful career than one else at #70. Along with a Cup and a Norris, he finished with an impressive 777 points in 1,270 games.
71. Brad Marchand
Also Considered: No one
As you may have noticed in yesterday’s second round article, the 2011 Bruins Cup win benefited a lot from the home runs they got out of the second and third round. Patrice Bergeron, Milan Lucic and David Krejci in the second round and Brad Marchand in the third round played a big role in that Cup win, but it wasn’t until 2016 when Marchand took that next step into the elite category in the NHL and made him the easy pick at #71.
72. Jonathan Quick
Also Considered: Chris Drury, John Vanbiesbrouck
Vanbiesbrouck would have probably gotten this if not for his documented history of using a racial slur, but Jonathan Quick also had his fair share of success as well. If anything, his performance in the 2012 playoffs alone secured him this spot. A .946 save percentage! Easiest Conn Smythe pick ever.
73. Bernie Nicholls
Also Considered: Craig Anderson
Anderson had a lengthy career in net, but Nicholls easily takes the spot here. His 70-goal, 150-point season alone is an astonishing feat, even in the ‘80s, and he ended up finishing his career with 1,209 points in only 1,127 games. While he never won any awards, he did also get some votes for the Lady Byng and the All-Star Team.
74. Sergei Fedorov
Also Considered: No one
Fedorov was another easy choice here. He won three Cups with the Red Wings. In 1994, he became the only player ever to win the Hart and Selke Trophies in the same season. He nabbed another Selke in 1996 and also finished his career with 1,179 points in 1,248 games, making him an easy first ballot Hall of Famer in 2015.
75. Pavel Buchnevich
Also Considered: Dave Ellett
Ellett had a lengthy career and was quite productive from the blueline, even getting some Calder and All-Star votes in the early stages of his career. But Pavel Buchnevich has proven to be an excellent winger so far in his career, especially after he finally started to get ice time with the Blues, with 206 points in 216 games. He also still has plenty more mileage in his career to add to that.
76. Mike Knuble
Also Considered: Keith Carney, Adin Hill
Hill mostly gets consideration for his play last season in an otherwise weak pool of players, but Knuble has the Cup to match Hill, the longevity in his career, and even some votes for the Selke and Lady Byng to beat him out.
77. Alexei Zhamnov
Also Considered: Mike Rogers, Jake Guentzel
Guentzel’s immediate Cup success and potential to better things got him some consideration, along with Rogers’ productivity in an admittedly inflated ‘80s era. But Zhamnov was the most productive player with 719 points, and he received votes for the Selke and Lady Byng in some years, along with being named to the second All-Star team in 1994-95.
78. Ilya Sorokin
Also Considered: Robert Svehla, Shayne Gostisbehere
Svehla had the most tenure in the league at pick #78, had some appearances at the Olympics with Czechoslovakia and then Slovakia, and got some Norris and All-Star votes, so he makes a strong case. But even in his four years, Ilya Sorokin has done incredible things in the NHL, and it feels inevitable that he’ll get a Vezina with his play right now, so I’ll go with the high upside that he still has in his career.
79. Brayden Point
Also Considered: No one
Brayden Point is only 580 games into his NHL career, and he already has close to 200 points more than the next highest-scoring player at pick #79. He’s also gotten votes for awards like the Hart, Calder, Selke and Lady Byng over the years, and has won two Cups, so he’s the easy pick here.
80. Esa Tikkanen
Also Considered: No one
While there’s always been bigger names wherever Tikkanen has played in, he’s always been a big part of their success, especially with the Oilers and Rangers. While he has no awards of his own, he was a finalist for the Selke four times and nearly made a couple of All-Star teams.
81. Alexei Zhitniuk
Also considered: Fredrik Olausson Joe Juneau
Zhitnik and Olausson had somewhat similar careers, so this was a tough one to choose from. Even though Olausson won a Cup, Zhitnik was much more impactful as an all-around player, with a career average TOI of 27:35. That’s not a typo. He also co-led the Buffalo Sabres in playoff scoring when they reached the 1998-99 Stanley Cup Final.
82. Brian Gionta
Also Considered: Carter Verhaeghe
Both Brian Gionta and Carter Verhaeghe have their name on the Cup, with Verhaeghe close to his second and a good chance of outpacing Gionta in production through the remainder of his career. But, Gionta had much more longevity in the league (so far), and has gotten some recognition among voters over the years for the Selke, Lady Byng and Hart.
83. Anton Stastny
Also Considered: Joe Corvo, Matt Murray
Part of the famous trio of Stastny brothers that made their way over to the NHL, Anton was the only of the three to actually get drafted by a team. Peter was the more successful one, but in Anton’s 650 games in the NHL, he did have 635 points, and had a bit more consistency to his career than the other options at #83.
84. Nicolas Deslauriers
Also Considered: Adam Mair, Alan Kerr
Pick #84 is a bit of a barren wasteland. Only 17 players have played in the NHL at all, only nine of them for more than a season, and only three players have hit 100 points. So, ultimately I decided on Nicolas Deslauriers for this one, for the sole reason that he’s played the most games of this group at 646, and at this point, that’s impressive.
85. Sergei Zubov
Also Considered: Ben Bishop, Peter McNab
Bishop had a solid career of his own, but at this stage of the draft picks, you can’t pass up a Hall of Famer. Zubov was the most productive player at #85 as a defenseman, has two Cups, and in 2006, he finished on the second All-Star team and was a finalist for the Norris.
86. Colton Parayko
Also Considered: Petr Klima
Klima had a bit more longevity in the NHL right now, but Colton Parayko is already about a season and a half away from surpassing him in games played. He’s also has gotten a bit more recognition over the years, highlighted by making the All-Rookie team in 2016 and receiving votes for the Lady Byng in four separate seasons.
87. Milan Hejduk
Also Considered: Frederik Andersen
Andersen has had a mostly consistent career as an excellent starting goalie, but Hejduk was a key cog for the Avalanche’s success throughout the 2000s. On top of a Cup in 2001 and being a finalist for the Calder in 1999, he also won the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy in 2003 for his 50 goal season.
88. Jere Lehtinen
Also Considered: Ray Ferraro, Jordan Binnington
Ferraro may have had the more productive career, but Lehtinen’s two-way game was well recognized throughout his career with three Selkes, and he was a big part of the Stars’ Cup win in 1999. He’s also one of four wingers to win the Selke and one of two to win it more than once, which is also impressive considering how much Selke voters love faceoffs as a defensive stat.
89. Alexander Mogilny
Also Considered: Don Edwards
Edwards had an excellent stretch from 1977 to 1982 where he got a lot of award votes for the Vezina and Hart, and even won a Vezina in 1980. But before 1981-82, the Vezina went to the goalie of the team with the fewest goals against, not necessarily the best goalie, and for me, Mogilny maintaining above a point per game production through the dead puck era is pretty impressive. Plus he has a Cup, a Lady Byng and a goal-scoring title (that would’ve been the Rocket Richard had the award existed yet) in trophy case too.
90. Eric Daze
Also Considered: Walt Poddubny
Poddubny and Daze had similar point totals in their careers with 422 and 398 respectively, and while Poddubny only did it in 468 games, he also achieved those point totals in the ‘80s. When the best players at each pick aren’t getting into a ton of games, Daze’s 601 is impressive, and he also got on the All-Rookie team and was a Calder finalist in his first season, and even got Lady Byng votes later in his career.
91. Marc Savard
Also Considered: Alex Edler
Savard’s career was tragically cut short due to an unnecessary injury, but in his 807 games in the league, he managed to put up 706 through most of the Dead Puck era and the early years of the salary cap. Later on in his career, he even got Hart and Selke votes.
92. Casey Cizikas
Also Considered: No one
I never thought I’d reach a point in this series where Casey Cizikas was an easy decision, never mind only in the third round, but even with 222 points, it still far surpasses the next highest-scorer with Peter White’s 60 points. That said, he has been an underrated two-way forward in parts of his career, and got a bit of recognition for it with Selke votes in 2016 and 2019.
93. Braden Holtby
Also Considered: Doug Shedden, Erik Gustafsson
Shedden was relatively productive in his 416-game career, and Gustafsson has proven to be a good offensive defenseman when deployed properly, but come on, it’s easily Holtby here. While his career went out with a whimper with the Canucks and Stars, he was one of the best goalies in the league when he was with the Capitals, capturing a Vezina and backstopping the franchise to its first Cup.
94. Chris Kelly
Also Considered: David Savard, Thomas Greiss
I almost went with Savard for the fact that he was an underrated defensive defenseman during his time with the Blue Jackets, but Kelly matches Savard’s Cup success and in his prime had some Selke votes here and there.
95. Patrick Sharp
Also Considered: Alec Martinez, Valtteri Filppula, Dominic Moore
While Sharp was never the most important player for the Blackhawks during their Cup success in the early 2010s, or even in their top five he still rounded out their top six very well. Even with only six or seven seasons where he was truly productive, he still got some recognition for it on the award ballots with votes for the Selke, Lady Byng, and even the Hart.
96. Jean-Gabriel Pageau
Also Considered: Eric Belanger
In terms of the scoring race for 96th overall picks, Jean-Gabriel Pageau sits just 34 points behind Belanger in 102 fewer games, and while both have gotten Selke votes over the years, Pageau has gotten them much more consistently. Considering that he also has a bit more of an NHL career left in him, he seems to be the smarter choice here.
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More entries in the Best Player by Draft Pick series
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