The last 5 first-overall picks: Where are they now?

By: Cristina Hauerstein

The NHL and its fans have a fascination with all those players that go first-overall since they're supposed to be the best of the best from that year, and hopefully in the future a league favorite and a hall of famer. Here's how the last 5 players have been doing so far, and a prediction of how they might do in the future.

The first player is Jack Hughes and he was drafted by the New Jersey Devils in 2019. His first two seasons were a rough patch, where in the 2019-20 season he only recorded 21 points (7G, 14A) in 61 games and in 2020-21 he recorded 31 points (11G, 20A) in 56 games. A lot of people considered him a bust because he wasn't recording too many points comapred to his record in the U.S. Natioanl Team (U17, U18) and on the Toronto Marlboros, which in all of these teams, he recorded more points than games played. He is also an injury-prone player, which has caused him to not have a complete 82-game season. For example, in the 2021-22 season, although that's when things started to pick up for him, having 56 points in total, he only got to play 49 games.

Last season is where Hughes really took flight, in his 4th NHL season, which is totally normal for a young player since most of them slowly develop and adapt into the league. In the 2022-23 season, he was one point short to complete a 100 point season while he played 78 games. Last season he almost reached 50 goals (43) and he had 56 assists. Connor McDavid was recording about the same numbers on his 4th season as well.

Despite being injured this season as well, in the 10 games he has played, he already has 20 points. Hughes has an average of 2 points per game so far. That's a great start to his season and hopefully, after recovering from his injury, he can continue to have an amazing season. If he plays like he did last year, but better, and doesn't get injured, he could reach a 120 point season. Not an easy task but at this rate, it isn't an impossible task.

The second player is Alexis Lafrenière and he was drafted by the New York Rangers in 2020. In comparison with Jack Hughes, Lafrenière isn't doing too good. In total, he has played 230 games in the NHL but only has 102 points (54G, 48A). his stats in the QMJHL, where he played for the Rimouski Océanic, he played 52 games and had a 112 season from 2019-20 and in 2018-19 he played 61 games and had 105 points.

Lafrenière had 21 points in 56 games in his first season and in 2022-23 he had 39 points in 81 games, which is a little low for a first-overall pick. But this season hasn't been bad so far, with 11 points in 14 games, which 11 of those points are 7 goals and a +/- of +3 so far (and last year he had a +10). He might not have a strong season like Hughes, but he can make a hughe jump from the previous years, just like Jack Hughes did in his 4th season.

The third is Owen Power and he was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres in 2021. Power hasn't played many games, with a total of 103 game and a total of 47 points, which isn't bad considering he was drafted a little over two years ago. During his second seasons he got 35 points in 79 games and now he has 9 points in 16 games, which is better than the pervious season seo far. Overall, he has a +/- of +16 in all the seasons he has played so far.

Power is on a team that has had its ups and downs these past few seasons, but he's a great player. When he played for the University of Michigan, he had a total of 48 points in 59 games. Almost a point per game. He's a player that is still in the very beginning of his career and has a lot of time to expand and learn to become better for himself and his team.

The fourth is Juraj Slafkovsky and he was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens in 2022. Slafkovsky enterned a very poor team in 2022 and he himself had a slow start, and he only played 39 games, not even half a season. Within those 39 games he only got 10 points (4G, 6A). During this season, he has 3 points in 16 games. In the other leagues, he did have pretty good statistics, in most of them, having more points than games played like the rest of these players.

He could have story like Jack Hughes', where he has a slow start but is able to build up his talent and prove everyone wrong, but so far, it doesn't look like it. Being on a struggling team also affects his results on ice. A trade to a better team could possibility to help him succeed.

The last (but certainly not least) is Connor Bedard and he was drafted this summer, 2023, by the Chicago Blackhawks. Chicago is also a team that struggled a lot, to the point that it has become a running joke in the league between the fans. But Bedard is not included in this joke.

Bedard has 13 points in his 13 first games in the NHL, including 9 goals. It's a great start for a star like him and he proved his worth while playing for the national Canadian team (U20, U18) and on the Regina Prats. the last time he played for Canada U20, he had 23 points (9G, 14A) in only 7 games. It's absolutely insane. His last season with the Regina Pats he got 143 points in 57 games. Another insane statistic. The previous season with the Regina Prats he got 100 points.

Bedard is looking like he's going to have a huge impact on the NHL and on the Chicago Blackhawks. It's too early to make any long-term predictions for such a young player, but he's already proving his worth, and he's on an easy route to a 50 point season this year.

Although some of these are too early to say, and some might be too good to be true, it is okay to hope that these players have successful careers, especially if it benefits the team you like. But we want to know what you think. Do you agree with these predictions? Why or why not? Let us know on our instagram or our twitter account.