A history of Canadian Olympic hockey players at the NHL draft
The 2015 NHL Draft class is talented, with Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel leading a group of players who will likely become long-time professionals and perhaps, Olympians.
Sidney Crosby, 2005’s first-overall pick, has been on two Olympic teams (2010, 2014).
Since 1998 when the NHL began sending players to the Olympics, 77 Canadians have taken part. There are 10 first-overall picks including Sidney Crosby in 2005, Ed Jovanovski in 1994, and Mario Lemieux in 1984. It’s not always the pre-ordained studs who become Olympians, there are six undrafted NHL’ers: Wayne Gretzky (see why below), Ed Belfour, Curtis Joseph, Martin St-Louis, Dan Boyle, and Chris Kunitz.
RELATED: Canadians in the triple gold club | How to join hockey’s triple gold club
Wayne Gretzky was already an Edmonton Oiler when they joined the NHL from the World Hockey Association (WHA) so he was never drafted.
Canadian Olympians (1998 to 2014) at the NHL Draft
Number of first-rounders: 50
Number of second-rounders: 10
Number of third-rounders: 5
Some late-round steals (year-overall): Jamie Benn (07′-129th), Mike Smith (01′-161st), Marty Turco (94′-124th)
Number of undrafted: 5* (6 including Wayne Gretzky)
Average draft place: 23.9 overall
Note: The number of players chosen in each round has increased over the years.
Draft year with highest number of Olympians: 2003 (9)
| Name | Year | Rd. | Ov. | Tm |
| Ed Belfour | undrafted | |||
| Jamie Benn | 2007 | 5 | 129 | DAL |
| Patrice Bergeron | 2003 | 2 | 45 | BOS |
| Todd Bertuzzi | 1993 | 1 | 23 | NYI |
| Rob Blake | 1988 | 4 | 70 | LAK |
| Ray Bourque | 1979 | 1 | 8 | BOS |
| Jay Bouwmeester | 2002 | 1 | 3 | FLA |
| Dan Boyle | undrafted | |||
| Eric Brewer | 1997 | 1 | 5 | NYI |
| Rod Brind’Amour | 1988 | 1 | 9 | STL |
| Martin Brodeur | 1990 | 1 | 20 | NJD |
| Jeff Carter | 2003 | 1 | 11 | PHI |
| Shayne Corson | 1984 | 1 | 8 | MTL |
| Sidney Crosby | 2005 | 1 | 1 | PIT |
| Eric Desjardins | 1987 | 2 | 38 | MTL |
| Shane Doan | 1995 | 1 | 7 | WPG |
| Drew Doughty | 2008 | 1 | 2 | LAK |
| Kris Draper | 1989 | 3 | 62 | WPG |
| Matt Duchene | 2009 | 1 | 3 | COL |
| Theoren Fleury | 1987 | 8 | 166 | CGY |
| Marc-André Fleury | 2003 | 1 | 1 | PIT |
| Adam Foote | 1989 | 2 | 22 | QUE |
| Simon Gagné | 1998 | 1 | 22 | PHI |
| Ryan Getzlaf | 2003 | 1 | 19 | ANA |
| Wayne Gretzky | from WHA | |||
| Dan Hamhuis | 2001 | 1 | 12 | NSH |
| Dany Heatley | 2000 | 1 | 2 | ATL |
| Jarome Iginla | 1995 | 1 | 11 | DAL |
| Curtis Joseph | undrafted | STL | ||
| Ed Jovanovski | 1994 | 1 | 1 | FLA |
| Paul Kariya | 1993 | 1 | 4 | ANA |
| Duncan Keith | 2002 | 2 | 54 | CHI |
| Chris Kunitz | undrafted | |||
| Vincent Lecavalier | 1998 | 1 | 1 | TBL |
| Mario Lemieux | 1984 | 1 | 1 | PIT |
| Trevor Linden | 1988 | 1 | 2 | VAN |
| Eric Lindros | 1991 | 1 | 1 | QUE |
| Roberto Luongo | 1997 | 1 | 4 | NYI |
| Al MacInnis | 1981 | 1 | 15 | CGY |
| Patrick Marleau | 1997 | 1 | 2 | SJS |
| Bryan McCabe | 1993 | 2 | 40 | NYI |
| Brenden Morrow | 1997 | 1 | 25 | DAL |
| Rick Nash | 2002 | 1 | 1 | CBJ |
| Scott Niedermayer | 1991 | 1 | 3 | NJD |
| Joe Nieuwendyk | 1985 | 2 | 27 | CGY |
| Owen Nolan | 1990 | 1 | 1 | QUE |
| Michael Peca | 1992 | 2 | 40 | VAN |
| Corey Perry | 2003 | 1 | 28 | ANA |
| Alex Pietrangelo | 2008 | 1 | 4 | STL |
| Carey Price | 2005 | 1 | 5 | MTL |
| Keith Primeau | 1990 | 1 | 3 | DET |
| Chris Pronger | 1993 | 1 | 2 | HFD |
| Mark Recchi | 1988 | 4 | 67 | PIT |
| Wade Redden | 1995 | 1 | 2 | NYI |
| Robyn Regehr | 1998 | 1 | 19 | COL |
| Brad Richards | 1998 | 3 | 64 | TBL |
| Mike Richards | 2003 | 1 | 24 | PHI |
| Patrick Roy | 1984 | 3 | 51 | MTL |
| Joe Sakic | 1987 | 1 | 15 | QUE |
| Brent Seabrook | 2003 | 1 | 14 | CHI |
| Brendan Shanahan | 1987 | 1 | 2 | NJD |
| Patrick Sharp | 2001 | 3 | 95 | PHI |
| Mike Smith | 2001 | 5 | 161 | DAL |
| Ryan Smyth | 1994 | 1 | 6 | EDM |
| Jason Spezza | 2001 | 1 | 2 | OTT |
| Martin St-Louis | undrafted | |||
| Eric Staal | 2003 | 1 | 2 | CAR |
| Scott Stevens | 1982 | 1 | 5 | WSH |
| P.K. Subban | 2007 | 2 | 43 | MTL |
| John Tavares | 2009 | 1 | 1 | NYI |
| Joe Thornton | 1997 | 1 | 1 | BOS |
| Jonathan Toews | 2006 | 1 | 3 | CHI |
| Marty Turco | 1994 | 5 | 124 | DAL |
| Marc-Édouard Vlasic | 2005 | 2 | 35 | SJS |
| Shea Weber | 2003 | 2 | 49 | NSH |
| Steve Yzerman | 1983 | 1 | 4 | DET |
| Rob Zamuner | 1989 | 3 | 45 | NYR |
