NHL Draft History – 5th Pick Overall

Welcome to a brand new series here at The Hockey Writers called “Road to the Draft.” In this series, our draft contributors will count down from 32nd overall all the way to first overall and revisit each player taken with that pick between 2010 and 2021.

The focus of the series is on comparing players taken at the same spot in their respective draft years and evaluating the biggest success stories and failed projects. At fifth overall, the talent level available is high, but the potential to hurt the franchise long-term with a bad pick is equally as high as a result.

1968 – Jim Benzelock (RW, Minnesota North Stars)
1969 – Dick Redmond (D, Minnesota North Stars)
1970 – Ray Martinyuk (G, Montréal Canadiens)
1971 – Richard Martin (LW, Buffalo Sabres)
1972 – Jim Schoenfeld (D, Buffalo Sabres)
1973 – John Davidson (G, St. Louis Blues)
1974 – Cam Connor (RW, Montréal Canadiens)
1975 – Rick Lapointe (D, Detroit Red Wings)
1976 – Bjorn Johansson (D, California Golden Seals)
1977 – Mike Crombeen (RW, Cleveland Barons)
1978 – Mike Gillis (LW, Colorado Rockies)
1979 – Rick Vaive (RW, Vancouver Canucks)
1980 – Darren Veitch (D, Washington Capitals)
1981 – Joe Cirella (D, Colorado Rockies)
1982 – Scott Stevens (D, Washington Capitals)
1983 – Tom Barrasso (G, Buffalo Sabres)
1984 – Petr Svoboda (D, Montréal Canadiens)
1985 – Dana Murzyn (D, Hartford Whalers)
1986 – Shawn Anderson (D, Buffalo Sabres)
1987 – Chris Joseph (D, Pittsburgh Penguins)
1988 – Daniel Doré (RW, Québec Nordiques)
1989 – Bill Guerin (RW, New Jersey Devils)
1990 – Jaromir Jagr (RW, Pittsburgh Penguins)
1991 – Aaron Ward (D, Winnipeg Jets)
1992 – Darius Kasparaitis (D, New York Islanders)
1993 – Rob Niedermayer (C, Florida Panthers)
1994 – Jeff O’Neil (C, Hartford Whalers)
1995 – Daymond Langkow (C, Tampa Bay Lightning)
1996 – Richard Jackman (D, Dallas Stars)
1997 – Eric Brewer (D, New York Islanders)
1998 – Vitaly Vishnevsky (D, Anaheim Ducks)
1999 – Tim Connolly (C, New York Islanders)
2000 – Raffi Torres (LW, New York Islanders)
2001 – Stanislav Chistov (LW, Anaheim Ducks)
2002 – Ryan Whitney (D, Pittsburgh Penguins)
2003 – Tomas Vanek (LW, Buffalo Sabres)
2004 – Blake Wheeler (RW, Phoenix Coyotes)
2005 – Carey Price (G, Montréal Canadiens)
2006 – Phil Kessel (RW, Boston Bruins)
2007 – Karl Alzner (D, Washington Capitals)
2008 – Luke Schenn (D, Toronto Maple Leafs)
2009 – Brayden Schenn (C, Los Angeles Kings)