[Badger Bob]

Originally Posted by Newfieflamefan

2003: Fleury vs. Michalek, Pouliot, Perry
2004: Ovechkin vs. Montoya, Kaspars, Fistric
2005: Crosby vs. Brule, Lashoff, Niskanen
2006: Johnson vs. Brassard, Giroux, Foligno
2007: Kane vs. Gagne, Pacioretty, Petrecki
2008: Stamkos vs. Filatov, Eberle, Tikhonov
2009: Tavares vs. Ekman-Larsson, Schroeder, Olsen
2010: Hall vs. Connolly, Tinordi, Coyle
2011: Nugent-Hopkins vs. Zibanejad, Biggs, Phillips
2012: Yakopov vs. Lindholm, Maata, Skjei

How many of the past ten years would you not take #1? Only clear cut examples where the 3 picks turn out better would be 2003 & 2006...both years have players that didn't live up to expectations taken at # 1 and absolute home runs with late picks (Perry @ 28 in 2003 & Giroux @ 22 in 2006).

Good observations! These are examples of 1st overalls being franchise players, except Giroux developed better than expected. While that 6th pick should probably still land somebody really good and the late 1st rounders should add depth, the top picks are the ones to build a club around.