Brian Burke was general manager in Anaheim the last time the Ducks were seriously in the running for the NHL’s No. 1 overall draft pick.
It was back in 2005.
Ultimately the Pittsburgh Penguins won the lottery and were able to draft Sidney Crosby, while the Ducks had to settle for the second overall selection and took Bobby Ryan.
The Ducks got a productive NHL player in Ryan, who went on to play 378 games with them, scoring 289 points. But the Penguins landed a franchise-altering superstar in Crosby, who led them to three Stanley Cup championships and defined the organization for close to two decades.
It’s an illustration of the difference between a generational player and a productive NHL player.
The Ducks have the best odds (25.5%) of winning the draft lottery, which will take place on Monday night (5 p.m., ESPN). Should they do so, that would give them the right to draft 17-year-old Connor Bedard of the Regina Pats, the most heralded junior prospect since Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid.
“There are several really good players in this draft,” Burke said in an interview with the Orange County Register on Friday. “If Anaheim does not win – and they drop one or two spots, they’re still going to be fine. But (Bedard) would be a difference-maker. Whoever wins this kid is going to get a player to make them better right away – and sell tickets.
“There are a lot of great hockey players who never sold one ticket in their life. This kid sells tickets.”
Every draft has players with great potential, but rarely is there a sort of anticipation that has followed Bedard for years now.
Even though the Ducks have the best odds, there is still a 74.5% chance that another team will end up with Bedard. Starting this year, the most a team can move up in the lottery is 10 places. Another key change: teams cannot win the lottery more than twice in the period of five years. Also, the Ducks cannot drop more than two spots, meaning they’re ensured of a top-three selection.
“The league made dramatic, important, systemic changes to the draft lottery. All for the good,” Burke said.
Burke was GM with the Ducks when they won the Stanley Cup in 2007, and would later go on to run franchises in Toronto and Calgary, and was president of hockey operations with the Penguins until last month.
The 2005 draft lottery was held in July, about a month after Burke was hired by the Ducks. When the lottery came down to the final two teams, the wait became a bit longer, and a bit more agonizing, when the televised program went to commercial break. Burke didn’t hide his displeasure and retold the story of the chain of events.
“(Host) James Duthie was there for TSN and said, ‘We’re going to find out who wins the NHL draft, just after this break,’” Burke said. “I turned to James Duthie and said, ‘I could kill you right now.’ I didn’t know they were taking a break.
“After we came out of the break and they pulled the card, for some reason, I saw the colors of the Penguins and I thought it was ours. I thought we’d won. For half a second there, I was convinced and thought great, ‘We won.’ Then, ‘Oh well.’”
There are unmistakable parallels between 2005 and 2023. The four players, all forwards, ranked after Bedard – Adam Fantilli of the University of Michigan, Leo Carlsson of Sweden, Matvei Michkov of Russia and Will Smith, who is headed to Boston College this fall – are considered impactful, just like the players selected after Crosby in 2005.
“We had Bobby Ryan and Jack Johnson sitting there and Carey Price as a possible guy and felt once we got to five we were guaranteed a good player,” Burke said. “But I thought we were getting Sid and I was really disappointed.
“Bobby Ryan was a good pick. Bobby was good for us. A good kid and he had a good career. But he was no Sid.
“They use the term generational player. They overuse it. But any adjective you use for Sid is earned.”
