The New Jersey Devils and Philadelphia Flyers are hoping that their newest jewels, Nico Hischier and Nolan Patrick, will eventually develop into NHL superstars.
Since 2010, some NHL draft classes have produced strong top-two picks while others have failed to live up to their potential. Below, we ranked the 1-2 draft picks in each class since.
- The list excludes the 2017 draft.
7) 2012- 1st overall: Nail Yakupov, 2nd overall: Ryan Murray
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It’s tough to argue with this one.
Neither Yakupov or Murray have shown true flashes of greatness since entering the league. Unless Yakupov miraculously breaks out in the next few seasons, he will be remembered as one of the biggest busts in NHL history. 120 points through 292 games simply doesn’t cut it as a number-one pick. Murray, on the other hand, has proven to be solid when healthy, but that doesn’t cut it either. The Regina native has played in just 220 games through four NHL seasons.
Notable players taken behind them: Alex Galchenyuk, Morgan Rielly, Hampus Lindholm, Jacob Trouba, Colton Parayko, Shayne Gostisbehere
6) 2011- 1st overall: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 2nd overall: Gabriel Landeskog
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‘The Nuge’ hasn’t struggled like his former teammate Nail Yakupov, but hasn’t been all that impressive either. After a promising rookie season which saw him accumulate 52 points in 62 games, the Burnaby, B.C. native has only improved on that total by four points since (56 in 2013-14, 2014-15). This year he reached the playoffs for the first time and failed to score a single goal, finishing with just four apples. At best, he has been a decent number-two center.
Gabe Landeskog is another player who started his career off with a bang, but has quieted down more recently. In 2011, He was named the Calder Trophy winner after establishing himself as an all-around player early on, and managed to enjoy some strong campaigns between 2013-2016 as well. However, last year he squeezed out just 33 points in 72 games while serving as the captain of a historically bad team.
There is still time for both players to develop, but last year’s season was underwhelming for both of them.
Notable players taken behind them: Jonathan Huberdeau, Mark Scheifele, Dougie Hamilton, J.T. Miller, Brandon Saad, Johnny Gaudreau, Ondrej Palat
5) 2014- 1st overall pick: Aaron Ekblad, 2nd overall pick: Sam Reinhart
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Ekblad has been very impressive since entering the league, and proved to be a man amongst the boys in just his first season. The 6’4, 216 pound giant won the Calder Trophy in his first season and has been a rock for Florida ever since.
Over the past two years, Reinhart has been pretty good, but not great. The Buffalo Sabres center scored an impressive 23 goals as a rookie but saw that number decrease to 17 last season. Relatively speaking, he hasn’t lived up to the expectations of a 2nd overall pick yet.
Everyone can take a breather, though, because he’s just 21 and some players take longer to develop than others.
Notable players taken behind them: Leon Draisaitl, William Nylander, Nikolaj Ehlers, Dylan Larkin, Viktor Arvidsson
4) 2013- 1st overall: Nathan MacKinnon, 2nd overall: Aleksander Barkov
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MacKinnon and Barkov have both enjoyed success thus far.
MacKinnon is oozing with talent but hasn't managed to match his rookie total of 63 points over the last three seasons. That can be attributed to playing on a horrible team lacking talent. Contrary to MacKinnon, Barkov has played on a solid team and has thrived in recent years. He has experienced his share of injuries, but the Finn has showcased the tools that should make him a number-one center for years to come.
Notable players taken behind them: Jonathan Drouin, Seth Jones, Sean Monahan, Bo Horvat
3) 2010- 1st overall: Taylor Hall, 2nd overall: Tyler Seguin
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Both Hall and Seguin have gradually established themselves as two of the NHL’s top scorers. Hall has surprisingly failed to record 30 goals in a single season yet, but is an underrated playmaker as he has tallied at least 33 assists four times so far in his career. The guy who went right behind him, Dallas Stars forward Tyler Seguin, has been one of the league’s faces of consistency since joining his new team. After a trade which sent him packing from the Boston Bruins, the 25-year-old has scored at least 72 points with 40+ assists in his last four campaigns.
Overall, these two have panned out very nicely.
Notable players taken behind them: Ryan Johansen, Jeff Skinner, Vladimir Tarasenko, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Justin Faulk, Tyler Toffoli,
2) 2016- 1st overall: Auston Matthews, 2nd overall: Patrik Laine
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This choice might get some backlash, especially since the duo is ranked ahead of the 2010 pairing after just one season. Both players have already displayed tremendous ability, as Laine managed to reach 36 goals while Matthews became the first rookie since Ovechkin to hit 40. Time will tell if they take leaps forwards or backwards, but after what we witnessed last year, it’s tough to imagine it being the latter.
Notable players taken behind them: Jesse Puljujarvi, Matthew Tkachuk, Jacob Chyrchrun
1 ) 2015- 1st overall: Connor McDavid, 2nd overall: Jack Eichel
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For all we know, this could go down as the best 1-2 punch in NHL history.
After a rookie season which saw him average more than a point-a-game, McDavid took a huge leap forward as a sophomore. 30 goals, 70 assists, a playoff appearance, and a couple of awards were all accomplished by the 20-year-old in just his second season. Eichel too was impressive in his second year, as he saw a boost in production as well. In just 61 games, the Sabre scored 24 goals and assisted 33 on a weak Buffalo team. It wouldn’t be a huge surprise if he and McDavid were both in the top-five in NHL scoring next season.
Notable players taken behind them: Mitch Marner, Ivan Provorov, Zach Werenski, Miko Rantanen, Sebastian Aho
That’s our take on the 1-2 picks drafted since 2010. Let us know what yours is at @BarDown!
