The Montreal Canadiens added to their blue line core with their top-15 pick in the lottery in the 2001 entry draft in the first round, selecting West Islip, NY, native defenseman Mike Komisarek at No. 7.
Instead of picking Komisarek seventh overall in the draft lottery from the '01 draft class, the Canadiens pick another blue-liner who was originally selected in the first round of this draft by the Nashville Predators, longtime defenseman Dan Hamhuis.
Hamhuis was the only defenseman in this draft class from the 2001 lottery who played over 1,000 career games. He was a regular top four defensemen and scored over 350 career points in the regular season.
Goaltender Mike Smith was a steal for the Dallas Stars, originally picked 161st overall in the fifth round of the 2001 draft in the league. Smith was a two-time All-Star selection and he was one game away from winning 300 career regular season games in the league in goal.
The Columbus Blue Jackets originally picked a goalie eighth overall in the first round of the 2001 draft lottery. Instead of picking Pascal Leclaire in the top 10, the Blue Jackets pick Smith four rounds earlier than he was originally selected by the Stars in 2001 in net.
The Blackhawks originally picked forward Tuomo Ruutu with the ninth overall pick, just inside the top 10, in the 2001 draft lottery in the first round. Ruutu played 735 career regular season games and scored over 300 points for the Blackhawks, Carolina Hurricanes, and New Jersey Devils over a career that spanned a dozen seasons in the league.
Instead of picking Ruutu in the top 10 at ninth overall in the first round of this reimagining of the 2001 draft lottery, the Blackhawks picked longtime Kings and Calgary Flames forward Mike Cammalleri.
Cammalleri was a great-value pick for the Kings in the second round (49th overall) in the 2001 draft class at the forward position. He slides up 40 spots to go to the Blackhawks in the top 10 in the first round of this redraft for 2001 in the lottery.