What Are Sharks’ Chances to Draft Hall of Famer at No. 7?

What’s in a draft pick?

This week’s Draft lottery confirmed that the San Jose Sharks would pick seventh in the first round of the 2021 NHL Draft. This will be San Jose’s first top-10 selection since 2015 and the first time they’ll pick No. 7.

But not every lottery pick smells as sweet.

For example, there have been just two Hall of Famers drafted seventh-overall, compared to eight (and many more on the way) who were selected first-overall.

Of course, the San Jose Sharks at No. 7 would be thrilled to add to that two’s company of Bernie Federko (1976) and Bill Barber (1972) this July 23rd.

Here are some other interesting seventh pick of the NHL Draft stats, courtesy of Stathead.

• Most Games Played: 1,540 (Shane Doan, No. 7 by Winnipeg in 1995)
• Most Games Played, Defenseman: 1,417 (Luke Richardson, Toronto 1987)
• Most Goals: 420 (Bill Barber, Philadelphia 1972)
• Most Assists: 761 (Bernie Federko, St. Louis 1976)
• Most Points: 1,130 (Federko)

Barber leads the No. 7 group with three All-Star Team appearances (1976 First Team left winger, 1979 Second Team, 1981 Second Team). Defenseman Ryan Suter (Nashville 2003) was a 2013 First-Team All-Star and right winger Jakub Voracek (Columbus 2007) was a 2015 First-Team All-Star. Blueliner Darnell Nurse (Edmonton 2013) might join this select group this off-season.

Eight players have reached the 1,000-game milestone:

• 1,540 (Doan)
• 1,417 (Richardson)
• 1,291 (Darryl Sydor, Los Angeles 1990)
• 1,273 (Martin Gelinas, Los Angeles 1988)
• 1,244 (Jason Arnott, Edmonton 1993)
• 1,198 (Suter)
• 1,029 (Russ Courtnall, Toronto 1983)
• 1,000 (Federko)

Voracek, at 968, is also approaching this mark.

Here are some other interesting seventh-overall factoids:

• Only one goalie, of 53 post-expansion No. 7 selections, has gone seventh — Jamie Storr was selected by the Kings in 1995
• Four No. 7 picks have played for the San Jose Sharks: Manny Malhotra (Rangers 1998), Ulf Dahlen (Rangers 1985), Shawn Burr (Detroit 1984), Doug Zmolek (Minnesota 1989)
• There are two active No. 7 picks in the post-season right now, and they’re both suspended: Mark Scheifele (Winnipeg 2011), Nazem Kadri (Toronto 2009)
• 57% of seventh-overall picks in the post-expansion era have played over 500 NHL games
• Just three have not played in an NHL game. Obviously, Alexander Holtz, picked by New Jersey last season, has plenty of time to get there. Ryan Sittler (Philadelphia 1992) and Jim McInally (Los Angeles 1968) didn’t make the big show either
• The average No. 7 pick — counting only non-active skaters — plays 622 NHL games
• The average No. 7 forward — counting only non-actives — scores 163 goals, 217 assists, and 380 points over his career
• The last 10 No. 7 picks were Holtz, Dylan Cozens, Quinn Hughes, Lias Andersson, Clayton Keller, Ivan Provorov, Haydn Fleury, Nurse, Matt Dumba, and Scheifele

Finally, let’s go back to Hall of Famers. There’s Federko and Barber at No.7. Could Suter, Scheifele, or Quinn Hughes (Vancouver 2018) join them?

Also, let’s compare seventh-overall to the rest of the top-seven:

• No. 1: Eight Hall of Famers (Gilbert Perreault, Denis Potvin, Guy Lafleur, Eric Lindros, Dale Hawerchuk, Mario Lemieux, Mats Sundin Mike Modano) and Joe Thornton, Marc-Andre Fleury, Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, Patrick Kane, Steven Stamkos, John Tavares, Nathan MacKinnon, Connor McDavid, or Auston Matthews on the way?
• No. 2: Three Hall of Famers (Brendan Shanahan, Marcel Dionne, Chris Pronger) and Patrick Marleau, Drew Doughty, Evgeni Malkin, Victor Hedman, Aleksander Barkov, Jack Eichel, or Daniel Sedin on the way?
• No. 3: Three Hall of Famers (Scott Niedermayer, Denis Savard, Pat Lafontaine) and Henrik Sedin, Jonathan Toews, Miro Heiskanen, or Leon Draisaitl on the way?
• No. 4: Eight Hall of Famers (Ron Francis, Larry Murphy, Steve Yzerman, Lanny McDonald, Mike Gartner, Paul Kariya, Clark Gillies, Steve Shutt) and Roberto Luongo, Nicklas Backstrom, or Alex Pietrangelo on the way?
• No. 5: One Hall of Famer (Scott Stevens) and Jaromir Jagr, Carey Price, Elias Pettersson on the way?
• No. 6: Four Hall of Famers (Phil Housley, Paul Coffey, Doug Wilson, Peter Forsberg) — there’s nobody obvious on the way

So two Hall of Famers at No. 7 isn’t unusual, after all. After No. 1 and lucky No. 4, the top-seven looks to be a bit of a crapshoot in terms of hockey royalty.

Anyway, hockey royalty or not, No. 7 is a good spot for the San Jose Sharks. Can they reel in a future Hall of Famer?

Chris Peters Talks Sharks & Wide-Open 2021 Draft