Sports Perspectives

By Alex,

The 2003 NHL draft was a deep one so I wanted to see how selected 1st round forwards were doing. Without further a-doo-adoo:

Where they were drafted in brackets with their current teams. Stats right up to March 10, 2010.

2) Eric Staal – Carolina – 184 goals/410 points/ 463 games. High pick panned out greatly. Won Stanley Cup in 2006.

3) Nathan Horton – Florida -  139 goals/284 pts/408 games. Still looking for consistency.

4) Nikolai Zherdev – (last) New York Rangers -  99 g/239 pts/ 365 gms.  Currently plays for CSKA Moscow in the KHL.

5) Thomas Vanek – Buffalo – 164 g/302 pts/378 gms. Austrian star carving solid career with the Sabres.

6) Milan Michalek – Ottawa – 113 g/246 pts/377 gms. Solid, two-way player with skill.

10) Andrei Kostitsyn – Montreal – 64 g/ 133 pts/231 gms. A disappointment so far relative to talent.

11) Jeff Carter – Philadelphia – 143 g/ 273 pts/ 372 gms. Developing  into an elite sniper.

13) Dustin Brown – Los Angeles – 105 g/235 pts/415 gms. A physical, two-way machine.

17) Zach Parise – New Jersey – 153 g/ 320 pts/ 390 gms. An NHL star is born. Great player.

19) Ryan Getzlaf – Anaheim – 106 g/ 335 pts/ 357 gms. Big, smooth, passing star. Will be a point a game soon.

23) Ryan Kesler – Vancouver – 84 g/202 pts/387 gms. Under rated, gritty player who does it all.

24) Mike Richards – Philadelphia – 105 g /275 pts /355 gms. Meant to be a Flyer. Outstanding all-round player.

28) Corey Perry – Anaheim – 114 g/ 257 pts/ 352 gms. Has established himself in the NHL.

Bonus:

Second round pick Loui Eriksson – Dallas – 81 g/ 171 pts/ 276 games. A pleasant surprise no doubt.

Thoughts:

-Three players on the list – Staal, Perry, Getzlaf – have won Stanley Cup.

-Staal leads all players with most career points (and goals). Kostitsyn has the least.

-Getzlaf leads list with .94 ppg.

-10 players (out of 14) on the list represented their respective countries at the 2010 Winter Olympic games in Vancouver.