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. Boston held the first pick in the 1997 draft and hit a home run. All in all, this draft produced a couple of likely Hall of Famers (Thornton, Hossa, Luongo) and some others who have had very productive careers that saw them earn All-Star and Olympic berths. Stats as of June 8, 2012. The 1997 Draft Redone (actual pick in brackets) 1. Joe Thornton (1, Boston): Most assists (754) and points (1,078), second in games (1,077) and plus/minus (plus-152), 2006 MVP and scoring champion with San Jose, 6-time All-Star. 2. Marian Hossa (12, Ottawa): Most goals (417), second most points (904 in 978 games), best plus/minus (plus-163), 5-time All-Star. 3. Roberto Luongo (4, NY Islanders): 339-283-83, 2.52GAA, .919SV%, 3-time All-Star. 4. Patrick Marleau (2, San Jose): Most games played (1,117), second in goals (387), third in points (830), 3-time All-Star. 5. Brian Campbell (156, Buffalo): Most points by a defenseman (365 in 708 games), plus-44, 4-time All-Star. 6. Brenden Morrow (25, Dallas): 517 points, 1,185 PIM, plus-110 in 806 games. 7. Olli Jokinen (3, Los Angeles): Third in games played (1,048), 683 points, minus-111, All-Star in 2003. 8. Sergei Samsonov (8, Boston): 571 points, plus-11 in 888 games, Rookie of the Year, All Star in 2001. 9. Scott Hannan (23, San Jose): Most games by a defenseman (908), 197 points, plus-15. 10. Eric Brewer (5, NY Islanders): Second in games by a defenseman (840), 231 points, minus-107, All-Star in 2003. 11. Kristian Huselius (47, Florida): 451 points, minus-16 in 662 games. 12. Maxim Afinogenov (69, Buffalo): 395 points, minus-43 in 651 games. 13. Joe Corvo (83, Los Angeles): Most goals by a defenseman (83), 283 points, plus-35 in 643 games. 14. Dan Cleary (13, Chicago): 361 points, plus-27 in 821 games. 15. Matt Cooke (144, Vancouver): 339 points, plus-55, 1,032 PIM in 887 games. 16. Jason Chimera (121, Edmonton): 254 points, minus-18 in 663 games. 17. Paul Mara (7, Tampa Bay): 253 points, minus-110 in 734 games. 18. Andrew Ference (208, Pittsburgh): 180 points, minus-3 in 712 games. 19. Henrik Tallinder (48, Buffalo): 130 points, plus-29 in 589 games. 20. Ladislav Nagy (177, St. Louis): 311 points, plus-35 in 435 games. 21. Mike York (136, NY Rangers): 322 points, minus-34 in 579 games 22. Magnus Arvedsson (119, Ottawa): 225 points, plus-109 in 434 games. 23. Kyle Calder (130, Chicago): 294 points, minus-71 in 590 games. 24. Nick Boynton (9, Washington): 144 points, plus-19 in 605 games. 25. David Aebischer (161, Colorado): 106-74-17, 2.52 GAA, .912 SV% in 214 games. 26. Brett McLean (242, Dallas): 162 points, minus-28 in 385 games. Oddly enough, Boston held the first and eighth picks in the draft, and came away with the first and eighth best players; great job by their scouts. The Islanders fared well, picking fourth and fifth and coming away with the third and tenth best players. San Jose, meanwhile, turned the second and 23rd pick into the fourth and ninth best players. Best value pick was no doubt Brian Campbell at 156th overall by Buffalo. Six first round picks in 1997 played fewer than 20 games in the NHL, with three never playing a single minute: 15th overall pick by the Kings Matt Zultek, 19th overall pick by the Rangers Stefan Cherneski, and 26th overall pick by the Avalanche Kevin Grimes. Nick is RealGM’s NHL Feature Writer. You can reach him by email Nick.obergan@realgm.com or on twitter @NolanObergan