With the 17th pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, the Vegas Golden Knights select, Spencer Knight, goalie, US National Team Development Program.
It’s just too perfect, right? There’s literally a guy named Knight, who plays a position of need for Vegas, who happens to be slotted right around where the Golden Knights select in the Draft. Seems like fate. (Or a really stupid reason to pick a player, but people seem to do it anyway, so here we are.)
But before we even get into how good Spencer Knight is (and believe me, we will over the course of the next four weeks), I thought it was a good idea to take a look at highly drafted goalies to even begin to consider whether the match made in heaven should even be considered on June 21st.
| Year | 1st Round | Number(s) | Player(s) | Notable(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 0 | 39 | Lindbom (NYR) | Kooy (VGK, 208) |
| 2017 | 1 | 26 | Oettinger (DAL) | Zhukov (VGK, 96), Patera (VGK, 161), Ferguson (DAL, 194) |
| 2016 | 0 | 48 | Hart (PHI) | Woll (TOR, 62) |
| 2015 | 1 | 22 | Samsonov (WSH) | Blackwood (NJD, 42) |
| 2014 | 0 | 34 | McDonald (CGK) | Demko (VAN, 36) |
| 2013 | 0 | 36 | Fucale (MTL) | Saros (NSH, 99) |
| 2012 | 2 | 19, 24 | Vasilevskiy (TBL), Subban (BOS) | Dansk (CBJ, 31), Murray (PIT, 83), Andersen* (ANA, 87), Hellebuyck (WPG, 130) |
| 2011 | 0 | 38 | Hellberg (NSH) | Gibson (ANA, 39), Binnington (STL ,88) |
| 2010 | 2 | 11, 27 | Campbell (LAK), Visentin (PHX) | Grubauer (WSH, 112), Mrazek (DET, 141), Andersen* (CAR, 187) |
| 2009 | 0 | 31 | Koskinen (NYI) | Lehner (OTT, 46), Kuemper (MIN, 161) |
| 2008 | 2 | 18, 30 | Chet Pickard (NSH), McCollum (DET) | Markstrom (31, FLA), Allen (STL, 34), Holtby (WSH, 93) |
| 2007 | 0 | 36 | Gistedt (PHX) | Darling (PHX, 153) |
| 2006 | 4 | 11, 15, 23, 26 | Bernier (LAK), Helenius (TBL), Varlamov (WSH), Irving (CGY) | Neuvirth (WSH, 34), Mason (CBJ, 69), Johnson (PIT, 125) |
| 2005 | 2 | 5, 21 | Price (MTL), Rask (TOR) | Pavelec (ATL, 41), Quick (LAK, 72), Bishop (STL, 85) |
| 2004 | 4 | 6, 14, 17, 26 | Montoya (NYR), Dubnyk (EDM), Schwarz (STL), Schneider (VAN) | Greiss (SJS, 94), Ramo (TBL, 191), Khudobin (MIN, 206), Rinne (NSH, 258) |
| 2003 | 1 | 1 | Fleury (PIT) | Crawford (CHI, 52), Howard (DET, 64), Halak (MTL, 271), Elliott (291, OTT) |
Since Marc-Andre Fleury went #1 overall in 2003 to Pittsburgh, there has been a goalie drafted in the 1st round of just eight of the 15 drafts. A total of 18 goalies have gone in the 1st round since 2004, and their success has been extremely limited.
Just five of the 18 have made more than 10 starts with the team they were drafted by. That’s 13 1st round goalies who had absolutely no impact on the team that spent a 1st round pick on them. Even the five that did work, only two ended up having a significant impact on the team that selected them (Price, Vasilevskiy). 14 years of NHL Drafts and TWO turned out to be stars for the correct team.
It’s a little better for the guy calling the shots in Vegas though.
