2004 First Round Ranked

Draft Class: 2004

Published: Apr. 17 at 4:38 p.m.

DRAFT

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Round 1
1. Alex Ovechkin (Washington Capitals) (Details: The greatest goal scorer in the history of the game. The greatest Russian to ever play.).
2. Evgeni Malkin (Pittsburgh Penguins) (Details: The second greatest Russian to ever play.).
3. Blake Wheeler (Chicago Blackhawks) (Details: Took awhile for him to fully blossom, but in the late 2010s, Wheeler was truly the greatest power forward the game had to offer.).
4. Mike Green (Carolina Hurricanes from Columbus Blue Jackets) (Details: His offense was always fantastic, as he was the best offensive defenseman in the league from like 2008-2010.).
5. Cory Schneider (Phoenix Coyotes) (Details: If Schneider didn't play on the mid-2010s Devils, he'd be more appreciated and loved.).
6. Alexander Radulov (New York Rangers) (Details: If Radulov didn't go to the KHL TWICE he'd be more appreciated as a premier 70 point player. His fall off has been insane though.).
7. Travis Zajac (Florida Panthers) (Details: The model of consistency in the NHL. Could always rely on Zajac for 40 to 50 points a season for over a decade.).
8. Andrew Ladd (Columbus Blue Jackets from Carolina Hurricanes) (Details: His best years were short, during the early 2010s with the Jets, but Ladd could really do it all.).
9. Devan Dubnyk (Mighty Ducks of Anaheim) (Details: Mid-2010s Dubnyk was a W, but consistency wasn't the name of his game. Kind of a best case scenario Martin Jones.).
10. Drew Stafford (Atlanta Thrashers) (Details: Sabres fans love this dude, but he was really just there for most of his career. He had a hot start but tapered off quickly.).
11. Andrej Meszaros (Los Angeles Kings) (Details: Meszaros wasn't the greatest defenseman, but he had some solid years in his prime.).
12. Wojtek Wolski (Minnesota Wild) (Details: Injuries hampered a good start to a career for Wolski. He eventually left the NHL, but he had some nice 40 point seasons.).
13. Lauri Korpikoski (Buffalo Sabres) (Details: A player that existed in the NHL. Korpikoski had a 40 point year but was rather unremarkable.).
14. Al Montoya (Edmonton Oilers) (Details: A decent backup goaltender for nearly a decade.).
15. Kyle Chipchura (Nashville Predators) (Details: A pretty standard fourth line center.).
16. Cam Barker (New York Islanders) (Details: Randomly had a 40 point season. He sucked ass every other season he played though.).
17. Ladislav Smid (St. Louis Blues) (Details: Played bottom pair minutes for basically his entire career. Was more known for dirty hits than good play.).
18. Rostislav Olesz (Montreal Canadiens) (Details: His time in Florida was decent, usually splitting time between the third and fourth lines.).
19. Jeff Schultz (New York Rangers from Calgary Flames) (Details: Played bottom pair minutes and usually would be the seventh d-man on the roster.).
20. Mark Fistric (New Jersey Devils from Dallas Stars) (Details: Literally just Jeff Schultz. Had a good 2009-2010 season though.).
21. Petteri Nokelainen (Colorado Avalanche) (Details: Played over 200 NHL games, but never managed to do anything notable. A fourth line player.).
22. Rob Schremp (San Jose Sharks from New Jersey Devils) (Details: His last two seasons in the league provided some hope for a bottom six forward career, but Schremp left the NHL. He's now playing in China.).
23. Boris Valabik (Ottawa Senators) (Details: Traded for Blake Wheeler. That's the highlight of Valabik's career.).
24. Lukas Kaspar (Calgary Flames from Toronto Maple Leafs) (Details: Had a good 13 game stint with the Sharks in 2008-2009, but left the NHL at an early age.).
25. Alexandre Picard (Edmonton Oilers from Philadelphia Flyers) (Details: Picard was horrendous for the Blue Jackets. He didn't even play 100 NHL games, and when he did play, he put up less career points than Lukas Kaspar.).
26. Lauri Tukonen (Vancouver Canucks) (Details: Five games played in the NHL.).
27. Kris Chucko (Washington Capitals from Boston Bruins) (Details: Two games played in the NHL.).
28. Marek Schwarz (Dallas Stars from San Jose Sharks) (Details: Six games played...but sucked extremely.).
29. Andy Rogers (Washington Capitals from Detroit Red Wings) (Details: Never played a single NHL game.).
30. A.J. Thelen (Tampa Bay Lightning) (Details: Never played a single NHL game, but is worse than Rogers considering that Thelen was the twelfth pick in the draft.).

CapFriendly.com User-Generated Mock-Draft

ROUND 1	TEAM	ORIGINAL	PLAYER	DETAILS

1	-	Alex Ovechkin	The greatest goal scorer in the history of the game. The greatest Russian to ever play.
2	-	Evgeni Malkin	The second greatest Russian to ever play.
3	-	Blake Wheeler (+2 )	Took awhile for him to fully blossom, but in the late 2010s, Wheeler was truly the greatest power forward the game had to offer.
4		Mike Green (+25 )	His offense was always fantastic, as he was the best offensive defenseman in the league from like 2008-2010.
5	-	Cory Schneider (+21 )	If Schneider didn't play on the mid-2010s Devils, he'd be more appreciated and loved.
6	-	Alexander Radulov (+9 )	If Radulov didn't go to the KHL TWICE he'd be more appreciated as a premier 70 point player. His fall off has been insane though.
7	-	Travis Zajac (+13 )	The model of consistency in the NHL. Could always rely on Zajac for 40 to 50 points a season for over a decade.
8		Andrew Ladd (-4 )	His best years were short, during the early 2010s with the Jets, but Ladd could really do it all.
9	-	Devan Dubnyk (+5 )	Mid-2010s Dubnyk was a W, but consistency wasn't the name of his game. Kind of a best case scenario Martin Jones.
10	-	Drew Stafford (+3 )	Sabres fans love this dude, but he was really just there for most of his career. He had a hot start but tapered off quickly.
11	-	Andrej Meszaros (+12 )	Meszaros wasn't the greatest defenseman, but he had some solid years in his prime.
12	-	Wojtek Wolski (+9 )	Injuries hampered a good start to a career for Wolski. He eventually left the NHL, but he had some nice 40 point seasons.
13	-	Lauri Korpikoski (+6 )	A player that existed in the NHL. Korpikoski had a 40 point year but was rather unremarkable.
14	-	Al Montoya (-8 )	A decent backup goaltender for nearly a decade.
15	-	Kyle Chipchura (+3 )	A pretty standard fourth line center.
16	-	Cam Barker (-13 )	Randomly had a 40 point season. He sucked ass every other season he played though.
17	-	Ladislav Smid (-8 )	Played bottom pair minutes for basically his entire career. Was more known for dirty hits than good play.
18	-	Rostislav Olesz (-11 )	His time in Florida was decent, usually splitting time between the third and fourth lines.
19		Jeff Schultz (+8 )	Played bottom pair minutes and usually would be the seventh d-man on the roster.
20		Mark Fistric (+8 )	Literally just Jeff Schultz. Had a good 2009-2010 season though.
21	-	Petteri Nokelainen (-5 )	Played over 200 NHL games, but never managed to do anything notable. A fourth line player.
22		Rob Schremp (+3 )	His last two seasons in the league provided some hope for a bottom six forward career, but Schremp left the NHL. He's now playing in China.
23	-	Boris Valabik (-13 )	Traded for Blake Wheeler. That's the highlight of Valabik's career.
24		Lukas Kaspar (-2 )	Had a good 13 game stint with the Sharks in 2008-2009, but left the NHL at an early age.
25		Alexandre Picard (-17 )	Picard was horrendous for the Blue Jackets. He didn't even play 100 NHL games, and when he did play, he put up less career points than Lukas Kaspar.
26	-	Lauri Tukonen (-15 )	Five games played in the NHL.
27		Kris Chucko (-3 )	Two games played in the NHL.
28		Marek Schwarz (-11 )	Six games played...but sucked extremely.
29		Andy Rogers (+1 )	Never played a single NHL game.
30	-	A.J. Thelen (-18 )	Never played a single NHL game, but is worse than Rogers considering that Thelen was the twelfth pick in the draft.