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Backdraft 2002: Ranking the forwards, defensemen & goalies from the 2002 NHL draft

Backdraft 2002: Ranking the forwards, defensemen & goalies from the 2002 NHL draft

Take a look back at the 2002 NHL draft: We've ranked the top 10 forwards and top 10 defensemen by career NHL points and goalies by career NHL wins.

FORWARDS: Here are the top 10 highest-scoring forwards selected in the 2002 NHL draft, with draft position and NHL games played:

FORWARDS

Draft position

NHL GP

NHL Points

Rick Nash

1st overall

922

733

Alexander Semin

13th overall

650

517

Alex Steen

24th overall

746

481

Joffrey Lupul

7th overall

701

420

Jiri Hudler

58th overall

676

417

Valtteri Filppula

95th overall

716

388

Jarret Stoll

36th overall

872

388

Matt Stajan

57th overall

854

378

Pierre-Marc Bouchard

8th overall

593

356

Frans Nielsen

87th overall

606

349

NOTES:

--Rick Nash, taken first overall by the Columbus Blue Jackets, has scored over 150 goals and 200 points more than anyone else in the 2002 NHL draft.

--The Detroit Red Wings didn't have a pick until the 58th overall selection, but they managed to draft three of the 11 highest-scoring forwards: Jiri Hudler (58th overall, fifth in points among forwards drafted in 2002), Valtteri Filppula (95th overall, sixth in points among forwards drafted in 2002) and Tomas Fleischmann (63rd overall, 11th in points [335] among forwards drafted in 2002).

--Petr Taticek, drafted ninth overall by the Florida Panthers, is the only player among the first 14 picks to play fewer than 480 NHL games. Taticek skated in three NHL games with Florida during the 2005-06 season. Center Jesse Niinimaki, drafted 15th overall by the Edmonton Oilers, is the highest-picked player who never saw the NHL.

DEFENSEMEN: Here are the top 10 highest-scoring defensemen selected in the 2002 NHL draft, with draft position and NHL games played: 

DEFENSEMEN

Draft position

NHL GP

NHL Points

Duncan Keith

54th overall

833

458

Jay Bouwmeester

3rd overall

990

 376

Dennis Wideman

241st overall

758

 369

Joni Pitkanen

4th overall

535

 282

James Wisniewski

156th overall

552

 274

Trevor Daley

43rd overall

838

 259

Ryan Whitney

5th overall

481

 259

Tom Gilbert

129th overall

637

218

Ian White

191st overall

503

179

Keith Ballard

11th overall

604

 175

 NOTES:

--Duncan Keith, the 16th defenseman picked and 54th overall selection, leads all 2002-drafted blueliners with 458 points in 833 games.

--Seven of the eight defensemen picked in the first round have played at least 200 NHL games. The exception is Martin Vagner, the eighth rearguard taken 26th overall by the Dallas Stars, who failed to make it to the NHL.

--Jay Bouwmeester, the third overall pick and first defenseman selected, has skated in 990 NHL games to lead all players who were drafted in 2002.

GOALIES: A total of 13 goalies selected in the 2002 NHL draft have appeared in at least one NHL game. Here they are ranked by NHL wins, with draft position and NHL games played:

GOALIES

Draft position

NHL GP

NHL Wins

Kari Lehtonen

2nd overall

553

273

Cam Ward

25th overall

564

269

Josh Harding

38th overall

151

60

Curtis McElhinney

176th overall

147

43

Frederik Norrena

213th overall

100

35

Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers

31st overall

62

23

Hannu Toivonen

29th overall

61

18

David LeNeveu

46th overall

22

5

Mike McKenna

172nd overall

22

5

Barry Brust

73rd overall

11

2

Tobias Stephan

34th overall

11

1

Rob McVicar

151st overall

1

0

Tyler Weiman

164th overall

1

0

NOTES:

--Three goalies were drafted in the first round in 2002, with No. 2 overall pick Kari Lehtonen nudging No. 25 pick Cam Ward for most wins 273-269. Hannu Toivonen, taken 29th overall by the Boston Bruins, earned 18 victories in 61 NHL appearances.

--Josh Harding, whose career was cut short due to multiple sclerosis, ranks third in wins among 2002-drafted goalies with 60.

--Besides Lehtonen and Ward, the Columbus Blue Jackets' Curtis McElhinney is the only other goalie drafted in 2002 who is till playing in the NHL.

More in the 'Backdraft' series:

Backdraft 2001: Kovalchuk, Zidlicky and Anderson on top

Backdraft 2000: Heatley, Visnovsky and Lundqvist lead the rankings

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