Colorado Avalanche 1st Overall Pick Mackinnon vs. Drouin vs. Jones

The 2013 NHL Draft was considered one of the best drafts if not the best NHL draft since 2003. Did the Colorado Avalanche make the right selection with center Nathan Mackinnon? I thought Mackinnon was the best player in the draft however defenseman Seth Jones was one of the best defenseman coming into the draft in a few years and top defenseman can be difficult to find. Jonathan Drouin may have more pure talent than Mackinnon but may not quite have the same types of intangibles and he may never have Mackinnon's ability on both ends of the ice.

More goes into how these players do than their statistics but you can follow the statistics of these three players here for fun to start. Yes I am not including the 2nd overall pick Aleksander Barkov because the purpose of this is not just to compare all the picks, we want to keep the battles to as few players as possible and Mackinnon vs Jones is interesting because it is a forward vs a top defenseman and Mackinnon vs Drouin is intriguing because they were linemates at Halifax.

1st Overall Pick Center Nathan Mackinnon Colorado Avalanche

3rd Overall Pick Left Wing Jonathan Drouin Tampa Bay Lightning


4th Overall Pick Defenseman Seth Jones Nashville Predators

Florida Panthers 2nd Overall Pick Barkov vs. Drouin vs. Jones

The 2013 NHL Draft was considered one of the best drafts if not the best NHL draft since 2003. Did the Florida Panthers make the right selection with center Aleksander Barkov? Barkov is more physical than Jonathan Drouin but Drouin is a very gifted player with vision, puckhandling and quick hands. Defenseman Seth Jones was one of the best defenseman coming into the draft in a few years and top defenseman can be difficult to find.

More goes into how these players do than their statistics but you can follow the statistics of these three players here for fun to start.

2nd Overall Pick Center Aleksander Barkov Florida Panthers

3rd Overall Pick Left Wing Jonathan Drouin Tampa Bay Lightning


4th Overall Pick Defenseman Seth Jones Nashville Predators

Tampa Bay Lightning 3rd Overall Pick Drouin vs. Jones

The 2013 NHL Draft was considered one of the best drafts if not the best NHL draft since 2003. Did the Tampa Bay Lightning make the right selection with left wing Jonathan Drouin? You could have made an argument before the draft that Jonathan Drouin was the best prospect in the 2013 NHL Draft with his overall talent. Did the benefit of playing on the same line with 1st overall pick Nate Mackinnon outweigh Drouin's talent? Did Jonathan have one great breakout year that may have been somewhat of a fluke or is he just scratching the surface of his potential? The Lightning passed up one of the best defenseman to come into the draft, Seth Jones who went immediately after the Lightning selected Drouin.

More goes into how these players do than their statistics but you can follow the statistics of these three players here for fun to start.

3rd Overall Pick Left Wing Jonathan Drouin Tampa Bay Lightning


4th Overall Pick Defenseman Seth Jones Nashville Predators

Nashville Predators 4th Overall Pick Jones vs. Nurse vs. Ristolainen

The 2013 NHL Draft was considered one of the best drafts if not the best NHL draft since 2003. Did the Nashville Predators make the right selection with the top defenseman prospect Seth Jones? The Predators defensive corps was already talented and obviously with Shea Weber, Nashville has one of the NHL's top defenseman if not the top defenseman. Jones did stand out as the top defenseman in the draft prior to the draft however this was a very good draft for defenseman. We could include 5th overall pick Center Elias Lindholm in the battle but I'm going to stick with a battle of the top 3 defensemen.

More goes into how these players do than their statistics but you can follow the statistics of these three players here for fun to start.
4th Overall Pick Defenseman Seth Jones Nashville Predators

7th Overall Pick Defenseman Darnell Nurse Edmonton Oilers

8th Overall Pick Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen Buffalo Sabres

Carolina Hurricanes 5th Overall Pick Lindholm vs. Monahan vs. Nichushkin

The 2013 NHL Draft was considered one of the best drafts if not the best NHL draft since 2003. Did the Carolina Hurricanes make the right selection with Swedish center Elias Lindholm? Lindholm was evaluated to be a good two way center prospect with a solid international resume but they passed on another solid two way center prospect Sean Monahan and a Russian big and talented forward Valeri Nichushkin. Carolina also passed on very good defensemen but we'll stick with the forwards in this battle.

More goes into how these players do than their statistics but you can follow the statistics of these three players here for fun to start.
5th Overall Pick Center Elias Lindholm Carolina Hurricanes

6th Overall Pick Center Sean Monahan Calgary Flames

10th Overall Pick Left Wing/Right Wing Valeri Nichushkin

Calgary Flames 6th Overall Pick Monahan vs. Nurse vs. Ristolainen

The 2013 NHL Draft was considered one of the best drafts if not the best NHL draft since 2003. Did the Calgary Flames make the right selection with center Sean Monahan? Calgary had 3 first round selections in a good draft for defenseman and they didn't use one of the three picks for a defenseman. The Flames may have some young defenseman in the organization and Monahan may have been a safe pick but did they ultimately make a mistake passing up defensemen Darnell Nurse or Rasmus Ristolainen? The Flames took wingers Emile Poirier and Morgan Klimchuk with their other two first round selections and defenseman Keegan Kanzig with a 3rd round draft pick.

More goes into how these players do than their statistics but you can follow the statistics of these three players here for fun to start.
6th Overall Pick Center Sean Monahan Calgary Flames

7th Overall Pick Defenseman Darnell Nurse Edmonton Oilers

8th Overall Pick Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen Buffalo Sabres

Edmonton Oilers 7th Overall Pick Nurse vs. Ristolainen and 5 other Defensemen

The 2013 NHL Draft was considered one of the best drafts if not the best NHL draft since 2003. Did the Edmonton Oilers make the right selection on Defenseman Darnell Nurse? Edmonton basically had the pick of several of the top prospects on defense besides 4th overall selection Seth Jones. Rasmus Ristolainen who they passed on may have been the most polished and ready defenseman on the board while Nurse has athleticism and upside.
This is possibly going to be an exciting class of defensemen to follow although it could take for many to get to the NHL. Seven defenseman were drafted from Edmonton's 7th overall pick through San Jose's 18th overall pick.

More goes into how these players do than their statistics but you can follow the statistics of these three players here for fun to start.
7th Overall Pick Defenseman Darnell Nurse Edmonton Oilers

8th Overall Pick Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen Buffalo Sabres
11th Overall Pick Defenseman Samuel Morin Philadelphia Flyers
13th Overall Pick Defenseman Josh Morrissey Winnipeg Jets
15th Overall Pick Defenseman Ryan Pulock New York Islanders
16th Overall Pick Defenseman Nikita Zadorov Buffalo Sabres
18th Overall Pick Defenseman Mirco Muller San Jose Sharks