NHL Draft: Where Have all the Franchise Players Gone?

In a response to my most recent article, Other Rick posted a list that I confess both intrigued and shocked me. Namely, an inventory of the NHL’s first overall draft selections dating back to 2015.

My friend and PP colleague correctly asserted that there hasn’t been a true franchise player taken since Auston Matthews went first overall to the Leafs in 2016 and Connor McDavid to the Oilers the year before that.

While others, most notably 2023 top pick Connor Bedard, have been touted as such, they’ve yet to achieve that rarified status.

Perhaps it’s just my imagination, to borrow from an old Temptations hit, but I thought the frequency of franchise-level players was greater. Much greater. However, the proof was there in stark black type, or whatever font color we use.

Juraj Slafkovsky (’22) and Owen Power (’21)? Good and promising players both, but nowhere near superstars, let alone franchise level.

Heavily hyped Alexis Lafrenière?

Not even close.

Maybe my brain’s permanently fixed on the golden era of the early 2000s. Beginning in ’04, Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, Patrick Kane and Steven Stamkos rolled off the draft assembly line like shiny new cars in the heyday of the Motor City.

Generational talent Evgeni Malkin, a top selection in virtually any other year, went second overall behind Ovi in ’04.

While you could argue that Stamkos and Kane are a notch below generational, Stammer’s closing in on 600 career goals and once netted 60 in a season. Kane has three Cups, a Hart, a Ross, a Pearson, a Calder and a Smythe in his trophy case, the same as Geno.

All this made me curious about No. 1 picks pre-Ovi, so I decided to expand on Other Rick’s list by going back to 1983, the year before we drafted franchise savior Mario Lemieux.

The top pick that year was New Jersey-born, high-school phenom Brian Lawton. Drafted with a pick that originally belonged to our Pens, Lawton proved to be no more than a serviceable pro who topped out at a modest 21 goals during a rather pedestrian NHL career.

He wasn’t alone. Sprinkled among the likes of Mario (’84), Mike Modano (’88), Mats Sundin (’89) and the original Next One, Eric Lindros (’91), were Joe Murphy (’86), Alexandre Daigle (’93) and perhaps the biggest flop on the far side of Nail Yakupov, Patrik Stefan (’99).

All of which serves to underscore that when it comes to drafting franchise players and generational talents, it often boils down to the luck of the draw, not to mention the available talent pool.

 

Year	Player/Team	Year	Player/Team
2024	Macklin Celebrini (C), SJS	2003	Marc-Andre Fleury (G), PIT
2023	Connor Bedard (C), CHI	2002	Rick Nash (LW), CBJ
2022	Juraj Slavkofsky (LW), MTL	2001	Ilya Kovalchuk (F), ATL
2021	Owen Power (D), BUF	2000	Rick DiPietro (G), NYI
2020	Alexis Lafreniere (LW), NYR	1999	Patrik Stefan (C), ATL
2019	Jack Hughes (C), NJD	1998	Vincent Lecavalier (C), TBL
2018	Rasmus Dahlin (D), BUF	1997	Joe Thornton (C), BOS
2017	Nico Hischier (C), NJD	1996	Chris Phillips (D), OTT
2016	Auston Matthews (C), TOR	1995	Bryan Berard (D), OTT
2015	Connor McDavid (C), EDM	1994	Ed Jovanovski (D), FLA
2014	Aaron Ekblad (D), FLA	1993	Alexandre Daigle (C), OTT
2013	Nathan MacKinnon (C), COL	1992	Roman Hamrlik (D), TBL
2012	Nail Yakupov (RW), EDM	1991	Eric Lindros (C), QUE
2011	Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (C), EDM	1990	Owen Nolan (RW), QUE
2010	Taylor Hall (LW), EDM	1989	Mats Sundin (RW), QUE
2009	John Tavares (C), NYI	1988	Mike Modano (C), MNS
2008	Steven Stamkos (C), TBL	1987	Pierre Turgeon (C), BUF
2007	Patrick Kane (RW), CHI	1986	Joe Murphy (C), DET
2006	Erik Johnson (D), STL	1985	Wendel Clark (LW/D), TOR
2005	Sidney Crosby (C), PIT	1984	Mario Lemieux (C), PIT
2004	Alex Ovechkin (LW), WSH	1983	Brian Lawton (C), MNS