NHL Draft History – 7th 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 2020.

The goal of this series is to reflect on some of the biggest steals and some of the biggest busts taken in the first round over the past 10 years, as well as to shine a light on some players who could potentially see themselves taken with the corresponding pick at the upcoming 2021 NHL Draft.

1968 – Jim McInally (D, Hamilton Red Wings)
1969 – Tony Featherstone (RW, Oakland Seals)
1970 – Greg Polis (LW, Pittsburgh Penguins) 
1971 – Chuck Arnason (RW, Montreal Canadiens) 
1972 – Bill Barber (F, Philadelphia Flyers) 
1973 – Blaine Stoughton (F, Pittsburgh Penguins) 
1974 – Doug Risebrough (F, Montreal Canadiens) 
1975 – Rick Lapointe (D, Detroit Red Wings) 
1976 – Bernie Federko (C, St. Louis Blues)
1977 – Brad Maxwell (D, Minnesota North Stars)
1978 – Ken Linseman (F, Philadelphia Flyers)
1979 – Keith Brown (D, Chicago Blackhawks)
1980 – Rick Lanz (D, Vancouver Canucks)
1981 – Mark Hunter (F, Montreal Canadiens)
1982 – Ken Yaremchuk (C, Chicago Blackhawks)
1983 – Russ Courtnall (RW, Toronto Maple Leafs)
1984 – Shawn Burr (LW, Detroit Red Wings)
1985 – Ulf Dahlen (RW, New York Rangers)
1986 – Dan Woodley (C, Vancouver Canucks)
1987 – Luke Richardson (D, Toronto Maple Leafs)
1988 – Martin Gelinas (LW, Los Angeles Kings)
1989 – Doug Zmolek (D, Minnesota North Stars) 
1990 – Darryl Sydor (D, Los Angeles Kings)
1991 – Alek Stojanov (RW, Vancouver Canucks)
1992 – Ryan Sittler (LW, Philadelphia Flyers)
1993 – Jason Arnott (C, Edmonton Oilers) 
1994 – Jamie Storr (G, Los Angeles Kings)
1995 – Shane Doan (C, Winnipeg Jets)
1996 – Erik Rasmussen (C, Buffalo Sabres)
1997 – Paul Mara (D, Tampa Bay Lightning)
1998 – Manny Malhotra (C, New York Rangers)
1999 – Kris Beech (C, Washington Capitals)
2000 – Lars Jonsson (D, Boston Bruins)
2001 – Mike Komisarek (D, Montreal Canadiens)
2002 – Joffrey Lupul (RW, Anaheim Ducks)
2003 – Ryan Suter (D, Nashville Predators)
2004 – Rostislav Olesz – (C, Florida Panthers)
2005 – Jack Skille (RW, Chicago Blackhawks)
2006 – Kyle Okposo (RW, New York Islanders)
2007 – Jakub Voracek (RW, Columbus Blue Jackets)
2008 – Colin Wilson (C, Nashville Predators)
2009 – Nazem Kadri (C, Toronto Maple Leafs)

All stats and information were courtesy of Elite Prospects and Hockey Reference