2003 NHL Entry Draft



The 2003 NHL Entry Draft was held at the Gaylord Entertainment Center (now Bridgestone Arena) in Nashville, Tennessee on June 21, 2003.

Background
Marc-Andre Fleury was selected first overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins, only the third goalie in NHL history selected as the first overall draft choice (Michel Plasse being the first and Rick DiPietro the second). Eric Staal was second, picked by the Carolina Hurricanes, and Nathan Horton was selected third by the Florida Panthers.

Many analysts have pegged this draft as one of the most talented groups, some even say better than the 1979 NHL Draft ever selected in a single draft. Every single first-round pick went on to play in a regular season NHL game. Notable players to play in only a handful of games include Hugh Jessiman (2 games) and Shawn Belle (20).

The player with the third fewest games was Marc-Antoine Pouliot, who played significantly more, skating in 192 games. Fleury, Staal, Horton, and Nikolay Zherdev all played significant time in the NHL immediately after they were drafted. Milan Michalek also made the San Jose Sharks out of training camp that year, but suffered a serious knee injury that cost him the season.

Also, second-round draftee Patrice Bergeron also saw significant playing time with the Boston Bruins. As well, the Calgary Flames' first round selection Dion Phaneuf scored 20 goals in his rookie campaign (the only other defensemen to do that were Brian Leetch and Barry Beck).

Almost all of the top 10 selections played at least 10 games in the NHL in the 2005–06 season (Braydon Coburn is the only one to play less, at nine games).

Every player selected in the first round has played a game in the NHL, with Hugh Jessiman being the last to make his debut, playing his first NHL game for the Florida Panthers on February 27, 2011. Mike Richards and Jeff Carter (Flyers), Zach Parise (Devils), Ryan Getzlaf (Ducks) and Eric Staal (Hurricanes) all led their teams in scoring in the 2007–08 regular season.

Later rounds also provided more NHL players than usual such as Jan Hejda (106th), Kyle Quincey (132nd), Lee Stempniak (148th), Nigel Dawes (149th), Brad Richardson (163rd), Joe Pavelski (205th), Kyle Brodziak (214th), Tobias Enstrom (239th), Dustin Byfuglien (245th), Shane O'Brien (250th), Matt Moulson (263rd), Jaroslav Halak (271st), David Jones (288th) and Brian Elliott (291st).

Draft Day Trades

 * The Florida Panthers trade the first pick (Marc-Andre Fleury) and 73rd pick (Daniel Carcillo) to the Pittsburgh Penguins for the third pick (Nathan Horton), the 55th pick (Stefan Meyer) and Mikael Samuelsson.
 * The Boston Bruins trade the 16th pick (Steve Bernier) to the San Jose Sharks for the 21st pick (Mark Stuart), the 66th pick (Masi Marjamaki) and the 107th pick (Byron Bitz)
 * The Edmonton Oilers trade the 17th pick (Zach Parise) to the New Jersey Devils for the 22nd pick (Marc-Antoine Pouliot) and the 68th pick (Jean-Francois Jacques).
 * The St. Louis Blues trade Cory Stillman to the Tampa Bay Lightning for the 62nd pick (David Backes).
 * The New Jersey Devils trade Mike Danton and the 101st pick (Konstantin Zakharov) to the St. Louis Blues for the 93rd pick (Ivan Khomutov).
 * The Chicago Blackhawks trade Andrei Nikolishin to the Colorado Avalanche for the 120th pick (Mitch Maunu)
 * The St. Louis Blues trade Tyson Nash to the Phoenix Coyotes for the 148th pick (Lee Stempniak)