Who were the top-10 players in the 2003 NHL draft

[GullFoss]

The draft class of 2003 - one of the deepest ever - is now 34 years old and many have little left to give. There are a lot of players that have played integral parts of NHL Stanley Cup teams. If you had to redraft them, who would you take top-10?

For me:
1. Getzlaf (19)
2. Bergeron (45)
3. Weber (49)
4. Staal (2)
5. Burns (20)
6. Perry (28)
7. Kesler (23)
8. Suter (7)
9. Carter (11)
10. MAF (1)


Not ranked: Horton, Richards, Zherdev, Vanek, Phaneuf, Michalek, Brown, Kostitsyn, Seabrook, Parise, Eriksson, Backes, Stempniak, Pavelski, Byfuglien, Eriksson, Coburn,

[Ped]

I'd probably put Pavelski on the list instead of Carter, but what a crazy good draft.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Remember when Phaneuf was part of the Big 3? (Phaneuf, Crosby, AO).
Weird.
#1 for me is Bergeron.

[blender]

Bergeron for me. Hes still at the top of the game today.

[GreenLantern2814]

Bergeron by a country mile. It figures the best player of the best draft of the last 25 years would be Patrice Bergeron. And it also figures that the best player of the best draft of the last 25 years wasn't even a 1st rounder.

If you do a re-draft, he goes #1, even ahead of Fleury.

[TheScorpion]

This is a really good draft and a great question

1. Bergeron
2. Getzlaf
3. Staal
4. Weber
5. Suter
6. Burns
7. Pavelski
8. Perry
9. Kesler
10. Parise
11. Carter
12. Fleury
13. Byfuglien
14. Vanek
15. Phaneuf

[Snuffleupagus]

I still can't get over Tim Ramholt at 39

[GirlySports]

What was the knock on Weber that he was so much lower than Dion?

[Scroopy Noopers]

MAF with his multiple cup finals appearances getting no love.

You don’t just find goalies like that, he goes 1 again.

Getzlaf 2
Bergeron 3.

[spuzzum]

Originally Posted by Scroopy Noopers

MAF with his multiple cup finals appearances getting no love.

You don’t just find goalies like that, he goes 1 again.

Getzlaf 2
Bergeron 3.

Multiple cup final WINS.

What a list of players from one draft year. Quite incredible. Bergeron slightly edges out MAF for me.

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by spuzzum

Multiple cup final WINS.

What a list of players from one draft year. Quite incredible. Bergeron slightly edges out MAF for me.

Yeah for sure, I just didn’t want to exclude what he did for Vegas.... because that was mostly him.

Bergeron I would agree is the best career player from that draft, but in my opinion he wasn’t as much of an impact player right out the gate as MAF & Getzlaf were.

But yeah, that draft class is bananas.

[The Yen Man]

It's a good thing Bergeron was able to recover from that dirty headshot early on in his career. I still remember the hit for some reason. Guy was just laying on the ice. I thought his career might have been done, or at least severely affected. Good to see him bounce back from his concussion issues and now have such a solid career.

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by spuzzum

Multiple cup final WINS.

What a list of players from one draft year. Quite incredible. Bergeron slightly edges out MAF for me.

Fleury only won in 2009. He lost in 2008 and 2018. He was riding the pine in 2016 and 2017.

[ricardodw]

Originally Posted by GullFoss

The draft class of 2003 - one of the deepest ever - is now 34 years old and many have little left to give. There are a lot of players that have played integral parts of NHL Stanley Cup teams. If you had to redraft them, who would you take top-10?

For me:
1. Getzlaf (19)
2. Bergeron (45)
3. Weber (49)
4. Staal (2)
5. Burns (20)
6. Perry (28)
7. Kesler (23)
8. Suter (7)
9. Carter (11)
10. MAF (1)


Not ranked: Horton, Richards, Zherdev, Vanek, Phaneuf, Michalek, Brown, Kostitsyn, Seabrook, Parise, Eriksson, Backes, Stempniak, Pavelski, Byfuglien, Eriksson, Coburn,

Did you put Stempniak in as a check to see if any one would actually notice?

The stats that matter (playoffs) for the 2003 draft sorted by games played and again by points are:

player - games - pts
MAF - 142 - ?
Mike Richards - 136 - 87
Coburn - 132 - 34
Pavelski - 128 - 95
Getzlaff - 125 - 120
Seabrook - 123 - 59
Bergeron - 120 - 91
Carter - 120 - 74
Perry - 118 - 89
Kessler - 101 - 65
parise - 97 - 74
Brown - 85 - 47
Burns - 81 - 50
suter - 78 - 29
Backes - 71 - 35
Vanek - 69 - 36
Byfuglien - 66 - 50
Weber - 65 - 31
Michalek - 63 - 24
Eric Staal - 58 - 46
Phanuef - 55 - 21
Horton - 43 - 36
Eriksson - 34 - 14
Stempniak - 28 - 6
Zherdev - 15 - 3


player - games - pts
Getzlaff - 125 - 120
Pavelski - 128 - 95
Bergeron - 120 - 91
Perry - 118 - 89
Mike Richards - 136 - 87
Carter - 120 - 74
parise - 97 - 74
Kessler - 101 - 65
Seabrook - 123 - 59
Burns - 81 - 50
Byfuglien - 66 - 50
Brown - 85 - 47
Eric Staal - 58 - 46
Vanek - 69 - 36
Horton - 43 - 36
Backes - 71 - 35
Coburn - 132 - 34
Weber - 65 - 31
suter - 78 - 29
Michalek - 63 - 24
Phanuef - 55 - 21
Eriksson - 34 - 14
Stempniak - 28 - 6
Zherdev - 15 - 3


Best playoff d-man out of the draft is Seabrook by a fair margin.

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

Fleury only won in 2009. He lost in 2008 and 2018. He was riding the pine in 2016 and 2017.

“Riding pine” is an interesting way to describe 2017.

9 wins, 2 shutouts, .924 SV%.

Without him they get bounced by the Capitals and don’t win the cup.

[ricardodw]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

Remember when Phaneuf was part of the Big 3? (Phaneuf, Crosby, AO).
Weird.
#1 for me is Bergeron.

and he wound down so fast. Traded at 24 for spare parts.

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by Scroopy Noopers

“Riding pine” is an interesting way to describe 2017.

9 wins, 2 shutouts, .924 SV%.

Without him they get bounced by the Capitals and don’t win the cup.

This was specifically a response to someone suggesting Fleury has won multiple SCF. The exact wording was "multiple cup final wins".

Fleury played 0 games in the 2017 SCF.

To date he has only won the 2009 SCF. Pretty cut-and-dry.

[Magnum PEI]

Edit: Already covered.

[Nsd1]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

What was the knock on Weber that he was so much lower than Dion?

He took off after he was drafted. Before the draft he didn't have great offensive numbers in junior since he was behind Duncan Keith and a few other guys on the Kelowna Rockets defence. He was also considered under weight for his height. I think he was a late birthday so he was a bit younger than other players. If he was born a few weeks later he probably would have been top fifteen in the 2004 draft.

[dustygoon]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

Remember when Phaneuf was part of the Big 3? (Phaneuf, Crosby, AO).
Weird.
#1 for me is Bergeron.

I must be senile. I thought the "big 3" meant the big 3 blueliners that year.....Coburn, Suter, and Phaneuf.