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| 2003 NHL Entry Draft | |
|---|---|
 | |
| General information | |
| Date(s) | June 21–22, 2003 |
| Location | Gaylord Entertainment Center Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Overview | |
| First selection |  Marc-Andre Fleury(Pittsburgh Penguins) |
| Hall of Famers | 1 |
The 2003 NHL Entry Draft was the 41st NHL Entry Draft. It was held at the Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville, Tennessee on June 21 and 22, 2003.
Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury was selected first overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins. This was only the third time a goaltender was selected first overall in the draft, after Michel Plasse in 1968 and Rick DiPietro in 2000. Eric Staal was selected second, by the Carolina Hurricanes, and Nathan Horton was the third selection, by the Florida Panthers.
Many analysts rate this draft as having one of the most talented groups of players, some say even better than the 1979 NHL Draft.[1][2][3][4][5] Every first-round pick went on to play in a regular season NHL game. Among those, two played only a handful of games: Hugh Jessiman (2 games) and Shawn Belle (20). All other first round picks had much more substantial NHL careers: the third-fewest games was Marc-Antoine Pouliot with 192. Fleury, Staal, Horton, Nikolay Zherdev, and Patrice Bergeron all became NHL regulars immediately after they were drafted. Milan Michalek was expected to do the same, and was selected for the San Jose Sharks' NHL roster after training camp, but suffered a serious knee injury that ruled him out for the season. All of the top ten selections played at least nine games in the NHL in the 2005–06 season. Calgary Flames' first round selection Dion Phaneuf scored 20 goals in his rookie campaign, becoming the third defenceman to do so, after Brian Leetch and Barry Beck. Mike Richards and Jeff Carter (Flyers), Zach Parise (Devils), Ryan Getzlaf (Ducks), and Eric Staal (Hurricanes) all led their teams in scoring in the 2007–08 regular season, and Dustin Brown (Kings) went on to break the record for most Stanley Cups won by an American team captain (two, in 2012 and 2014).
Later rounds of the draft also featured more players than usual that went on to have substantial NHL careers. These included Shea Weber (49th overall pick), Corey Crawford (52nd), David Backes (62nd), Jimmy Howard (64th), Clarke MacArthur (74th), Jan Hejda (106th), Paul Bissonnette (121st), Kyle Quincey (132nd), Lee Stempniak (148th), Nigel Dawes (149th), Marc Methot (168th), Nate Thompson (183rd), Drew Miller (186th), Joe Pavelski (205th), Kyle Brodziak (214th), Tobias Enstrom (239th), Dustin Byfuglien (245th), Shane O'Brien (250th), Matt Moulson (263rd), Jaroslav Halak (271st), David Jones (288th), and Brian Elliott (291st).
As of 2024, the remaining active players in the NHL from this draft are Corey Perry, Brent Burns, Ryan Suter, and Marc-Andre Fleury.
- ^ Traikos, Michael (July 9, 2010). "Further proof that the 2003 NHL Entry Draft was the best of all time". National Post. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
- ^ "10 years later: Redrafting great 2003 NHL class". Sportsnet. June 23, 2013. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
- ^ Duhatschek, Eric (June 28, 2013). "The 2003 NHL draft changed the fortunes of a number of teams". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
- ^ Harrison, Doug (June 24, 2015). "NHL Draft: Can this year's class rival 2003?". CBC Sports. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
- ^ O'Leary, Sean (June 22, 2018). "2003 redrafted: Staal, Getzlaf sit atop deepest class ever". theScore. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
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