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End of an Era

End of an Era

Draft Class: 2003
Created By: dls9
Published: Dec. 16, 2021 at 4:09 p.m.
ROUND 1TEAMORIGINALPLAYERDETAILS
1Logo of the Pittsburgh PenguinsLogo of the Florida PanthersLots of good possibilities from the best player from the 2003 draft, but MAF had 3 cup wins and sits 3rd all time in goalie W's with over 500 wins. I feel like if his stint with VGK didn't happen he would be at #2, but the Vezina and William M Jennings Trophy in 2021 solidify Fleury as the best player from this draft. He's a Hall of Famer
2Logo of the Carolina Hurricanes-4 Selke wins, 1 Stanley Cup & will pass 1000 points by the time he retires. Best skater from this draft.
3Logo of the Florida PanthersLogo of the Pittsburgh PenguinsOver 1000 points and a Stanley Cup champion. Others might put Eric Staal here, but I think Getzlaf's game has stayed more consistent into his later years.
4Logo of the Columbus Blue Jackets-4th best player from this draft. More than 1000 points & Stanley Cup champion in his second year, but his last few years took a solid drop off
5Logo of the Buffalo Sabres-
Shea Weber (+44 )
Weber/Suter are close. But I think Weber gets the advantage for better playoff performance + International success
6Logo of the San Jose Sharks-(see above)
7Logo of the Nashville Predators-Perry is still playing, and thus I should rank him higher. But his points don't quite stand up against Staal/Getzlaf, Despite the Hart and Rocket awards in 2011. I might get some flack for this as some other would put him top 5, but I believe Perry should go after the 2 big D.
8Logo of the Atlanta Thrashers-I put Burns right behind the 2 big D from this draft due to his versatility. Forward, Defense, who knows. Looking at his stat sheet I can't tell which years are which. A great OFD/TWF
9Logo of the Calgary Flames-
Joe Pavelski (+196 )
Pavelski made an immediate impact in the NHL and (besides Bergeron) is probably the only player on this list producing at the All Star Caliber of play he did throughout his entire career. But without the Stanley Cup or Major NHL Award, I can't put him above the likes of Getzlaf, Perry, or the D
10Logo of the Montreal Canadiens-2x Stanley Cups with the Kings, Olympic gold and still producing at 36. Nearing 800 career points
11Logo of the Philadelphia FlyersLogo of the Phoenix Coyotes>800 points in 1084 games. No major NHL awards but still a fantastic player from this draft.
12Logo of the New York Rangers-Over 1100 NHL games, 3 Stanley Cups, Olympic gold and a defensive D who still put up 464 NHL points.
13Logo of the Los Angeles Kings-Despite some ups and downs, Dustin Brown was a steady 60 point guy through most of his career. A leader and 2x Stanley Cup champion.
14Logo of the Chicago Blackhawks-A brick wall on the back end for the Jets who still put up major points. Similar to Ryan Suter, spent time as both a F and D. I've never seen an offensive D who was such a physical menace on the back end. Byfuglien should be higher, if not for the strange end to his career.
15Logo of the New York Islanders-A bit of a journeyman in the latter half of his career, but Vanek was a beast in Buffalo + still produced fine in the mid to late 2010's bouncing around the NHL.
16Logo of the San Jose SharksLogo of the Boston BruinsSelke winner Ryan Kesler with 573 points in 1000 games slots in here
17Logo of the New Jersey DevilsLogo of the Edmonton Oilers2 Stanley Cups , and was the starting G for the NHL's most recent Dynasty until 2020. A top 20 player from this draft.
18Logo of the Washington Capitals-The next 3 picks (Backes, Richards, Horton) here could really go any way - because I have 2 players who had better points per game - but I also want to put some value into being a player who scored less but played more games. For the purpose of this, I am going to work under the assumption that Games Played have higher weighting for a "end of career" ranking. With that said, Backes is going to slot in at 18
19Logo of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim-Ok. Richards/Horton. Both are some of the better producers from this draft (both around 0.65 ppg) but both had injury problems that cut their career short and is why they're so far down on this list. Richards helped LA win 2 Stanley Cups & took Philadelphia on the run to the SCF in 2010 and will rank above Horton. I really wish we got to see more of these two (especially Richards), I'm sure they would be higher up on this list.
20Logo of the Minnesota Wild-(see above)
21Logo of the Boston BruinsLogo of the Toronto Maple LeafsI don't know if anyone got more hatred from their fan base in this draft than Phaneuf, and I feel like pick 21 (TOR to BOS) is the perfect spot for him. He played over 1000 NHL games and was a monster in his first 5 years in Calgary. If his rookie year wasn't shared with Ovechkin/Crosby he would have won the Calder, with almost 50 points in his rookie year as a big physical D. I loved Dion, and wish he had a better time in Toronto.
22Logo of the Edmonton OilersLogo of the St. Louis BluesAnother guy who had a great first 70% of his career just to fall off when he reached his 30's. Loui Eriksson's first 10 seasons had him as a 0.70 point-per-game player, in line with Jeff Carter who is a top 10 player in this draft class. After signing in Vancouver his career came to a halt, but I am still willing to consider him a top 30 player from this draft, based on what he did during the prime of his career.
23Logo of the Vancouver Canucks-Jimmy Howard was a serviceable starting G for the Red Wings throughout the 2010's, and for that I give him a top 30 spot from this draft. He's 3rd all time in wins for the historic Red Wings franchise behind only Sawchuk and Osgood
24Logo of the Philadelphia Flyers-Imagine being traded for the guy who put up 50 in 07. That has to put you on this list, right? Another guy who played some good hockey in his early to mid 20's. but fell off once he got older. Still, with 446 points in 747 NHL games, he's deserving of a later spot on this list
25Logo of the Florida PanthersLogo of the Tampa Bay LightningAnother D with over 700 games and over 300 points. It took him a while to come over from Sweden & he went back after only 10 seasons (otherwise I bet he would be higher).
26Logo of the Los Angeles KingsLogo of the Colorado AvalancheAnother injury story, Clarke Macarthur was one of my favourite players as a Leaf/Sen. 304 points in 552 games but he was a solid 20 goal/50 point player during his time in Ontario. Another story of a guy who I wish I could have watched for longer
27Logo of the Los Angeles KingsLogo of the Detroit Red Wings
Matt Moulson (+236 )
Moulson had 3 straight 30 goal seasons and played over 600 games in the NHL for the Islanders and Sabres
28Logo of the Mighty Ducks of AnaheimLogo of the Dallas Stars500 NHL starts. Now he's pretty much a backup but he did have lots of starting positions throughout his career.
29Logo of the Ottawa Senators-Coburn didn't do much offensively, but only 17 games shy of 1,000 is impressive to play in the NHL. You don't play 1000 NHL games if you aren't a serviceable NHL player. Majority of his career with Philadelphia and Tampa until the COVID season.
30Logo of the St. Louis BluesLogo of the New Jersey DevilsSometimes hockey is bigger than just play. Brian Boyle was diagnosed with Leukemia in 2017 and demonstrated the ability to fight and beat cancer to return to play. That determination is what hockey is about. He's still playing today
Dec. 17, 2021 at 12:00 a.m.
#1
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wow!!! a lot of time and passion is put into this, lets appreciate this amazing draft
dls9 liked this.
Dec. 17, 2021 at 2:40 a.m.
#2
Xercuses
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so much fun to read also is byfulen offically retired yet?
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Dec. 17, 2021 at 1:40 p.m.
#3
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dls9
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Quoting: xercuses
so much fun to read also is byfulen offically retired yet?


I think he's kind of in that "pre-retirement staging area", similar to where Shea Weber is right now
xercuses liked this.
Dec. 17, 2021 at 6:33 p.m.
#4
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Awesome work on this post! I agree with everything you've written but feel like I'd have Pavelski in the top 5, though that is likely due to my sharks bias more than anything. Nice work!
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