No sport does an entry draft quite like the NHL. It's the only sport where teams pick teenagers to transform their franchises. And as you guessed it, that can lead to all kinds of issues and surprises.
With NHL Draft Day Steals And Fails, I'm chronicling those players who fail to live up to the expectations of where they were drafted. As well as those who surprised us all and outperformed their draft status.
There's a lot of meat on this bone, so keep your eye out for new stories.
NHL Draft Day Steals and Fails Edition 5: Losing The Lottery
Losing the lottery should be catastrophic for a team at the bottom of the NHL standings, right? That wasn't the case for the Colorado Avalanche and Vancouver Canucks in 2017.
NHL Draft Day Steals And Fails Edition 4: Late-Round Steals
No draft pick is a lock to become an impact player at the NHL level. Less so when they're drafted in the late round (6th and 7th). Here are five recent late-round picks who defied the odds.
NHL Draft Day Steals and Fails Edition 3: How Oilers Failed Yakupov
Think of a draft day bust and Nail Yakupov's name comes to mind. But instead of focusing on how he didn't live up to expectations how did the Edmonton Oilers fail their first overall pick in 2012?
NHL Draft Day Steals and Fails Edition 2: Bolts Break Bias To Take Legend
In the second edition of our ongoing series, we look at how the Tampa Bay Lightning stole the 2011 NHL draft by taking Nikita Kucherov in the second round.
NHL Draft Day Steals and Fails Edition 1: Islanders Going Based On Need In 2014
The first edition of NHL Draft Day Steals and Fails looks at how the New York Islanders missed a glorious opportunity to add an elite winger, but didn't.
NHL First Overall Picks
| Year | Player | Team |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Connor Bedard | Chicago Blackhawks |
| 2022 | Juraj Slafkovsky | Montreal Canadiens |
| 2021 | Owen Power | Buffalo Sabres |
| 2020 | Alexis Lafreniere | New York Rangers |
| 2019 | New Jersey Devils | Jack Hughes |
| 2018 | Rasmus Dahlin | Buffalo Sabres |
| 2017 | New Jersey Devils | Nico Hischier |
| 2016 | Auston Matthews | Toronto Maple Leafs |
| 2015 | Connor McDavid | Edmonton Oilers |
| 2014 | Aaron Ekblad | Florida Panthers |
| 2013 | Nathan MacKinnon | Colorado Avalanche |
| 2012 | Nail Yakupov | Edmonton Oilers |
| 2011 | Ryan Nugent-Hopkins | Edmonton Oilers |
| 2010 | Taylor Hall | Edmonton Oilers |
| 2009 | John Tavares | New York Islanders |
| 2008 | Steven Stamkos | Tampa Bay Lightning |
| 2007 | Patrick Kane | Chicago Blackhawks |
| 2006 | Erik Johnson | St. Louis Blues |
| 2005 | Sidney Crosby | Pittsburgh Penguins |
| 2004 | Alex Ovechkin | Washington Capitals |
| 2003 | Marc-Andre Fleury | Pittsburgh Penguins |
| 2002 | Rick Nash | Columbus Blue Jackets |
| 2001 | Ilya Kovulchuk | Atlanta Thrashers |
| 2000 | Rick DiPietro | New York Islanders |
