Petes 60th Season - "Petes Drafted to the NHL in Round 1"

Photo Credited - Petes Website

The National Hockey League holds the annual Entry Draft every season at the end of June. This past draft in 2015, their were no Peterborough Petes selected in the first 30 picks. Although no Petes were selected until the second round, the history of Petes is well known in the first round. Since the draft came about in 1963 their has been 24 Petes selected in the first round of the draft. The NHL draft was referred to as the Amateur Draft from 1963-1978. In the 1979 season, the draft name was changed to the known name today, The NHL Entry Draft. The Petes have been represented by 24 players in the first round for the past 52 seasons. These names include NHL legends and players that couldn't make the jump from the amateur level to the pros,

The first ever Pete draft in the first round was Tony Featherstone (7th overall) by Oakland in 1969 season. Tony would only play 130 games in the NHL and scored 17 goals and 21 assists.

In 1970, the Petes were represented by two players in the first round. The Boston Bruins selected Rick MacLeish (4th overall) and Ron Plumb (9th overall). Ron only played 26 games and scored 7 points in the NHL. The drafted player MacLeish, had a solid NHL career playing in 846 games well scoring 759 points.

One the Petes greatest legends was selected in the 1973 NHL Amateur Draft. The Montreal Canadiens drafted Bob Gainey (8th overall) and played in 1,160 games for Montreal. Another Pete was selected in 1973, Bob Neely (10th overall). He would play in 283 NHL games.

In 1975, Doug Halward (14th overall) was selected by the Bruins and scored 293 points in 663 NHL career games. The next year in 1976, David Shand (8th overall) was taken by former NHL franchise the Atlanta Flames.

Larry Murphy was a Peterborough Pete great, and loved by all fans. After a Hall of Fame NHL career, he now lives back in the Peterborough area. He was selected 4th overall in 1980 NHL draft by the L.A Kings

The Detroit Red Wings Legend, Steve Yzersman was an icon for many fans when he skated for the Maroon and White Petes. He was drafted in the 1983 NHL entry draft by Detroit. He would become one of the greatest players ever to play for the Wings. Another name was called in the 1988 draft from the Petes. Bob Weeey (15th overall) was picked by the Pittsburgh Penguins. He would go on to play a 895 games in the NHL but didn't have the success Yzersman had.

In the years from 1984-1988, five Petes players were selected in the first round. Terry Carkner (1984, 14th overall) by the New York Rangers, Glen Seabrooke (1985, 21th overall) by the Flyers. The 1987 season saw two Petes players selected, Luke Richardson (7th overall, Toronto) and Jody Hull (18th overall, Hartford). Both would play long NHL careers before turning to coaching as their post pro-hockey retirement. Hull is currently the Petes Head Coach and Richardson is currently the Head Coach for the Binghamton Senators in the AHL. In 1998 the New Jersey Devils selected Corey Foster (12th overall) but he never fulfilled his potential and only played 45 games in the NHL.

The newly banner raised to the rafters and elected Hall of Fame inductee, Chris Pronger is called the best Peterborough Pete of all times. He was drafted into the NHL in the 1993 Entry draft. He was selected 2nd overall by the former franchise the Hartford Whalers. Pronger became one of the most physical and scariest defensemen of his generation and has earned his spot in the Hall of Fame.

After Pronger was drafted, the Petes didn't a player draft in the first round until the 2001 season. Lukas Krajicek (24th overall) was drafted by the Florida Panthers. He played in 328 NHL Games and left the NHL in 2010 to play in Russia.

Two of the most well known brothers played for the Petes in the early 2000's. Eric and Jordan Staal are known around the NHL as two excellent players. The Carolina Hurricanes drafted Eric Staal second overall in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft. He has won one Stanley Cup with them and now is the caption of the team. His brother Jordan, was also drafted second overall by Pittsburgh three years later at the 2006 NHL Entry Draft. He would win a cup with the Penguins but was traded a few seasons after to the Carolina Hurricanes. Eric and Jordan both play for the Canes and are working together to win another cup.

In 2008, the Petes defense Zach Bogosian was selected 3rd overall by the Atlanta Thrashers. Zach is still in the NHL and has played for Atlanta, Winnipeg and now the Buffalo Sabres.

Zach Kassian hasn't been the most consent NHL player but he was a solid player at the OHL level. He is well known for his dirty hits and poor character, but he did however play well in the maroon and white. Due to his solid play as a Pete he was selected 13th overall by the Buffalo Sabres. He wasn't part of Sabres organization very long before a change needed to happen. Buffalo decided to move him to Vancouver. He played their until the summer of 2015, when they traded him to the Montreal Canadiens.

Since 2010 the Petes have had four players get drafted in the first round. None of them have made a NHL impact yet, but the potential for these players is still moderately high.

In 2010, Austin Watson (18th overall) was drafted by the Nashville Predators. In 2011 Matt Puempel was selected 24th overall by the Ottawa Senators. The Tampa Bay Lightning drafted Pete defensemen Slater Koekkock (10th overall) in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. The 2014 NHL draft had one Pete selected in the first 30 picks. Forward Nick Ritchie was drafted by the Anaheim Ducks, 10th overall.

The Petes have a rich history of NHL greats and will keep showing that they can produce NHL players for years to come

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