HabsWorld.net -- 

Alex Galchenyuk’s immediate future with the Habs has been a popular point of
discussion over these past few weeks.  Some fans would like to see him in
the NHL right away while others would prefer him to go back to the OHL. 
The decision of whether to keep the player or send him back has been a tough one
to make for NHL GM’s over the years with no real right or wrong answer as to
what route has proven to be best over time.

I was curious as to how many 3rd overall selections have made the NHL
immediately after being selected.  The table below looks at players
selected 3rd overall between 1980 and 2007 to see how many have suited up
quickly in the NHL and how their stats in their first year stack up to their
career averages.  I have excluded players drafted 3rd in the past 5 years,
as their NHL career is too small a sample size to accurately make comparisons
relative to their career statistics. 

Notes: NHL-1 looks at whether or not the player played in the NHL the
first year after being drafted while NHL-2 addresses their second season after
the draft.  Italicized players are defencemen.

* player had some NHL time but spent most of
the year in junior.
– Horton played in the AHL in his second pro year due to the NHL lockout.

To be quite honest, I didn’t think that there would be as many 3rd overall
picks that started right away in the NHL so I was a little surprised to see that
more have than haven’t.  In terms of trends, there really aren’t many. 
There seem to be short patterns of players starting in the NHL (early to mid
1980’s) or staying away (2004-2007 although the lockout played a role in one of
those seasons).  Over the past decade, only Toews has stepped in and really
been an impact player on the scoresheet right away, another direct contrast from
the early 1980’s when the likes of Savard, Carpenter, LaFontaine, and Olczyk
produced in their rookie campaigns.

The most important thing that I wanted to see was if there was any
statistical advantage to starting right away.  I’ve graphed the rookie and
career PPG numbers for the forwards (since defencemen aren’t really relevant
when discussing Galchenyuk, a forward) for those who started right after being
drafted and those who didn’t play in the NHL the year after hearing their name
called at the draft podium.

Although there isn’t any definitive conclusions to be drawn from here, I do
think it’s interesting that there is very little of a PPG gap for those who
didn’t enter the NHL right away.  This is somewhat explainable in that the
‘holdbacks’ are more physically ready when they do first suit up with their NHL
team, the gap shouldn’t be as large.  For those who were drafted and went
to the NHL in their first season, there don’t seem to be any players who were
overwhelmed and eventually busted.  Although their rookie numbers weren’t
all that great (aside from the ones from the 1980’s mentioned earlier), they
still were/are productive players.

So what does this all mean?  There really is no right or wrong answer
when it comes to whether or not a player should start right away in the National
Hockey League after being the 3rd overall selection in the previous draft. 
Barring recurring knee problems (or some other type of serious injury problems),
the Habs should have a productive NHL’er before long in Alex Galchenyuk and they
will have one regardless of whether or not he’s in the bleu-blanc-rouge come
October…or whenever the 2012-13 campaign gets underway; he won’t be ‘ruined’
by a particular decision.  Keep that in mind for when the inevitable
bashing of Michel Therrien and/or Marc Bergevin begins for whatever choice is
ultimately made.