In retrospect, one of the best and most lauded NHL Draft classes of the 2000s decade, the 2005 draft class featured multiple future Hall-of-Famers and multi-time NHL All-Star selections.
Coming out of the lockout, the 2005 draft featured a once-in-a-generation talent in Sidney Crosby, along with other future stars who led their teams to multiple Stanley Cups. Hockey fans heard all of the hype about Crosby, but there were some other top talents that made this one of the best draft classes of the 2000s.
Revisiting one of the NHL's greatest draft classes
Since there wasn't a true lottery in 2005 after the lockout, we're just focusing on the top 15 picks from the first round of this draft class.
Here's a look at a re-draft of the 2005 NHL Entry Draft in the top 15 over 20 years later.
The Pittsburgh Penguins have absolutely no reason to pick anyone other than Crosby with the first overall pick in this redo of the 2005 draft. Crosby very quickly helped Pittsburgh turn around the franchise's luck in the mid-to-late 2000s, winning Stanley Cups in 2009, 2016, and 2017.
Crosby has been arguably the best player of his generation, winning the Hart Trophy, Conn Smythe, and Ross Trophy multiple times each in his NHL career.
The Anaheim Ducks ended up getting pretty good value out of picking winger Bobby Ryan second overall in the 2005 draft. But Anze Kopitar was a player who beat the Ducks consistently throughout his pro career, and he was one of the best two-way centers of this generation.
While it would be weird to see Kopitar donning the jersey of the Kings' in-state and division rival Anaheim with the Ducks, Anze would've been great playing for the Ducks in the past couple of decades.
Anaheim would have landed a franchise center who is capable of anchoring their lineup for roughly two decades. For the Kings, however, losing Kopitar would've dramatically altered the course of their franchise history.
It's difficult to pick between two future Hall-of-Fame goaltenders for who should be the first netminder picked in this re-draft of the 2005 draft. Between longtime Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price and the Kings two-time Stanley Cup Champion Jonathan Quick, the Carolina Hurricanes have a couple of great options to choose from at pick No. 3.
The Hurricanes originally picked Johnson third overall in the first round of the 2005 draft. Instead, Price moves up a couple of spots to go third overall to the Hurricanes in this hypothetical redraft.
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