Longtime NHL general manager Brian Burke has become famous for his work picking the Sedin twins with the Vancouver Canucks in the top five of the 1999 NHL Draft lottery. Burke and the Canucks built the foundation of their franchise around Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin from the 1999 draft lottery.
No players were selected in the first round by the Los Angeles Kings in the 1999 NHL Draft lottery
The Los Angeles Kings didn't have a first-round pick in the 1999 NHL Draft. The two players the Kings picked in the top 75 off the board in the 1999 entry draft, left wing Andrei Shefer and defenseman Jason Crain, didn't play a single game in the NHL.
The 1999 entry draft wasn't a very deep or strong draft class, especially compared to some of the other top draft classes with multiple Hall-of-Famers from the 1990s decade over 30 years ago. Only five players from the 1999 draft class played over 1,000 career regular season games in the NHL.
The Atlanta Thrashers became infamous for having one of the biggest busts with the first overall pick in the history of the NHL draft. Patrik Stefan played fewer than 500 career regular season games, and became famous for missing an empty net goal for the Dallas Stars in 2005.
It is tempting to put one of the Sedin twins going first overall in this hypothetical reimagining of the 1999 draft lottery in the first round. Future Hall-of-Fame forward and Stanley Cup Champion of the Detroit Red Wings, winger Henrik Zetterberg, slides up from the seventh round to go first overall.
Zetterberg is the only player from this draft class in 1999 who won a Conn Smythe, Clancy Trophy, and the Stanley Cup.
Instead of picking Stefan with the first overall pick in the 1999 draft lottery, the Thrashers select Zetterberg first off the board. Zetterberg played over 1,000 career regular season games and ranked third in total points (960) in this draft class.
Had the Thrashers selected Zetterberg first overall in the 1999 draft lottery, the fortunes of this franchise in Atlanta could've been vastly different. Imagine if the Thrashers had a young core including Ilya Kovalchuk, Dany Heatley, and Zetterberg to navigate the Southeast Division in the 2000s and early 2010s.
The 1999 draft class was defined by the top-end talent, namely the Sedin twins going No. 2 and 3 overall in the lottery to Vancouver.
Through a routine of aggressive negotiating and straight-up bullying tactics, Burke was able to pull off the unthinkable feat of drafting the Sedins No. 2 and No. 3 in the top three of the 1999 draft lottery.
Henrik and Daniel had played hockey together since their youth, at just eight years old. They were two of the most talented and skilled players in this draft class from '99.
Postseason success wouldn't have been the same in Vancouver in the 2000s and 2010s in the Stanley Cup Finals without the Canucks drafting the Sedin twins in 1999 in the first round.
There is no point in re-ordering the second and third overall picks for the Canucks. Henrik stays put at third overall in this redraft of the 1999 draft class in the lottery. He is the only player from this draft class to win the Art Ross and Hart Trophies. Henrik was the league MVP for the Canucks while leading the league in assists and total points in the 2009-10 season.