Montreal Canadiens: Ranking Past 10 First Overall NHL Draft Picks

3. Nathan MacKinnon

There was some debate in the 2012-13 season about whether Nathan MacKinnon or Seth Jones would be the first overall pick in the NHL Draft. MacKinnon scored a hat trick against Jones team in the Memorial Cup and the debate was settled.

MacKinnon was taken first by the Colorado Avalanche and Jones dropped to fourth, being taken after Alexander Barkov and Jonathan Drouin. Since then, MacKinnon has proven to be without a doubt the best player in the draft class.

It took some time though. MacKinnon had a strong rookie season scoring 24 goals and 63 points but that remained his career high for a while. In his second season, he had just 14 goals and 38 points but there were some injuries. His fourth season saw him score just 16 goals and 53 points in a full 82 game season.

Since then, he has been one of the very best players in the entire world. He scored 39 goals and 97 points in 74 games in 2017-18. He followed that up with 99 points. He had 93 points in just 69 games the next season. Injuries limited him to 48 games in 2020-21 and he had 65 points. This season, MacKinnon scored 32 goals and 88 points in 65 games.

He also has helped his team to a 14-3 playoff record and two wins away from the Stanley Cup with 11 goals and 20 points in those 17 games. He now has 89 points in 67 career postseason games.

Again, it took a little time, but MacKinnon was taken first overall in 2013 and became one of the best players in the league in the 2017-18 season.