With the ability of hindsight, we at RealGM will be redoing the first round of each draft from 1995 to the present. Results will often change dramatically; some players lived up to their draft slot, some underachieved, some came out of nowhere to overachieve. Click here for the 1995 Draft. There is only one player likely headed to the Hall of Fame from this draft class, and he wasn’t even picked in the first round. Aside from him there were only a few All-Star appearances, and there was no bona fide #1 goaltender in this draft. Only four players drafted in the first round deserved to be selected there, while five players played five games or less in the NHL. Stats as of March 26, 2012. The 1996 Draft Redone (actual pick in brackets) 1. Zdeno Chara (54, NY Islanders): Second in games (1000) and points (451) by a defenseman, best plus/minus (plus-142), Norris Trophy winner. 2. Danny Briere (24, Phoenix): Most goals (280) and points (636, in 809 games), 96 points in 97 playoff games. 3. Tomas Kaberle (204, Toronto): Second in points (560. most among defensemen), plus-12 in 972 games. 4. Dainius Zubrus (15, Philadelphia): Most games played (1058), T-third in points (535), plus-5. 5. Matt Cullen (35, Anaheim): Second in games (1031), T-third in points (535), minus-59. 6. Chris Phillips (1, Ottawa): Third in games played (1019), 256 points, plus-81. 7. J.P. Dumont (3, NY Islanders): 523 points in 822 games, minus-2. 8. Marco Sturm (21, San Jose): Second in goals (244), 485 points, plus-59 in 931 games. 9. Sami Salo (239, Ottawa): Second in plus/minus (plus-113), 303 points in 754 games. 10. Derek Morris (13, Calgary): Third in points by a defenseman (395 in 999 games), minus-35. 11. Mark Parrish (79, Colorado): Third in goals (216), 387 points, minus-47 in 722 games. 12. Pavel Kubina (179, Tampa Bay): Second in goals by a defenseman (110), minus-98 in 963 games. 13. Toni Lydman (89, Calgary): 236 points, plus-45 in 807 games. 14. Eric Belanger (96, Los Angeles): 354 points, minus-22 in 788 games. 15. Willie Mitchell (199, New Jersey): Third in plus/minus (plus-101), 146 points in 712 games. 16. Tom Poti (59, Edmonton): 325 points, plus-46 in 808 games. 17. Marty Reasoner (14, St. Louis): 260 points, minus-27 in 759 games. 18. Michal Rozsival (105, Pittsburgh): 256 points, plus-53 in 750 games. 19. Colin White (49, New Jersey): 792 games, 129 points, plus-74. 20. Mathieu Garon (44, Montreal): Most games by a goalie (323), 139-122-29, 2.83 GAA. 21. Ruslan Salei (9, Anaheim): 917 games, 204 points, minus-25. 22. Cory Sarich (27, Buffalo): 883 games, 145 points, minus-10. 23. Sami Pahlsson (176, Colorado): 791 games, 197 points, minus-73. 24. Arron Asham (71, Montreal): 748 games, 204 points, minus-38. 25. Jan Bulis (45, Washington): 245 points, minus-3 in 552 games. 26. Andreas Dackell (136, Ottawa): 250 points, plus-4 in 613 games. Ottawa didn’t nab the best player in the draft at #1, though they did end up trading for him. Zdeno Chara is heads and shoulders above his contemporaries in this class. The Norris winner and Stanley Cup Champion was soon after dealt to Ottawa in the Alexei Yashin deal, one that has doomed the Islanders franchise ever since. Danny Briere, meanwhile, has been the best forward of the bunch. He hasn’t put up incredible regular season numbers, but has been a nightmare for opposing teams in the playoffs. The Islanders drafted two of the top seven players in this draft, while Ottawa came away with three of top-26. Montreal, Calgary and Anaheim each had two players on the list. As you can see by the numbers, it was not a very strong draft class. Nick is RealGM’s NHL Feature Writer. You can reach him by email Nick.obergan@realgm.com or on twitter @NolanObergan