Hindsight is 20/20, as the saying goes, and decisions made in professional sports are no different. Unless decisions are made solely for the short term purpose of a championship, transactions often take years before they can be graded properly. Often times in an NHL draft, particularly past the first and second rounds, gauging what an 18-year-old will become is like throwing garbage at the wall and seeing what sticks. Defensemen progress differently than forwards, goalies differently than skaters, Europeans different than North Americans perhaps. Skills are weighed against intangibles, character and potential. The term “crapshoot” can often be applied to drafting. 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. Five members of the 1995 draft class have played 1000+ games in the NHL; the class features a handful of All-Stars, one sure-fire Hall of Famer, one borderline, and a Conn Smythe winner. Stats as of March 20, 2012. The 1995 Draft Redone (actual pick in brackets) 1. Jarome Iginla (11, Dallas): Most goals (515), assists (553), points (1068), third in games (1179). 2. Miikka Kiprusoff (116, San Jose): Most wins (309-196-67) and games (592), best GAA (2.45) and SV% (0.914). 3. Shane Doan (7, Winnipeg): Most games (1192), second in points (317-466-783). 4. Jean-Sebastien Giguere (13, Hartford): second in wins (246-205-70), games (556), GAA (2.51), SV% (0.913). 5. Marc Savard (91, NY Rangers): Second in assists (499), fourth in points (706 in 807 games). 6. Wade Redden (2, NY Islanders): Best plus/minus (plus-162), most points by a defenseman (450 in 994 games). 7. Petr Sykora (18, New Jersey): Second in goals (319), third in points (715 in 1008 games). 8. Daymond Langkow (5, Tampa Bay): Fifth in points (666 in 1081 games), third in plus/minus (plus-78). 9. Bryan Berard (1, Ottawa): Second in points by a defenseman (323 in 619 games). 10. Radek Dvorak (10, Florida): Second in games (1187), sixth in points (577). 11. Martin Biron (16, Buffalo): 499 games, 228-187-51, 2.60 GAA, 0.911 SV%. 12. Jochen Hecht (49, St. Louis): 449 points in 786 games, second in plus/minus (plus-94). 13. Michal Handzus (101, St. Louis): 458 points in 907 games, plus-17. 14. Filip Kuba (192, Florida): Third in points by a defenseman (320 in 783 games), minus-39. 15. Stephane Robidas (164, Montreal): 227 points in 790 games, plus-4. 16. Sami Kapanen (87, Hartford): 458 points in 831 games, minus-30. 17. Jay McKee (14, Buffalo): Second in games by a defenseman (802), 125 points, plus-55. 18. Chris Mason (122, New Jersey): 135-105-31, 2.61 GAA, 0.911 SV%. 19. Brian Boucher (22, Philadelphia): 120-135-45, 2.70 GAA, 0.901 SV%. 20. P.J. Axelsson (177, Boston): 287 points in 797 games. 21. Brent Sopel (144, Vancouver): 218 points, plus-32 in 659 games. 22. Danny Markov (223, Toronto): 147 points, plus-47 in 538 games. 23. Jan Hrdina (128, Pittsburgh): 297 points, plus-13 in 513 games. 24. Kyle McLaren (9, Boston): 207 points, plus-27 in 719 games. 25. Chad Kilger (4, Anaheim): 218 points, minus-44 in 714 games. 26. Peter Schaefer (66, Vancouver): 261 points, plus-60 in 572 games. The present-day Calgary Flames are built around this draft, with the top-2 players making up the core and foundation of their team for the last eight seasons. Hartford, Florida, St. Louis, Buffalo, Boston, Vancouver and New Jersey each ended up drafting two players that should have been first round picks. Exactly half of the 26 players selected in the first round did not show up on this list. Most notable is 12th overall pick Teemu Riihijarvi of San Jose, who did not play a single NHL game. 5 other players selected in the first round played 55 or fewer career games, while the 6th overall pick, center Steve Kelly of Edmonton, played only 149 games scoring a mere 21 points. Injuries obviously played a part in the overall process: Marc Savard will likely never play again, but in his prime he was one of the league’s best passers; 1st overall pick Bryan Berard won the Calder Trophy, was very gifted offensively, but missed a big chunk of time in his prime from a severe eye injury and wasn’t the same player afterwards. As you can see, a lot of value can you be found in the later rounds, but it is extremely unpredictable. The GM’s that hit home runs there are often employed for a very long time. Nick is RealGM’s NHL Feature Writer. You can reach him by email nick.obergan@realgm.com or on twitter @NickObergan