The 1993 NHL Entry Draft – 30 Years Later: The “Daigle” Has Landed

Photo: Beckett Hockey Monthly

The 1993 NHL Entry Draft was held at the Colisée de Québec in Quebec City, Quebec on June 26, 1993. At that draft, the Ottawa Senators drafted highly touted prospect Alexandre Daigle with the first pick overall.

The Senators were accused of deliberately losing games at the end of the 1992-93 season to guarantee they would obtain that first pick overall. In any case, the Ottawa Senators, a first-year expansion team, had one of the worst seasons in NHL history, winning just ten games.

Daigle was quoted as saying, “I’m glad I got drafted first because no one remembers number two.” But, as it turns out, the player chosen with the second pick overall is more remembered than Daigle who was unable to live up to his hype. The Eagle landed roughly. (Note: the last name Daigle means “of the eagle” in French). The second player drafted was Hall of Fame defenseman, Chris Pronger.

Photo: Beckett Hockey Monthly

There was one other future Hall of Fame selection drafted that year – Paul Kariya, whom the Anaheim Ducks selected with Pick #4 overall.

A total of 286 players were drafted that season, with 131 playing at least one game in the NHL. 15 players played in more than 1000 NHL games, with Jason Arnott, the seventh pick overall, playing in the most games, at 1,244.

The players in that draft playing at least 1000 NHL games are listed below.

Jason Arnott (Pick #7) – 1244
Todd Marchant (Round 7 Pick #164) – 1195
Chris Pronger (Pick #2) – 1167
Todd Bertuzzi (Pick #23) – 1159
Rob Niedermayer (Pick #5) – 1153
Bryan McCabe (Round 2 Pick #40) – 1135
Saku Koivu (Round 1 Pick #21) – 1124
Andrew Brunette (Round 7 Pick #174) – 1110
Jamie Langenbrunner (Round 2 Pick #35) – 1109
Kimmo Timonen (Round 10 Pick #250) – 1108
Hal Gill (Round 8 Pick #207) – 1108
Vaclav Prospal (Round 3 Pick 71) – 1108
Chris Gratton (Round 1 Pick #3) – 1092
Mike Grier (Round 9 Pick #219) – 1060
Miroslav Satan (Round 5 – Pick #111) – 1050

25 players played in 800 games while 34 players played in more than 600 games and 43 played in more than 500 games. 73 played in at least 100 games.

Kimmo Timonen (Round 10 Pick #250) was the last player from that draft class still in the NHL. The first 14 players drafted all played in at least 400 NHL games.

Photo: Dave Sandford / Getty Images/NHL

No player drafted in 1993 exceeded 500 career goals but two exceeded 400 goals, Jason Arnott (Pick #7 overall) with 417 and Paul Kariya (Pick #4 overall). 13 players scored at least 200 career goals. The overall points leaders were Kariya with 989 and Arnott with 938. They were the only two draftees exceeding 900 points. 15 players exceeded 500 career points. The assist leaders were Kariya with 587, Saku Koivu (Pick #21 overall) with 577, Chris Pronger (Pick #2 overall) with 541, Arnott with 521, and Vaclav Prospal (Round 3 Pick #71) with 510. 17 players recorded 300 or more assists.

Photo: USA Today

One notable characteristic of the 1993 NHL Entry draft is that none of the players who played 800 or more career games played their entire NHL career with the team that drafted them. Rather, they were more famous for their accomplishments with a different franchise. Some played most of their career with their drafting team but ended up elsewhere. Below are several of the more prominent examples.

Jason Arnott — drafted by Edmonton Oilers but played more games with the New Jersey Devils
Chris Pronger – drafted by Hartford Whalers but played more games with St. Louis. Also played with Edmonton, Anaheim, and Philadelphia
Todd Bertuzzi – drafted by New York Islanders but played more games with Vancouver Canucks and Detroit Red Wings.
Rob Niedermayer – drafted by Florida Panthers. He played mostly with the Florida Panthers and Ducks.
Saku Koivu – drafted by Montreal Canadiens. He mostly played with them but also spend several seasons with the Anaheim Ducks
Jamie Langenbrunner– drafted by the Dallas Stars but mostly played with the New Jersey Devils. Also played for the St. Louis Blues.
Vaclav Propsal – drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers but played mostly for Tampa Bay but also played with Anaheim, New York Rangers, and Columbus Blue Jackets.
Mike Grier – drafted by the St Louis Blues but never played with them. Mostly played with the Edmonton Oilers but also played for the Capitals, Sabres, and Sharks.
Miroslav Satan – drafted by Edmonton Oilers but mostly played with Buffalo Sabres.
Paul Kariya – mostly played with his drafting team, the Ducks, but also played with the Avalanche, Predators, and Blues
Viktor Kozlov – drafted by the San Jose Sharks but played most of his career with the Florida Panthers. He also played for the New Jersey Devils and Washington Capitals
Pavol Demitra (Round 9 Pick #227) – drafted by Ottawa but spent most of his career with the St Louis Blues

Fun Facts

Two players drafted that year, Jay Pandolfo (Round 2 Pick #32) and Jamie Langenbrunner were members of the 2002-03 New Jersey Devils Stanley Cup winner, as was Scott Niedermeyer, the older brother of Rob Niedermeyer. Two draftees from 1993 were on the 2002-03 Stanley Cup runner-up, the Anaheim Ducks: Rob Neidermeyer and Paul Kariya. Jason Arnott won the Stanley Cup with the 1999-00 and 2000-01 Devils, along with Pandolfo.

Capitals Draftees

The Capitals drafted defenseman Brendan Witt (Pick #11). He did not start playing with the Capitals until 1995-96 but then played with them for many years. Their other notable draftees were two late bloomers who got away: Jason Allison who they chose with pick #17 and Andrew Brunette, who they chose in the seventh round with pick #174. They traded Allison to the Boston Bruins where he made a dramatic improvement in his game. They exposed Brunette to the expansion draft that populated the Nashville Predators. Brunette was a productive forward albeit well-traveled.

Photo: NHL

Several players drafted in that draft from other teams eventually spent time with the Capitals. This included Viktor Kozlov (2007-08 through 2008-09), Jason Arnott (2011 after the trade deadline), Brendan Morrison (2009-10), Scott Walker (2010 after the trade deadline), Mike Grier (2002-03 through 2003-04).

1993 NHL Entry Draft Picks at hockeydb.com