The Best Late-Round Draft Steals in NHL History

It is never an easy job when it comes to evaluating young hockey talent, and there is so much on the line for scouts to make smart picks and find value throughout the draft. Sometimes the pick is obvious, like last year when the Edmonton Oilers selected hockey phenom Connor McDavid first overall, and sometimes—especially in later rounds when talent becomes difficult to project—drafting becomes a guessing game where a late-round steal can be the difference between another disappointing season and Stanley Cup contention.

With the NHL draft here, we look back at the biggest steals in NHL draft history. You never know when your team will grab a future Hall of Famer.

Standing at just 5'7" during his junior career, Gilmour was overlooked by NHL scouts until the St. Louis Blues selected him 134th overall in 1982. That year Gilmour returned to the Cornwall Royals of the OHL with something to prove, scoring 177 points as the league's leading scorer and most outstanding player. Gilmour would go on to play 20 seasons in the NHL, scoring 1,414 points in 1,474 games while winning a Stanley Cup and Frank J. Selke Trophy. Gilmour not only proved that small players could score in the NHL, but his nickname "The Killer" affirmed his punishing style of play. After being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame and having his No. 93 honoured by the Maple Leafs, Gilmour is now the general manager of his hometown Kingston Frontenacs of the OHL.

In 1983, when teams were wary about drafting from beyond the Iron Curtain, the Chicago Blackhawks chose Dominik Hasek 199th overall, making him the the 17th goalie selected in that draft. Hasek's 16-season NHL career established him as one of the greatest goalies to ever play the game, winning six Vezina Trophies, two Hart Trophies, and two Stanley Cups. Hasek also led the Czech national team to its first and only Olympic gold at the 1998 Olympics, helping establish European goaltenders in a league previously dominated by North Americans. The Dominator was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2014.

Brett Hull shocked the hockey world by turning out to be one of the greatest snipers to ever play. Although Hull came from a hockey family and put up strong numbers in junior, he was passed on as teams worried about his conditioning and commitment. Then after his breakout 1983-84 season, Hull was selected 177th overall by the Calgary Flames. Throughout his 19-season NHL career, Hull became one of the most efficient scorers in NHL history, scoring 741 goals and 650 assists in 1,269 games. Hull had five consecutive NHL seasons of 50-plus goals, and his 86 goals in 1990-91 is the third most in a single season behind Wayne Gretzky's 92 (1981-82) and 87 (1983-84). Hull also won two Stanley Cups, a Hart Trophy, and a Lester B. Pearson Award, and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009, joining his father Bobby to become the first father-son duo in the Hall.

The Los Angeles Kings drafted Robitaille 171st overall in the 1984 entry draft despite his poor skating ability. As Robitaille developed with the Hull Olympiques of the QMJHL, he eventually leaped forward, scoring 191 points and winning the CHL Player of the Year in 1985-86. In his first year with the Kings, Robitaille scored 45 goals and 39 assists en route to a Calder Trophy. Robitaille went on to score more than 40 goals in each of his first eight seasons with the Kings, including three 50-plus goal seasons. Robitaille finished his career with 1,394 points in 1,431 games played, becoming one of the lowest draft picks to ever reach 1,000 points. Robitaille also won a Stanley Cup with the Red Wings and two gold medals with Team Canada. In 2006, Robitaille retired as the highest-scoring left winger in NHL history and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame three years later.

Despite being one of the fastest skaters in the 1989 entry draft, Pavel Bure wasn't selected until round six due to fear of him not defecting from the Soviet Union. Nevertheless, the Vancouver Canucks took a chance on Bure and it paid off because The Russian Rocket could not only skate, he could score, too. In his first NHL season, Bure notched 34 goals and won the Calder Trophy. He ended up playing 12 seasons in the NHL, and was one of the most exciting players of the 1990s, before knee injuries derailed his career. Bure won two Maurice Rocket Richard Trophies and also paced the league in goals when he notched a career-high 60 during the 1993-94 campaign. He put up 437 goals and 779 points in 702 NHL games, and competed in 13 tournaments internationally for the Soviet Union and Russia. Bure was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2012.

After being overlooked by many NHL scouts, the Ottawa Senators took a chance on the big Swede at the 1994 draft and it paid off. Alfredsson won the Calder Trophy in his first year with the Senators and went on to play 17 seasons in Ottawa, most of them as team captain. He won the King Clancy Memorial Trophy and Mark Messier Leadership Award as his value as a captain helped dig a struggling Senators organization out of a deep hole. Alfredsson scored an impressive 1,157 points in 1,246 games, and holds the Senators franchise records for goals, assists, and points. Although Alfredsson never won a Cup, he represented Sweden internationally 14 times throughout his career, winning a gold medal at the 2006 Olympics.

Nobody thought Pavel Datsyuk would become "The Magic Man." The Wings took the Russian 171st overall in 1998, and he went on to play his entire NHL career in Detroit, winning two Stanley Cups, three Frank J. Selke Trophies, and four Lady Byng Memorial Trophies. In Datsyuk's 15-season NHL career, he totaled 918 points in 953 games, including 113 playoff points. Datsyuk also represented Russia 11 times throughout his hockey career, and it was his close ties to home that saw him recently retire and move back to play in the KHL.

As the 205th pick of the 2000 entry draft, King Henrik made a name for himself outside of Sweden. After an impressive amateur career in the Swedish Hockey League, Lundqvist finally got his shot to play in the NHL in 2005 and never looked back, as he morphed into one of the NHL's best goaltenders with five Vezina nominations, including winning the award in 2012. Through 11 NHL seasons with the Rangers, Lundqvist has recorded an impressive 374 wins, 2.28 goals against average, and .921 save percentage. Lundqvist also holds numerous Rangers records including most wins, shutouts, games played, and saves. Additionally, he led Team Sweden to its second Olympic gold medal at the 2006 Olympics.

When the San Jose Sharks drafted Joe Pavelski in the seventh round of the 2003 entry draft, they hardly expected him to become a core piece of their franchise, let alone their captain. After developing at the University of Wisconsin, Pavelski made the jump to the NHL level in 2006 and has slowly become one of the most dangerous offensive threats in the game, scoring over 35 goals in each of his past three seasons and totalling 563 points with the Sharks. In 2015-16, his first season as team captain, Pavelski scored an NHL-best 14 playoff goals and powered the Sharks to their first Stanley Cup Final in franchise history.

At 26 years old, Jamie Benn is one of the NHL's elite. Since getting drafted 129th overall by the Dallas Stars in 2007, Benn has been one of the team's best players and powered Dallas to the best record in the Western Conference this past season. In just six seasons with the Stars, Benn has exceeded the 20-goal mark five times, scoring 192 goals and 448 points, and is coming off a career-high 41-goal campaign. Benn scored 87 points and won his first Art Ross Trophy last season, and a year later was a finalist for the Hart Trophy and Ted Lindsay award, losing both to Blackhawks star Patrick Kane). He finished with 89 points, leading the Stars to a Western Conference-best 50 wins, and only appears to be getting better.