The Florida Panthers originally picked center Stephen Weiss with the fourth overall pick in the 2001 draft lottery in the first round. Weiss played over 600 career regular season games and scored nearly 150 goals for the Panthers in the 2000s and early 2010s decades.
Patrick Sharp had a great career in the NHL, and he was even better in the postseason for the Blackhawks in the 2010s. Sharp won three Stanley Cup rings with the Blackhawks' dynasty from 2010 to 2015 over a decade ago.
Instead of picking Weiss with the fourth overall selection in this hypothetical redraft of the 2001 draft lottery, we have Sharp going to the Panthers in the first round in the top five.
Maybe Sharp could've helped the Panthers get over the hump in the postseason in the playoffs in the East.
Two-way center Mikko Koivu was originally picked seventh overall by the Minnesota Wild in the first round of the 2001 draft lottery. Koivu played all but one of the 16 years he spent in the NHL with the Wild in the 2000s and 2010s. He is one of the Wild all-time leaders in career points (709), goals (205), and total assists (504).
Koivu slides up one spot in this hypothetical redraft to get selected by the Anaheim Ducks fifth overall in the first round of the 2001 lottery.
Forward Jason Pominville brought a lot of speed and goal scoring to the Buffalo Sabres for the span of over a decade in the league in the NHL. Pominville ranks third in total points and third in regular season games played among forwards in the 2001 draft lottery in the first round.
Even though the Wild don't get to select Koivu in this hypothetical reimagining of the 2001 draft lottery in the first round, Pominville is still a pretty good pick for their forward lines in the 2000s and 2010s.