2009's Top 3 Draft Picks Set to Make NHL Debuts
Tavares, Hedman and Duchene Go From Prospects to Pros
Less than three weeks after their names were called at the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, John Tavares, Victor Hedman and Matt Duchene all signed their first professional contracts, and are expected to make their NHL debuts this fall. Should it hold true, it will mark second year in a row that the first three picks dive into their National Hockey League careers just a few months after being drafted.
It’s far from a new trend in the league but it is one that has sputtered over the last 24 years. There have been a handful of seasons in which the top three draftees from a given year debuted that fall (2003, 1993, 1990, 1987), but not since 1985 have consecutive classes made the cut.
When Wendel Clark (Toronto), Craig Simpson (Pittsburgh) and Craig Wolanin (New Jersey) made the jump a year after Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh), Kirk Muller (New Jersey), and Eddie Olczyk (Chicago), it capped off a 10-year run in which the top three draftees cracked their respective team’s roster. As well, two years before that stretch began (in 1976), the league saw an end to four straight seasons of the same pattern.
Since the draft’s inception in 1963, 20 draft classes have watched as the first, second and third selections went from young prospect to NHL player in a matter of months.
- 1970s: 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979
- 1980s: 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987
- 1990s: 1990, 1993
- 2000s: 2003, 2008, 2009 (pending)
Players Drafted and Making NHL Debuts in the Same Year
The introduction of the salary cap has resulted in more picks turning pro in their draft year, but only 2008 and 2009 have seen the first three step right in. Until last season, Sidney Crosby (1st, 2005), Jordan Staal (2nd, 2006) and Patrick Kane (1st, 2007) were the lone members of a draft trio to do so.
Few should be surprised that at least one member of the top three has made it every year in the post-lockout NHL. After all, with dollars more important to general managers, every penny they can save by having an entry-level deal rather than an expensive, multi-year pact, they will.
Rookies had a tougher time breaking in during the 1990s and early 2000s. From 1990 through 2003, only in three years did the first three selections of a particular draft earn a regular spot in their team’s lineup: 1990 (Owen Nolan, Petr Nedved, Keith Primeau), 1993 (Alexandre Daigle, Chris Pronger, Chris Gratton), and 2003 (Marc-André Fleury, Eric Staal, Nathan Horton).
Three other seasons saw at least two of the top three hit the NHL in their draft year. Current Sharks teammates Joe Thornton (1st, Boston) and Patrick Marleau (2nd , San Jose) did so in 1997; Vincent Lecavalier (1st, Tampa Bay) and Brad Stuart (3rd, San Jose) followed in 1998; and in 2002 it was Rick Nash (1st, Columbus) and Jay Bouwmeester (3rd, Florida).
Other 2009 Draft Selections Who Could Make the NHL
Tavares, Hedman and Duchene could have company as NHL rookies. In addition to the trio, Evander Kane (4th, Atlanta), Nazem Kadri (7th, Toronto), and John Moore (21st, Columbus) have all inked entry-level deals and could be contributing to their new clubs come October.
That’s not all. More prospects could be putting pen to paper before the regular season gets underway, with the likes of Brayden Schenn (Los Angeles), Dmitry Kulikov (Florida) and even Magnus Pääjärvi-Svensson (Edmonton) potentially earning an NHL roster spot.
With several players looking to skip a few grades, the first round selections of the Class of 2009 could become one of the most successful in recent history.
John Tavares
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Brad Stuart, Vincent Lecavalier and David Legwand
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