Selecting No. 2 in the NHL Draft

Each National Hockey League franchise has dreamt of landing the first overall pick at the NHL Entry Draft at least once in their existence. It’s inevitable.

When the time does come, management must disarm their short-term aspirations and insert thoughts about what blue chipper is worthy of their enviable position in the draft order. Whether it’s a playmaking center, skilled European winger or thoroughbred defenseman, teams look to first overall draft picks as a guide, a saviour to their unfortunate situation as a basement dweller.

Year after year, in the shadow of the first overall pick, is the second-best – a runner-up of sorts. While the second selected player may be of equal, or even higher skill, something about them could not put them over the top. Does this mean they’re a dud? Absolutely not.

In fact, history proves that playing second fiddle is sometimes beneficial to the individual and the selecting squad.

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Since the 1970 NHL Entry Draft:

• The 38 skaters (not including goalies) selected first overall have averaged:
  • 774 career games played
  • 665 career points at a rate of 0.83 points per game

• The 39 skaters (not including goalies) selected second overall have averaged:
  • 710 career games played
  • 528 career points at a rate of 0.73 points per game

Those drafted first overall averaged 64 more games played and 137 more career points than the skaters chosen directly after – both unimpressive differences.

Best No. 2’s of All-Time
The NHL’s first entry draft — called the amateur draft back then — took place in 1963. The very first player to be drafted into the league was left winger Garry Monahan by the Montreal Canadiens. Following the Habs was Detroit, who selected Monahan’s junior teammate with the St. Micheal’s Juveniles, Peter Mahovlich. “Little M” would prove to have the much more productive career, setting the stage for many No. 2 picks who have outshone the first picks of their respective draft years.

1. Marcel Dionne: The Detroit Red Wings took Dionne second in the 1971 draft. The Drumondville, Quebec native went on to play 1,348 games and tally 731 goals and 1,040 assists in a remarkable Hall of Fame career. Dionne’s 1,771 points — fifth most in NHL history — is the highest total among players ever drafted second. Even more impressive, Dionne had a longer and more productive career than the only man drafted ahead of him in ’71, Guy Lafleur.

2. Chris Pronger: The Hartford Whalers selected Pronger second overall in 1993, one spot after Ottawa took the diminutive Alexandre Daigle. Pronger has won a Stanley Cup, Norris Trophy, Hart Trophy, two Olympic Gold Medals, while playing 17 seasons in the NHL. Daigle, one of the sport’s all-time busts, scored just 129 goals in parts of 10 seasons in the league.

Worst No. 2’s of All-time
While everyone remembers No. 1 picks whose careers have flamed out, the bust tag is not exclusive to those chosen first. There’s been no shortage of prospects selected second that never lived up to the hype or the expectations heaped upon them.

1. Dave Chyzowski: The New York Islanders selected Chyzowski second overall in 1989. The Kamloops Blazers product sniped 56 goals in 68 games during his draft year and the folks on Long Island were hoping that production would continue at the NHL level. It didn’t. Chyzowski played just 126 games in parts of seven NHL seasons with New York and the Chicago Blackhawks, only scoring 15 goals in his career. What’s worse is that the Islanders missed out on several outstanding prospects that draft year. At the 1989 Entry Draft, the Detroit Red Wings picked Mike Sillinger, Bob Boughner, Nick Lidstrom, Sergei Federov, Dallas Drake and Vladimir Konstantinov – all selected after Chyzowski. Yikes.

2. Barry Dean: The Kansas City Scouts used their second overall pick in 1975 to select Barry Dean. The winger from Maple Creek, Saskatchewan played in just three seasons in the NHL amassing career totals of 165 games played and 81 points. The 1975 draft class is remembered as one of the worst in NHL history, save for 15th round pick Dave Taylor who produced 1,069 points in 17 seasons with the Los Angeles Kings.

Goalie Phobia
Since 1970, only a single goalie has ever been selected second overall. For the record, it was Finnish netminder Kari Lehtonen in 2002. Two — Marc-Andre Fleury and Rick DiPietro — have gone No. 1.

Forward Thinking?
The emphasis placed on building a team with offensive stars is reflected in the fact that 30 of the 40 players selected second overall have been forwards, while just nine have patrolled the blue line. However, NHL general managers are now trending back to the blue line as two of the last three second overall picks — Drew Doughty in 2008 and Victor Hedman in 2009 — are rearguards. It will certainly be interesting to see if Adam Larsson continues the trend at the upcoming draft.

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Check out more of The Good Point’s 2011 NHL Entry Draft Prospects Series.

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