The first of two back-to-back picks in Chicago for the Blackhawks in the first round of the 2000 draft class is defenseman Ron Hainsey for the blue line. Hainsey was a solid two-way defenseman who played over 1,100 career games in the regular season in the NHL and won a Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins in the late 2010s decade.
The two Chicago draft picks back-to-back in the 2000 draft lottery in the first round, Russian forwards Mikhail Yakubov and Pavel Vorobiev, both didn't play 100 career games in the regular season.
Right winger Brad Boyes ranks in the top five among wingers in this draft class in '00 in points (over 500) and goals scored (over 200) for the Toronto Maple Leafs and St. Louis Blues. Chicago picks a forward and a defenseman near the end of the top 10 to improve the roster up and down in the first round.
Instead of picking Vorobiev 11th overall in the first round of this reimagining of the 2000 draft lottery, the Blackhawks get Boyes 13 spots higher than he was originally picked at No. 24 in the first round by the Maple Leafs.
The Ducks originally picked Russian forward Alexei Smirnov 12th overall in the first round of the 2000 draft lottery. Smirnov was one of a single-digit number of forwards selected in the first round of this draft class from 2000 who didn't play 100 regular season games in his career.
Instead of picking Smirnov, the Ducks get longtime New Jersey Devils and Penguins defenseman Paul Martin at No. 12 overall in this hypothetical redraft from the 2000 draft lottery.
Martin is the fourth defensemen picked in the last six spots in this first-round hypothetical redraft for the 2000 draft class lottery. This was a pretty deep and strong draft class at the blue line in the NHL in the 2000 lottery.
The Montreal Canadiens originally picked Hainsey at defense with the final pick in the 2000 draft lottery in the first round. With Hainsey sliding up in this redraft, the Canadiens get a solid defenseman for their blue line from the Colorado Avalanche, Leafs, and Bruins in the offensively and scoring-minded John-Michael Liles.
Liles played over a dozen seasons on the blue line for four different teams in the league, including the Avs, Bruins, and Carolina Hurricanes in the 2010s. He scored nearly 100 career goals and scored 370 total points in his career in the regular season in the league.