The Los Angeles Kings won the first-ever NHL Draft lottery in 1995, allowing them to move up a few spots to draft third overall. This early-first-round draft pick for the Kings came at a time when LA had a three-year-long playoff drought in the Western Conference in the mid-1990s.
Moving up four spots, the Los Angeles Kings picked third overall in the first round of the 1995 NHL Draft as the winner of the league's first-ever lottery process results
With their third overall pick in the 1995 draft, the Kings selected defenseman Aki Berg. That was the earliest the Kings had selected a defenseman in the first round of the NHL Entry Draft since LA picked Rick Pagnutti first overall a few decades prior in 1967.
It's been a full two decades since the 1995 NHL Entry Draft when the Ottawa Senators and New York Islanders headlined a hyped-up draft class from that year. This draft was coming off a season when the New Jersey Devils won its first Stanley Cup in its franchise history and there was the first of two mid-decade lockouts in the 1990s and 2000s in the NHL.
It's pretty straightforward to have the Senators pick Hall-of-Fame right-winger Jarome Iginla with the first overall pick in this 1995 NHL redraft. Iginla was easily the most accomplished and successful player in this draft class from 1995.
Iginla led this draft class in goals (625), assists (675), points (1,300), games played (1,554), and point shares (157.9). He was a six-time NHL All-Star selection, two-time Rocket Richard Trophy winner, and a four-time 40-goal scorer in the regular season.
The first two forwards selected in this redraft of the 1995 entry draft for the NHL are very distinguished and spent much of their pro careers with one franchise in the league. Iginla is a Calgary Flames franchise icon, and right-winger Shane Doan is a staple in Phoenix/Arizona Coyotes lore since he was selected seventh overall by the then Winnipeg Jets in the first round of the 1995 draft.
Doan and Iginla are the only two players in this draft class who scored over 900 career points and played in over 1,500 career regular season games.
The Isles picking defenseman Wade Redden with the second overall pick in the first round of the 1995 draft wasn't a miss by any means. Redden was still arguably the best defenseman in this draft class. But picking Doan would give the Isles a legitimate multi-decade star on the wing for the top forward line, and a player who scored over 400 career regular season goals and had a whopping 13 20-goal seasons in the league.
My opinion for the Kings' pick in this redraft of the lottery in the 1995 entry draft came down to either Redden or longtime Flames' starting goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff. Redden would give the Kings the best and most accomplished defenseman in this draft class from '95. But Kiprusoff was the best goalie from this draft class, clinching him a top three pick by the Kings in this redraft.
The Kings had a tough run of picking defensemen in the top five overall picks in the draft from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s. Not only was Berg considered a big draft bust for the Kings, going third overall to LA in 1995, but this front office also whiffed on fellow defenseman Wayne McBean with the fourth overall pick in the 1987 draft.
The former Flames and Sharks goalie, Kiprusoff, was the only goalie in this draft class with over 300 wins, 40 shutouts, and 200 quality starts. Kiprusoff won the Vezina Trophy in 2006, and he was selected to be an NHL All-Star in 2007.