Backdraft 2002: Ranking the forwards, defensemen & goalies from the 2002 NHL draft
Take a look back at the 2002 NHL draft: We've ranked the top 10 forwards and top 10 defensemen by career NHL points and goalies by career NHL wins.
FORWARDS: Here are the top 10 highest-scoring forwards selected in the 2002 NHL draft, with draft position and NHL games played:
FORWARDS | Draft position | NHL GP | NHL Points |
Rick Nash | 1st overall | 922 | 733 |
Alexander Semin | 13th overall | 650 | 517 |
Alex Steen | 24th overall | 746 | 481 |
Joffrey Lupul | 7th overall | 701 | 420 |
Jiri Hudler | 58th overall | 676 | 417 |
Valtteri Filppula | 95th overall | 716 | 388 |
Jarret Stoll | 36th overall | 872 | 388 |
Matt Stajan | 57th overall | 854 | 378 |
Pierre-Marc Bouchard | 8th overall | 593 | 356 |
Frans Nielsen | 87th overall | 606 | 349 |
NOTES:
--Rick Nash, taken first overall by the Columbus Blue Jackets, has scored over 150 goals and 200 points more than anyone else in the 2002 NHL draft.
--The Detroit Red Wings didn't have a pick until the 58th overall selection, but they managed to draft three of the 11 highest-scoring forwards: Jiri Hudler (58th overall, fifth in points among forwards drafted in 2002), Valtteri Filppula (95th overall, sixth in points among forwards drafted in 2002) and Tomas Fleischmann (63rd overall, 11th in points [335] among forwards drafted in 2002).
--Petr Taticek, drafted ninth overall by the Florida Panthers, is the only player among the first 14 picks to play fewer than 480 NHL games. Taticek skated in three NHL games with Florida during the 2005-06 season. Center Jesse Niinimaki, drafted 15th overall by the Edmonton Oilers, is the highest-picked player who never saw the NHL.
DEFENSEMEN: Here are the top 10 highest-scoring defensemen selected in the 2002 NHL draft, with draft position and NHL games played:
DEFENSEMEN | Draft position | NHL GP | NHL Points |
Duncan Keith | 54th overall | 833 | 458 |
Jay Bouwmeester | 3rd overall | 990 | 376 |
Dennis Wideman | 241st overall | 758 | 369 |
Joni Pitkanen | 4th overall | 535 | 282 |
James Wisniewski | 156th overall | 552 | 274 |
Trevor Daley | 43rd overall | 838 | 259 |
Ryan Whitney | 5th overall | 481 | 259 |
Tom Gilbert | 129th overall | 637 | 218 |
Ian White | 191st overall | 503 | 179 |
Keith Ballard | 11th overall | 604 | 175 |
NOTES:
--Duncan Keith, the 16th defenseman picked and 54th overall selection, leads all 2002-drafted blueliners with 458 points in 833 games.
--Seven of the eight defensemen picked in the first round have played at least 200 NHL games. The exception is Martin Vagner, the eighth rearguard taken 26th overall by the Dallas Stars, who failed to make it to the NHL.
--Jay Bouwmeester, the third overall pick and first defenseman selected, has skated in 990 NHL games to lead all players who were drafted in 2002.
GOALIES: A total of 13 goalies selected in the 2002 NHL draft have appeared in at least one NHL game. Here they are ranked by NHL wins, with draft position and NHL games played:
GOALIES | Draft position | NHL GP | NHL Wins |
Kari Lehtonen | 2nd overall | 553 | 273 |
Cam Ward | 25th overall | 564 | 269 |
Josh Harding | 38th overall | 151 | 60 |
Curtis McElhinney | 176th overall | 147 | 43 |
Frederik Norrena | 213th overall | 100 | 35 |
Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers | 31st overall | 62 | 23 |
Hannu Toivonen | 29th overall | 61 | 18 |
David LeNeveu | 46th overall | 22 | 5 |
Mike McKenna | 172nd overall | 22 | 5 |
Barry Brust | 73rd overall | 11 | 2 |
Tobias Stephan | 34th overall | 11 | 1 |
Rob McVicar | 151st overall | 1 | 0 |
Tyler Weiman | 164th overall | 1 | 0 |
NOTES:
--Three goalies were drafted in the first round in 2002, with No. 2 overall pick Kari Lehtonen nudging No. 25 pick Cam Ward for most wins 273-269. Hannu Toivonen, taken 29th overall by the Boston Bruins, earned 18 victories in 61 NHL appearances.
--Josh Harding, whose career was cut short due to multiple sclerosis, ranks third in wins among 2002-drafted goalies with 60.
--Besides Lehtonen and Ward, the Columbus Blue Jackets' Curtis McElhinney is the only other goalie drafted in 2002 who is till playing in the NHL.
More in the 'Backdraft' series:
Backdraft 2001: Kovalchuk, Zidlicky and Anderson on top
Backdraft 2000: Heatley, Visnovsky and Lundqvist lead the rankings
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