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 2023 with Connor Bedard.
Continue reading for complete list of number one overall NHL Draft picks, from the Montreal Canadians selecting Garry Monahan in 1963 to the Chicago Blackhawks taking Connor Bedard in 2023.
| Year | Team | Player |
| 1963 | Montreal Canadiens | Garry Monahan |
| 1964 | Detroit Red Wings | Claude Gauthier |
| 1965 | New York Rangers | Andre Veilleux |
| 1966 | Boston Bruins | Barry Gibbs |
| 1967 | Los Angeles Kings | Rick Pagnutti |
| 1968 | Montreal Canadiens | Michel Plasse |
| 1969 | Montreal Canadiens | Rejean Houle |
| 1970 | Buffalo Sabres | Gilbert Perreault |
| 1971 | Montreal Canadiens | Guy Lafleur |
| 1972 | New York Islanders | Billy Harris |
| 1973 | New York Islanders | Denis Potvin |
| 1974 | Washington Capitals | Greg Joly |
| 1975 | Philadelphia Flyers | Mel Bridgman |
| 1976 | Washington Capitals | Rick Green |
| 1977 | Detroit Red Wings | Dale McCourt |
| 1978 | Minnesota North Stars | Bobby Smith |
| 1979 | Colorado Rockies | Rob Ramage |
| 1980 | Montreal Canadiens | Doug Wickenheiser |
| 1981 | Winnipeg Jets | Dale Hawerchuk |
| 1982 | Boston Bruins | Gord Kluzak |
| 1983 | Minnesota North Stars | Brian Lawton |
| 1984 | Pittsburgh Penguins | Mario Lemieux |
| 1985 | Toronto Maple Leafs | Wendel Clark |
| 1986 | Detroit Red Wings | Joe Murphy |
| 1987 | Buffalo Sabres | Pierre Turgeon |
| 1988 | Minnesota North Stars | Mike Modano |
| 1989 | Quebec Nordiques | Mats Sundin |
| 1990 | Quebec Nordiques | Owen Nolan |
| 1991 | Quebec Nordiques | Eric Lindros |
| 1992 | Tampa Bay Lightning | Roman Hamrlik |
| 1993 | Ottawa Senators | Alexandre Daigle |
| 1994 | Florida Panthers | Ed Jovanovski |
| 1995 | Ottawa Senators | Bryan Berard |
| 1996 | Ottawa Senators | Chris Phillips |
| 1997 | Boston Bruins | Joe Thornton |
| 1998 | Tampa Bay Lightning | Vincent Lecavalier |
| 1999 | Atlanta Thrashers | Patrik Stefan |
| 2000 | New York Islanders | Rick DiPietro |
| 2001 | Atlanta Thrashers | Ilya Kovalchuk |
| 2002 | Columbus Blue Jackets | Rick Nash |
| 2003 | Pittsburgh Penguins | Marc-Andre Fleury |
| 2004 | Washington Capitals | Alex Ovechkin |
| 2005 | Pittsburgh Penguins | Sidney Crosby |
| 2006 | St. Louis Blues | Erik Johnson |
| 2007 | Chicago Blackhawks | Patrick Kane |
| 2008 | Tampa Bay Lightning | Steven Stamkos |
| 2009 | New York Islanders | John Tavares |
| 2010 | Edmonton Oilers | Taylor Hall |
| 2011 | Edmonton Oilers | Ryan Nugent-Hopkins |
| 2012 | Edmonton Oilers | Nail Yakupov |
| 2013 | Colorado Avalanche | Nathan MacKinnon |
| 2014 | Florida Panthers | Aaron Ekblad |
| 2015 | Edmonton Oilers | Connor McDavid |
| 2016 | Toronto Maple Leafs | Auston Matthews |
| 2017 | New Jersey Devils | Nico Hischier |
| 2018 | Buffalo Sabres | Rasmus Dahlin |
| 2019 | New Jersey Devils | Jack Hughes |
| 2020 | New York Rangers | Alexis Lafreniere |
| 2021 | Buffalo Sabres | Owen Power |
| 2022 | Montreal Canadiens | Juraf Slafovsky |
| 2023 | Chicago Blackhawks | Connor Bedard |
NHL
Recapping the 2023/24 NHL Schedule Release
Who is playing the the 2024 Winter Classic? When is the first Stanley Cup Final rematch? Read through for every notable event and matchup on the newly-released 2023/24 NHL schedule.
David Schneidman
Jul 18 2023
