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2nd Overall Picks the 00s |
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2nd Overall Picks the 00s
As we entered the new millennium hockey was slowing down. The dead puck era was almost upon us but the importance of drafting was becoming more apparent. The Canadian dollar was mired in a funk that last a long time and was affecting NHL revenues. Only a select few Canadian teams could spend big on free agents and even then that was limited to 2 or maybe 3 clubs.
2000
To start the decade the Islanders did what no one had ever done before, at least in the modern era of the game, they too a goaltending in Rick Dipietro first overall. The new expansion franchise Atlanta Thrashers had the second overall pick and that turned into Dany Heatley. Heatley was a talented player but in his later years he fell off what should have been a great career. He was nearly a point a game player with 791 in 869 NHL games but he will long be remembered for the wrong reasons; a tragic car accident, contract and trade demands and bizarre decline from being a top goal scorer to nothing. The 2000 draft class is often a bit unheralded but consider these names who went in the first round: Gaborik, Torres, Hartnell, Hainsey, Orpik, Volchenkov, Boyes, Ott, Williams and Kronwall.
2001
This year the Thrashers were no better and had the first overall pick taking Ilya Kovalchuk first but it was the Senators who held the 2nd overall pick. Their choice was talented centre Jason Spezza. What’s amazing to think about is that via games played Kovalchuk and Spezza are almost identical in numbers- 816 for 816 by Kovalchuk and 843 for 812 by Spezza. The big loser was Tampa Bay who had the third overall pick and chose Svitov- probably Russion for not ready for NHL. Early in this decade though we see another year where there was considerable quality in the first round. By now money and desire had entered the developmental market of youth hockey and perhaps the beginnings of parents chasing dreams for kids was beginning to bear fruit in terms of quality of players. Take a look at who else went that first round: Weiss, Koivu, Ruutu, Sjostrom, Hamhuis, Hemsky, Kobasew, Umberger, Colaiacovo, Goc, and Gleason.
2002
This year is often overlooked due to the depth that came after in 2003 however there were some players in the 2002 draft that certainly had their merits. Columbus had the first overall pick and selected Rick Nash. While that may not have worked out the way they thought no one else would have done any different had they owned that pick. The Thrashers were showing mild improvement and thus had the 2nd overall pick and chose a goalie in Lehtonen. They would and should have had buyers remorse. While not a terrible pick, that belongs to Florida at 9th who took Petr Taticek and his 3 NHL games, the Thrashers missed out on: Bouwmeester (3rd) Whitney (5th), Upshall, Semin, Higgins, Steen, Ballard and Pitkanen. There would not be another goalie taken until Cam Ward at 25th overall.
2003
This is the draft that most people compare to the 1990 draft and some would argue is even better- not sure where I sit on that debate but I do know I would not take a goalie first overall like the Penguins did with Fleury. The second pick belonged to Carolina Hurricanes and they took Eric Staal and there’s no complaining about that now. In fact you have to get down all the way to the Rangers at 12th who blew a pick in this legendary class when they took Hugh Jessiman. The Rangers passed on the following: Brown, Seabrook, Parise, Getzlaf, Burns, Kesler, Richards, Boyle, and Perry. But hey, they all passed on Bergeron who didn’t even go until the second round.
2004
Coming off the strong 2003 class could only be topped by having a player that could have been described as generational in Ovechkin. He went first overall to the Capitals but it was the Penguins who had the second pick and took another Russian in Evgeni Malkin. It was a win-win situation but had the picks flipped the hockey world would never have seen a Crosby-Ovechkin rivalry. They may have seen some records fall though with Crosby and Ovechkin on the same team. The 2004 class is overshadowed like the 2002/01 classes by 2003. There were a couple of losers later on in the draft with Columbus at 8th taking Picard and his 67 games while LA and Minnesota both took duds later at 11th and 12th. They all passed on Stafford, Zajac, Meszaros, Green, and Cory Schneider. Remember in the part 2 talking about Calgary and their crazy picks- after taking Phaneuf in 2003 they went back to that trend and took Chris Chucko for 2 NHL games.
2005
This was the only time in modern NHL history where the draft was a true lottery for all. After the lockout there was no hierarchy to determine who would pick first to last so the NHL did an equal weighted lottery. The big prize though was Sidney Crosby and every team had the same chance to get that pick to take the ‘next one’. Pittsburgh won it but does anyone remember who had the second pick? Anaheim and they took Bobby Ryan which was not a bad pick at all. The 2005 class is funny because there’s talent but nothing outrageous other than a player who went 11th overall in Anze Kopitar. That pick still stings for Canucks fans who had the pick before and took Luc Bourdon. While that was not a bad pick his life tragically ended in a motorcycle accident before the NHL could see him grow. There is a set of picks though, 13th through 16th that were awful taking a combined 33 NHL games. Atlanta was in there with Alex Bourret and 0 NHL games played. Calgary followed up Chucko with Matt Pelech- so yeah.
2006
The Hurricanes won the Cup but the storyline in Canada was about the upstart Oilers and Chris Pronger pushing them to 7 games. We all know how that scenario turned out. For the Blues though, after they had traded Pronger the summer before, they came back to the draft to select Erik Johnson first overall. Pittsburgh was still awful and had the second pick taking Jordan Staal. Was that a swing and a miss? Chicago had the next pick and took a player by the name of Jonathon Toews 3rd overall, so you can be the judge on that. The 2006 class is strong and better than 2005 when you consider these names going in the first round alone: Backstrom, Kessel, Brassard, Okposo, Mueller, Frolik, Little, Tlusty, Stewart, Giroux, Berglund, and Foligno. Remeber that Flames first round draft record- they took Leland Irving- the goalie of the future.
2007
In another example of the depth continuing in the new millennium 2007 continued the tradition of strong drafts and was led by Chicago with the first overall. They took Patrick Kane and he is direct example of parents going ‘all-in’ on hockey costs for their child. It later became known that Kane’s parents spent in excess of $200,000 on his hockey development. Oh how the times had changed. The Flyers had the 2nd overall pick and took JVR who would eventually be traded to Toronto. The first miss that draft came with Boston taking Zack Hamill and his 20 games, but that was outdone by Edmonton taking Plante and his 10 games. Both teams missed on players such as: Perron, Pacioretty, and Backlund ( a good Calgary pick) in the first round. Funny how when you look back you learn things. Jamie Benn…he went in the 5th round in 2007.
2008
By now the annual draft hype was on and the jokes that come with it. After the season the Lightning, with the first overall pick, had signs and a media campaign built around ‘Got Stamkos?’ It proved to be worth it. The second overall pick was to the Kings and they did alright when the took Drew Doughty. The Thrashers had the 3rd pick and took Zack Bogosian, if only those picks had been swapped how history might be different. This draft had another talented Russina in Nikita Filatov taken 6th overall but he never panned out for the Blue Jackets and went back to the KHL after not being able to stick with the Senators. The first big bust had to have come at the 11th pick by Chicago with Kyle Beach a player the Canucks with the pick before apparently had interest in, they too Cody Hodgson instead. Most GMs other than Tampa, LA and St. Louis had some egg on their face when compared to Ottawa who got Karlsson 15th overall. The Flames went back to their bizarre run of bad picks taking Greg Nemisz 25th overall that year.
2009
The phrase this year was ‘Tanking for Tavares’ as the fans and media driven by social media and the now mainstream Twitter promoted the phrase and the efforts of bad teams. The Islanders had the first pick and they took Tavares 1st overall and Tampa had the second pick. They took Victor Hedman so no worries there. It wasn’t until the 8th pick by Dallas that we see the first bad move with Scott Glennie taken. Those who went after? Ellis, Kulikov, Leddy, Kreider, Johanssen, and Ryan O’Reilly in the second round. When it all came down to Calgary at 23rd they took Tim Erixon and he plugged away for 93 NHL games.
Did we learn anything in the new millennium about the draft? By this point the top picks or the top half of the draft was having fewer misses and the quality of players taken was better on average- the drafts were deeper. Why is up to speculation and theories but go with this- parents in Canada and the business of hockey absolutely exploded in the 00s. The lockout in 2004-05 did nothing to help that scenario and when the NHL came back the Canadian fans came back with a vengeance and not just at the pro level, at all levels. More time and money than ever before was being put into youth hockey and even if kids did not make the pros the dreams of something good happening were well worth the investment and the NHL franchises certainly benefitted.
Winnipeg Jets Blogger •Winnipeg Jets Writer • 
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