Date(s) June 21–22, 2003 | Location Nashville, Tennessee | |
First selection Marc-Andre Fleury
Selected by: Pittsburgh Penguins | ||
The 2003 NHL Entry Draft was held at the Gaylord Entertainment Center (now Bridgestone Arena) in Nashville, Tennessee on June 21, 2003.
Marc-Andre Fleury was selected first overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins, only the third goalie in NHL history selected as the first overall draft choice (Michel Plasse being the first and Rick DiPietro the second). Eric Staal was second, picked by the Carolina Hurricanes, and Nathan Horton was selected third by the Florida Panthers.
Many analysts have pegged this draft as one of the most talented groups, some even say better than the 1979 NHL Draft, ever selected in a single draft. Every single first-round pick went on to play in a regular season NHL game. Notable players to play in only a handful of games include Hugh Jessiman (2 games) and Shawn Belle (20). The player with the third fewest games was Marc-Antoine Pouliot, who played significantly more, skating in 192 games. Fleury, Staal, Horton, Nikolay Zherdev, and Patrice Bergeron all played significant time in the NHL immediately after they were drafted. Milan Michalek also made the San Jose Sharks out of training camp that year, but suffered a serious knee injury that cost him the season. Calgary Flames' first round selection Dion Phaneuf scored 20 goals in his rookie campaign, becoming only the third defenseman to do so, after Brian Leetch and Barry Beck). Almost all of the top 10 selections played at least 10 games in the NHL in the 2005–06 season (Braydon Coburn is the only one to play less, at nine games). 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. Later rounds also provided more NHL players than usual, such as Shea Weber (49th), Jan Hejda (106th), Kyle Quincey (132nd), Lee Stempniak (148th), Nigel Dawes (149th), Brad Richardson (163rd), 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).