No One is Dodging This Draft

After reading Penn's inaugural post focusing on the best NFL draft ever and witnessing Marc-Andre Fleury's outstanding performance in last night's playoff victory, I started thinking about what could possibly be the best NHL draft ever. The year was 2003, the New Jersey Devils were fresh off another Stanley Cup victory over the upstart Anaheim (still Mighty) Ducks, and the Pittsburgh Penguins were mired in their post-Jagr postseason slump. The Pens held the third pick overall, but traded that pick, along with Mikael Samuelsson, to the Florida Panthers for the right to choose MAF first overall and draft what they viewed to be the franchise goalie they've lacked since trading away Tom Barrasso a few years earlier.

Fast forward six years...Fleury, after a few growing pains, led the Pens to the brink of Stanley Cup glory a year ago, and once again has the Pens poised for another long playoff run. It's hard to argue with the Pens' choice of Fleury, but had they taken any of these top-5 picks I think they'd still be happy.

#2 Eric Staal (Carolina): One of the best power forwards in the game. The oldest of the Staal gang is a goal scoring machine who led the Canes to a Cup win in 2004.

#3 Nathan Horton (Florida): After moving down, the Panthers picked up a franchise winger who is finally coming into his own.

#4 Nikolai Zherdev (Columbus): A world-class skater and stick-handler, Zherdev disappears at times, but has shown flashes of brilliance since his trade to the Rangers.

#5 Thomas Vanek (Buffalo): Vanek has some of the best hands in the game, and is taking his place among the biggest scoring threats in the league.

That's just the top five. Look at the rest of the first round. These guys aren't just roster fillers, these are household names. Need an elite top-line forward?

Milan Michalek (#6) Andrei Kostitsyn (#10) Dustin Brown (#13) Steve Bernier(#16) Zach Parise(#17) Ryan Getzlaf(#19) Ryan Kesler(#23) Corey Perry (#28)

Or maybe you need an impact player on the blue line...

Ryan Suter (#7) Dion Phaneuf (#9) Brent Seabrook (#14) Brent Burns (#20)

And this is just the first round! In all, 29 of the 30 players drafted in the first round of 2003 have seen action at the NHL level (way to go Hugh Jessiman, you're letting us down.) That in itself is astounding. Just ask the Philthadelphia Flyers how important the 2003 draft was to their team. Where would they be without Braydon Coburn (#8 via ATL) Jeff Carter (#11) Mike Richards (#24) or Matt Carle (#47 via SJ/TB)?

When you think it can't get any better, we move to the second round...Patrice Bergeron, who was on his way to greatness with the Bruins before the Philly goon squad concussed him last season, was taken with the 45th pick in the second round. Shea Weber, one of the best offensive-minded defensemen in the game, was taken 49th by the Nashville Kid Touchers. David Backes was the 62nd pick and led the Blues back to the playoffs this season with 31 goals.

There was even good value deep in the draft. Players such as Daniel Carcillo, Ryan O'Byrne, Jan Hejda, Marc Methot, Chris Holt, Drew Miller, Joe Pavelski, Dustin Byfuglien and Shane O'Brien are contributors to playoff teams this season. And even the second to last pick in the entire draft, Brian Elliott, was the starting goalie for the Ottawa Senators down the stretch this past season. He even made an appearance on PWHallstrom's fantasy team. I can go on and on, but I think you get the point.

This draft wasn't just about quantity, it was about quality. You could argue that some of the guys taken in the middle or late first round could have been #1 overall picks in other draft years. And what's also scary is the fact that most of these guys are in their early-to-mid twenties, meaning that the stars are only going to get better as they hit their prime, and the others who haven't yet established themselves in the league are poised to make a name for themselves in the not-too-distant future.