A complete list of every number one overall pick in NHL Draft history, from Garry Monahan in 1963 to Connor Bedard in 2023.
The first overall pick in the NHL Draft can change the fortunes of a franchise overnight. We saw it in 2005 with Sidney Crosby, then in 2015 with Connor McDavid, and now in 2026 with Gavin McKenna.
Continue reading for complete list of number one overall NHL Draft picks:
Draft Year | Player | Team |
1963 | Garry Monahan | Montreal Canadiens |
1964 | Claude Gauthier | Detroit Red Wings |
1965 | Andre Veilleux | New York Rangers |
1966 | Barry Gibbs | Boston Bruins |
1967 | Rick Pagnutti | Los Angeles Kings |
1968 | Michel Plasse | Montreal Canadiens |
1969 | Rejean Houle | Montreal Canadiens |
1970 | Gilbert Perreault | Buffalo Sabres |
1971 | Guy Lafleur | Montreal Canadiens |
1972 | Billy Harris | New York Islanders |
1973 | Denis Potvin | New York Islanders |
1974 | Greg Joly | Washington Capitals |
1975 | Mel Bridgman | Philadelphia Flyers |
1976 | Rick Green | Washington Capitals |
1977 | Dale McCourt | Detroit Red Wings |
1978 | Bobby Smith | Minnesota North Stars |
1979 | Rob Ramage | Colorado Rockies |
1980 | Doug Wickenheiser | Montreal Canadiens |
1981 | Dale Hawerchuk | Winnipeg Jets |
1982 | Gord Kluzak | Boston Bruins |
1983 | Brian Lawton | Minnesota North Stars |
1984 | Mario Lemieux | Pittsburgh Penguins |
1985 | Wendel Clark | Toronto Maple Leafs |
1986 | Joe Murphy | Detroit Red Wings |
1987 | Pierre Turgeon | Buffalo Sabres |
1988 | Mike Modano | Minnesota North Stars |
1989 | Mats Sundin | Quebec Nordiques |
1990 | Owen Nolan | Quebec Nordiques |
1991 | Eric Lindros | Quebec Nordiques |
1992 | Roman Hamrlik | Tampa Bay Lightning |
1993 | Alexandre Daigle | Ottawa Senators |
1994 | Ed Jovanovski | Florida Panthers |
1995 | Bryan Berard | Ottawa Senators |
1996 | Chris Phillips | Ottawa Senators |
1997 | Joe Thornton | Boston Bruins |
1998 | Vincent Lecavalier | Tampa Bay Lightning |
1999 | Patrik Stefan | Atlanta Thrashers |
2000 | Rick DiPietro | New York Islanders |
2001 | Ilya Kovalchuk | Atlanta Thrashers |
2002 | Rick Nash | Columbus Blue Jackets |
2003 | Marc-Andre Fleury | Pittsburgh Penguins |
2004 | Alex Ovechkin | Washington Capitals |
2005 | Sidney Crosby | Pittsburgh Penguins |
2006 | Erik Johnson | St. Louis Blues |
2007 | Patrick Kane | Chicago Blackhawks |
2008 | Steven Stamkos | Tampa Bay Lightning |
2009 | John Tavares | New York Islanders |
2010 | Taylor Hall | Edmonton Oilers |
2011 | Ryan Nugent-Hopkins | Edmonton Oilers |
2012 | Nail Yakupov | Edmonton Oilers |
2013 | Nathan MacKinnon | Colorado Avalanche |
2014 | Aaron Ekblad | Florida Panthers |
2015 | Connor McDavid | Edmonton Oilers |
2016 | Auston Matthews | Toronto Maple Leafs |
2017 | Nico Hischier | New Jersey Devils |
2018 | Rasmus Dahlin | Buffalo Sabres |
2019 | Jack Hughes | New Jersey Devils |
2020 | Alexis Lafreniere | New York Rangers |
2021 | Owen Power | Buffalo Sabres |
2022 | Juraf Slafovsky | Montreal Canadiens |
2023 | Connor Bedard | Chicago Blackhawks |
2024 | Macklin Celebrini | San Jose Sharks |
2025 | Matthew Schaefer | New York Islanders |
2026 | Gavin McKenna | Toronto Maple Leafs |
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