List of first overall NHL draft picks
First overall picks
Key Notes Wendel Clark was drafted as a defenseman.

List of first overall NHL draft picks

Section Title: First overall picks
Table Section Text: Key Notes Wendel Clark was drafted as a defenseman.

Draft	Selected by	Player	Nationality	Position	Amateur/junior/former club	League

1963	Montreal Canadiens	Garry Monahan	Canada	Forward	St. Michael's Buzzers	CJBHL

1964	Detroit Red Wings	Claude Gauthier ¤	Canada	Forward	Comité des jeunes (Rosemont)	QC Midget

1965	New York Rangers	André Veilleux ¤	Canada	Forward	Montreal Rangers Jr. B	QC Jr. B

1966	Boston Bruins	Barry Gibbs	Canada	Defenceman	Estevan Bruins	SJHL

1967	Los Angeles Kings‡	Rick Pagnutti ¤	Canada	Defenceman	Garson Native Sons	NOHA

1968	Montreal Canadiens	Michel Plasse	Canada	Goaltender	Drummondville Rangers	QMJHL

1969	Montreal Canadiens	Réjean Houle	Canada	Forward	Montreal Junior Canadiens	OHA

1970	Buffalo Sabres‡	Gilbert Perreault #	Canada	Forward	Montreal Junior Canadiens	OHA

1971	Montreal Canadiens	Guy Lafleur *	Canada	Forward	Quebec Remparts	QMJHL

1972	New York Islanders‡	Billy Harris	Canada	Forward	Peterborough Petes	OHA

1973	New York Islanders	Denis Potvin #	Canada	Defenceman	Ottawa 67's	OHA

1974	Washington Capitals	Greg Joly	Canada	Defenceman	Regina Pats	WCHL

1975	Philadelphia Flyers	Mel Bridgman	Canada	Forward	Victoria Cougars	WCHL

1976	Washington Capitals	Rick Green	Canada	Defenceman	London Knights	OHA

1977	Detroit Red Wings	Dale McCourt	Canada	Forward	Hamilton Fincups	OHA

1978	Minnesota North Stars	Bobby Smith ^	Canada	Forward	Ottawa 67's	OHA

1979	Colorado Rockies	Rob Ramage	Canada	Defenceman	London Knights	OHA

1980	Montreal Canadiens	Doug Wickenheiser	Canada	Forward	Regina Pats	WHL

1981	Winnipeg Jets	Dale Hawerchuk #	Canada	Forward	Cornwall Royals	QMJHL

1982	Boston Bruins	Gord Kluzak	Canada	Defenceman	Billings Bighorns	WHL

1983	Minnesota North Stars	Brian Lawton	USA	Forward	Mount Saint Charles Mounties	USHS-RI

1984	Pittsburgh Penguins	Mario Lemieux #	Canada	Forward	Laval Voisins	QMJHL

1985	Toronto Maple Leafs	Wendel Clark	Canada	Defence 1	Saskatoon Blades	WHL

1986	Detroit Red Wings	Joe Murphy	Canada	Forward	Michigan State Spartans	CCHA

1987	Buffalo Sabres	Pierre Turgeon	Canada	Forward	Granby Bisons	QMJHL

1988	Minnesota North Stars	Mike Modano *	USA	Forward	Prince Albert Raiders	WHL

1989	Quebec Nordiques	Mats Sundin *	Sweden	Forward	Nacka HK	Swe-2

1990	Quebec Nordiques	Owen Nolan	Canada	Forward	Cornwall Royals	OHL

1991	Quebec Nordiques	Eric Lindros *	Canada	Forward	Oshawa Generals	OHL

1992	Tampa Bay Lightning‡	Roman Hamrlík	Czechoslovakia	Defenceman	HC Zlin	CS-1HL

1993	Ottawa Senators	Alexandre Daigle	Canada	Forward	Victoriaville Tigres	QMJHL

1994	Florida Panthers	Ed Jovanovski	Canada	Defenceman	Windsor Spitfires	OHL

1995	Ottawa Senators	Bryan Berard ^	USA	Defenceman	Detroit Junior Red Wings	OHL

1996	Ottawa Senators	Chris Phillips	Canada	Defenceman	Prince Albert Raiders	WHL

1997	Boston Bruins	Joe Thornton	Canada	Forward	Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds	OHL

1998	Tampa Bay Lightning	Vincent Lecavalier	Canada	Forward	Rimouski Oceanic	QMJHL

1999	Atlanta Thrashers‡	Patrik Štefan	Czech Republic	Forward	Long Beach Ice Dogs	IHL

2000	New York Islanders	Rick DiPietro	USA	Goaltender	Boston University Terriers	HEA

2001	Atlanta Thrashers	Ilya Kovalchuk	Russia	Forward	Spartak Moscow	RUS-2

2002	Columbus Blue Jackets	Rick Nash	Canada	Forward	London Knights	OHL

2003	Pittsburgh Penguins	Marc-André Fleury	Canada	Goaltender	Cape Breton Screaming Eagles	QMJHL

2004	Washington Capitals	Alexander Ovechkin ^	Russia	Forward	Dynamo Moscow	RSL

2005	Pittsburgh Penguins	Sidney Crosby	Canada	Forward	Rimouski Oceanic	QMJHL

2006	St. Louis Blues	Erik Johnson	USA	Defenceman	United States NTDP	NAHL

2007	Chicago Blackhawks	Patrick Kane ^	USA	Forward	London Knights	OHL

2008	Tampa Bay Lightning	Steven Stamkos	Canada	Forward	Sarnia Sting	OHL

2009	New York Islanders	John Tavares	Canada	Forward	London Knights	OHL

2010	Edmonton Oilers	Taylor Hall	Canada	Forward	Windsor Spitfires	OHL

2011	Edmonton Oilers	Ryan Nugent-Hopkins	Canada	Forward	Red Deer Rebels	WHL

2012	Edmonton Oilers	Nail Yakupov	Russia	Forward	Sarnia Sting	OHL

2013	Colorado Avalanche	Nathan MacKinnon ^	Canada	Forward	Halifax Mooseheads	QMJHL

2014	Florida Panthers	Aaron Ekblad ^	Canada	Defenceman	Barrie Colts	OHL

2015	Edmonton Oilers	Connor McDavid	Canada	Forward	Erie Otters	OHL

2016	Toronto Maple Leafs	Auston Matthews ^	USA	Forward	ZSC Lions	NLA

2017	New Jersey Devils	Nico Hischier	Switzerland	Forward	Halifax Mooseheads	QMJHL

2018	Buffalo Sabres	Rasmus Dahlin	Sweden	Defenceman	Frolunda HC	SHL

2019	New Jersey Devils	TBA

Sentence(s)

Crosby was selected first overall by the Penguins in the 2005 NHL Draft.
Crosby was selected first overall by the Penguins in the 2005 NHL Draft.
Crosby was selected first overall by the Penguins in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft.

final_sentence: Crosby was selected first overall by the Penguins in the 2005 NHL Draft.
final_sentence: Crosby was selected first overall by the Penguins in the 2005 NHL Draft.
final_sentence: Crosby was selected first overall by the Penguins in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft.