Hindsight is an amazing thing, and allows us to look back and wonder “what could have been.” Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection is far from an exact science and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams – or players – intended. For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.
We’re looking back at the 2005 NHL Draft, which kicked off the salary cap era and ushered in many of the current NHL superstars. The question we’re looking to answer is knowing now what we didn’t know then, how different would this draft look now with the benefit of hindsight?
Here are the results of our redraft so far:
1st Overall: Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins)
2nd Overall: Carey Price (Mighty Ducks of Anaheim)
3rd Overall: Anze Kopitar (Carolina Hurricanes)
4th Overall: Jonathan Quick (Minnesota Wild)
5th Overall: Kris Letang (Montreal Canadiens)
6th Overall: Tuukka Rask (Columbus Blue Jackets)
7th Overall: Bobby Ryan (Chicago Blackhawks)
8th Overall: Marc-Edouard Vlasic (San Jose Sharks)
9th Overall: Ben Bishop (Ottawa Senators)
10th Overall: James Neal (Vancouver Canucks)
11th Overall: T.J. Oshie (Los Angeles Kings)
12th Overall: Keith Yandle (New York Rangers)
13th Overall: Paul Stastny (Buffalo Sabres)
14th Overall: Marc Staal (Washington Capitals)
15th Overall: Patric Hornqvist (New York Islanders)
16th Overall: Niklas Hjalmarsson (Atlanta Thrashers)
17th Overall: Anton Stralman (Phoenix Coyotes)
18th Overall: Jack Johnson (Nashville Predators)
19th Overall: Matt Niskanen (Detroit Red Wings)
20th Overall: Justin Abdelkader (Florida Panthers)
21st Overall: Martin Hanzal (Toronto Maple Leafs)
Now we move forward to the 22nd pick, which was held by the Boston Bruins.
To recap how this works:
- We will go through the 2005 NHL Draft and have our readers select, through a voting process, who they think should have been taken with the selection.
- The entire first round will be redrafted, spanning picks one through thirty. The new selection is chosen by the majority of votes.
Back in 2005, the Bruins selected defenseman Matt Lashoff out of Kitchener of the OHL. He was billed as an offensive blueliner and he showed signs of living up to those expectations after being drafted, picking up 47 points in just 56 games in 2005-06 at the junior level. He also averaged 0.59 points per game at the AHL level on his entry-level contract which is strong production for any defender.
However, that failed to translate into much NHL success. He played in 46 games with the Bruins (recording just eight points) before being dealt to Tampa Bay as part of a package for Mark Recchi, who went on to play two more years in Boston. Lashoff didn’t fare much better with the Lightning, seeing just 17 games of action before getting traded to Toronto, where he played in just 11 contests. All in all, Lashoff has played in 74 career NHL games and none since the 2010-11 season.
Since then, he has bounced around, playing in five different countries and leagues over the past five seasons. This year, he has caught on with San Antonio of the AHL (affiliate of Colorado), playing in 13 games. He has five points in those contests but also possesses a -15 plus/minus rating, ranking him last out of 865 skaters to play in at least one AHL game this season.
With the 22nd pick of the 2005 NHL Redraft, who should the Bruins select? Cast your vote below!
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