Hindsight is an amazing thing, and allows us to look back and wonder “what could have been.” Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection is far from an exact science and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams – or players – intended. For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.
The summer doldrums often provide opportunities to look back at the past – moves that have worked out and others that didn’t go exactly as planned. The same can be said for draft picks – some early selections have panned out and become franchise players while others came up well short of expectations. In the past, we’ve looked back at the drafts in 2005, 2006, and 2007 and now, it’s time to do the same for 2008.
This draft class was a pretty strong one with 33 players (and counting) playing in at least 500 NHL games while it also has some All-Stars and future Hall of Famers. On the flip side, there were four players who never saw a taste of NHL action and certainly won’t be slotted as high in our redraft.
Over the coming weeks as we wait for training camp to begin, we’ll be going through the 2008 NHL Entry Draft to have the PHR community select who they would have picked knowing the result of the player’s career. We’ll include a list of players to vote for, and update the first round as it progresses.
The Tampa Bay Lightning had the first pick in 2008 after winning the lottery to hold onto the top selection. They were faced with the choice of picking a franchise center or a franchise defenseman with Steven Stamkos and Drew Doughty being the consensus top two selections in Brian Lawton’s first draft at the helm. Obviously, they opted for the former and Stamkos has been as advertised as the leading scorer from this draft class although Doughty has played the most games and has been nominated for end-of-season awards more frequently. With the benefit of hindsight, did Tampa Bay make the right choice or would they have been better off with the franchise defender instead? Or someone else entirely?
With the first pick of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, who should the Tampa Bay Lightning select? Cast your vote below.
App users, click here to vote.
YES. Favorite series across all of the TR sites. Thanks for bringing it back guys!
Lol love that matt martin and mdz already have a vote
1-2 won’t change. After that it will massively change
Recency bias.
Doughty is a better player, stayed healthier and had a better career.
He’s spent stretches of his career as the best at his position and, for a while, a top 5 player in all of hockey. Stamkos isn’t at that level.
Good grief. “Recency bias??” Stamkos put up over 200 goals his first five seasons. He’s been top five in All Stars seven seasons to Doughty’s four.
And huh. Looking over the whole draft, what a sucka$$ draft for goalies. Only three impact goalies in the whole draft: Markstrom, Holtby and Allen.
You can offer me Stamkos and picks and I still take Doughty.
Easy call.
People are forgetting just how good Doughty was at his peak. He controlled the entire game.
Josi is only #2 on this poll because of this year. Amazing stats for one season but how many cups does he have? 1-2 were perfect picks as is.
Reality first two are same just your preference. either who been correct both multiply stanley cup winners. Both are at least serious possible future hall of famers. I would vote both in. after these two gets very interesting . Do you look at whole career to this point .Or few amazing years with many just at best okay years?
I’m a whole career guy, myself. A lot of guys have had a sharp, short peak, but the player who can consistently show excellence is another matter.
Now I don’t mean to slight Doughty, who’s been a superb player for a long time. But the only real edge he’s had over Stamkos is that he’s been more durable … well, if you discount last season, which I don’t. Well, spiffy: he’s played 10% more games than Stamkos has. In the meantime, Stamkos has nearly *twice* as many points.
You do realize doughty is a defenseman not a forward right? You just proved yourself more clueless than most commentators comparing points between a one-dimensional scoring forward and a puck moving blue line defenseman. Wow one of the dumbest posts I have seen in awhile
Life long Kings fan here. Doughty has been amazing for “us”. That said, the stats don’t lie, Stamkos was the #1 and his career has justified that pick. Doughty is one of the best #2 picks ever and that’s pretty much all there is to say.
Other data found; 4% of respondents are trolling/idiots