The 2005 NHL entry draft was the 43rd draft for the National Hockey League. Originally scheduled to be held on June 25, it was postponed to July 30 due to the 2004–05 NHL lockout.
Special procedures were required to determine the order of picks, because the previous season had been cancelled due to the lockout. The first overall pick was won in a lottery by the Pittsburgh Penguins, who selected Sidney Crosby.
As of 2026, the remaining active players in the NHL from this draft are Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang.
Venue
The draft was originally scheduled to be held on June 25, hosted by the Ottawa Senators at the Corel Centre (their home rink). However, the 2004–05 NHL lockout was still ongoing, causing the draft to be postponed. The lockout ended on July 22 with the approval of a new NHL collective bargaining agreement (CBA). The CBA set the new date of the draft as July 30. The Corel Centre was still available but could not be used on such short notice. The draft was instead held at the Westin Hotel in Ottawa, Ontario. The Senators were compensated by hosting the 2008 draft instead.
As a result of the rearrangement, the draft was not open to the public, for the first time since 1980. Nor was it possible for large numbers of drafted players to attend: only the twenty highest prospects on the NHL Central Scouting rankings were present.
Procedures The order of draft picks was usually determined by team performance in the previous season, with teams picking in the same order in each round (modified by any trading of draft picks). However, the lockout had led to the complete cancellation of the 2004–05 NHL season, so there were no final positions to base the draft order on. The new CBA modified the draft procedures accordingly.
The order of picks in the first round was determined by a weighted lottery. In the second round this order was reversed, so the team with the 30th pick would also receive the 31st pick, whilst the team with first overall pick would not pick again until the 60th pick (last pick in the second round). The order would continue alternating in each subsequent round, producing a 'snaking' order. Teams were permitted to trade their draft picks as usual, which led to some modifications to the order.
The new CBA reduced the draft length to seven rounds, compared to the nine rounds used previously. As a result, 230 players were selected.
Lottery The lottery was held on July 22, the same day that the new CBA was approved. The top-rated prospect in this draft was Sidney Crosby, and it was widely assumed that he would be the first overall pick by whichever team won the lottery, so it became known colloquially as the 'Sidney Crosby Sweepstakes'.
Teams were weighted based on playoff appearances in the last three completed seasons (2001–02, 02-03 and 03–04), and first overall picks in the last four drafts (2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004). Three lottery balls each were assigned to teams which had not qualified for any of those playoffs and received no first overall picks in that period. Teams which had one playoff appearance or first overall pick in those years were given two lottery balls. All other teams received one lottery ball.
Three balls Buffalo Sabres, Columbus Blue Jackets, New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins
Two balls Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, Atlanta Thrashers, Calgary Flames, Carolina Hurricanes, Chicago Blackhawks, Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators, Phoenix Coyotes
One ball Boston Bruins, Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings, Florida Panthers, Montreal Canadiens, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, Ottawa Senators, Philadelphia Flyers, San Jose Sharks, St. Louis Blues, Tampa Bay Lightning, Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks, Washington Capitals
This produced a total of 48 lottery balls. As a result, teams with three balls had a 6.3% chance of winning the lottery, two balls 4.2%, and one ball 2.1%. The Pittsburgh Penguins won the lottery and therefore the first overall pick. Further drawing of team names was used to determine the order of the remaining picks.
Final central scouting rankings
Skaters North American European 1 Sidney Crosby (C) Anze Kopitar (C) 2 Bobby Ryan (RW) Martin Hanzal (C) 3 Jack Johnson (D) Jakub Vojta (D) 4 Benoit Pouliot (LW) Denis Istomin (RW) 5 Gilbert Brule (C) Niclas Bergfors (RW) 6 Luc Bourdon (D) Vyacheslav Buravchikov (D) 7 Kenndal McArdle (LW) Ilya Zubov (C) 8 Ryan Parent (D) Petr Kalus (RW) 9 Marc Staal (D) Anton Krysanov (C) 10 Devin Setoguchi (RW) Andrei Zubarev (D)
Goaltenders North American European 1 Carey Price Tuukka Rask 2 Pier-Olivier Pelletier Ondrej Pavelec 3 Tyler Plante Jakub Lev
Selections by round
Round one # Player Nationality NHL team College/junior/club team 1Sidney Crosby (C) Pittsburgh Penguins Rimouski Océanic (QMJHL) 2Bobby Ryan (RW) Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Owen Sound Attack (OHL) 3 Jack Johnson (D) Carolina Hurricanes US NTDP (NAHL) 4 Benoit Pouliot (LW) Minnesota Wild Sudbury Wolves (OHL) 5Carey Price (G) Montreal Canadiens Tri-City Americans (WHL) 6 Gilbert Brule (C) Columbus Blue Jackets Vancouver Giants (WHL) 7 Jack Skille (RW) Chicago Blackhawks US NTDP (NAHL) 8 Devin Setoguchi (RW) San Jose Sharks (from Atlanta) Saskatoon Blades (WHL) 9 Brian Lee (D) Ottawa Senators Moorhead High School (USHS–MN) 10 Luc Bourdon (D) Vancouver Canucks Val-d'Or Foreurs (QMJHL) 11Anze Kopitar (C) Los Angeles Kings Sodertalje SK (Sweden) 12 Marc Staal (D) New York Rangers (from San Jose via Atlanta) Sudbury Wolves (OHL) 13 Marek Zagrapan (C) Buffalo Sabres Chicoutimi Sagueneens (QMJHL) 14 Sasha Pokulok (D) Washington Capitals Cornell University (ECAC) 15 Ryan O'Marra (C) New York Islanders Erie Otters (OHL) 16 Alex Bourret (RW) Atlanta Thrashers (from New York Rangers) Lewiston Maineiacs (QMJHL) 17 Martin Hanzal (C) Phoenix Coyotes Ceske Budejovice (WHL) 18 Ryan Parent (D) Nashville Predators Guelph Storm (OHL) 19 Jakub Kindl (D) Detroit Red Wings Kitchener Rangers (OHL) 20 Kenndal McArdle (LW) Florida Panthers (from Philadelphia) Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL) 21 Tuukka Rask (G) Toronto Maple Leafs Ilves (SM-liiga) 22 Matt Lashoff (D) Boston Bruins Kitchener Rangers (OHL) 23 Niclas Bergfors (RW) New Jersey Devils Sodertälje SK (Sweden) 24T. J. Oshie (C) St. Louis Blues Warroad High School (USHS–MN) 25 Andrew Cogliano (C) Edmonton Oilers St. Michael's Buzzers (OPJHL) 26 Matt Pelech (D) Calgary Flames Sarnia Sting (OHL) 27 Joe Finley (D) Washington Capitals (from Colorado) Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL) 28 Matt Niskanen (D) Dallas Stars Virginia High School (USHS–MN) 29 Steve Downie (RW) Philadelphia Flyers (from Florida) Windsor Spitfires (OHL) 30 Vladimir Mihalik (D) Tampa Bay Lightning HC Presov II (Slovakia)
Round two # Player Nationality NHL team College/junior/club team 31 Brendan Mikkelson (D) Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (from Tampa Bay) Vancouver Giants (WHL) 32 Tyler Plante (G) Florida Panthers Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL) 33James Neal (LW) Dallas Stars Plymouth Whalers (OHL) 34 Ryan Stoa (C) Colorado Avalanche US NTDP (NAHL) 35 Marc-Edouard Vlasic (D) San Jose Sharks (from Calgary) Quebec Remparts (QMJHL) 36 Taylor Chorney (D) Edmonton Oilers Shattuck-Saint Mary's (Midget Major AAA) 37 Scott Jackson (D) St. Louis Blues Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL) 38 Jeff Frazee (G) New Jersey Devils US NTDP (NAHL) 39 Petr Kalus (C) Boston Bruins HC Vitkovice (Czech)/Regina Pats (WHL) 40 Michael Sauer (D) New York Rangers (from Toronto) Portland Winterhawks (WHL) 41 Ondrej Pavelec (G) Atlanta Thrashers (from Philadelphia via New York Rangers) HC Rabat Kladno (Czech Republic) 42 Justin Abdelkader (LW) Detroit Red Wings Cedar Rapids RoughRiders (USHL) 43 Michael Blunden (RW) Chicago Blackhawks (from Nashville) Erie Otters (OHL) 44Paul Stastny (C) Colorado Avalanche (from Phoenix) University of Denver (WCHA) 45 Guillaume Latendresse (RW) Montreal Canadiens (from New York Rangers) Drummondville Voltigeurs (QMJHL) 46 Dustin Kohn (D) New York Islanders Calgary Hitmen (WHL) 47 Tom Fritsche (LW) Colorado Avalanche (from Washington) Ohio State University (CCHA) 48 Philip Gogulla (LW) Buffalo Sabres Kolner Haie (Germany) 49 Chad Denny (D) Atlanta Thrashers (from San Jose) Lewiston Maineiacs (QMJHL) 50 Dany Roussin (LW) Los Angeles Kings Rimouski Océanic (QMJHL) 51 Mason Raymond (LW) Vancouver Canucks Camrose Kodiaks (AJHL) 52 Chris Durand (C) Colorado Avalanche (from Ottawa via Washington) Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL) 53 Andrew Kozek (LW) Atlanta Thrashers South Surrey Eagles (BCHL) 54 Dan Bertram (RW) Chicago Blackhawks Boston College (Hockey East) 55 Adam McQuaid (D) Columbus Blue Jackets Sudbury Wolves (OHL) 56 Marc-Andre Cliche (RW) New York Rangers (from Montreal) Lewiston Maineiacs (QMJHL) 57 Matt Kassian (LW) Minnesota Wild Kamloops Blazers (WHL) 58 Nate Hagemo (D) Carolina Hurricanes University of Minnesota (WCHA) 59 Pier-Olivier Pelletier (G) Phoenix Coyotes (from Anaheim via Philadelphia) Drummondville Voltigeurs (QMJHL) 60 T. J. Fast (D) Los Angeles Kings (compensatory) Tri-City Americans (WHL) 61 Michael Gergen (D) Pittsburgh Penguins Shattuck-Saint Mary's (Midget Major AAA)
Round three # Player Nationality NHL team College/junior/club team 62Kris Letang (D) Pittsburgh Penguins Val-d'Or Foreurs (QMJHL) 63 Jason Bailey (RW) Mighty Ducks of Anaheim US NTDP (NAHL) 64 Joe Barnes (C) Carolina Hurricanes Saskatoon Blades (WHL) 65 Kristofer Westblom (G) Minnesota Wild Kelowna Rockets (WHL) 66 Brodie Dupont (C) New York Rangers (from Montreal) Calgary Hitmen (WHL) 67 Kris Russell (D) Columbus Blue Jackets Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL) 68 Evan Brophey (C/LW) Chicago Blackhawks Belleville Bulls (OHL) 69 Gord Baldwin (D) Calgary Flames (from Atlanta via Carolina) Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL) 70 Vitaly Anikeyenko (D) Ottawa Senators Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (Russia) 71 Richard Clune (LW) Dallas Stars (from Vancouver) Sarnia Sting (OHL) 72Jonathan Quick (G) Los Angeles Kings Avon Old Farms (USHS, Connecticut) 73 Radek Smolenak (LW) Tampa Bay Lightning (from San Jose) Kingston Frontenacs (OHL) 74 Daniel Ryder (C) Calgary Flames (from Buffalo) Peterborough Petes (OHL) 75 Perttu Lindgren (C) Dallas Stars (from Washington) Ilves Jr. (Finland) 76 Shea Guthrie (C) New York Islanders St. George's School (USHS, Rhode Island) 77 Dalyn Flatt (D) New York Rangers Saskatoon Blades (WHL) 78 Teemu Laakso (D) Nashville Predators (from Phoenix via Carolina) HIFK Jr. (Finland) 79 Cody Franson (D) Nashville Predators Vancouver Giants (WHL) 80 Christofer Lofberg (C) Detroit Red Wings Djurgardens IF Jr. (Sweden) 81 Danny Syvret (D) Edmonton Oilers (from Philadelphia) London Knights (OHL) 82 Phil Oreskovic (D) Toronto Maple Leafs Brampton Battalion (OHL) 83 Mikko Lehtonen (RW) Boston Bruins Espoo Blues Jr. (Finland) 84 Mark Fraser (D) New Jersey Devils Kitchener Rangers (OHL) 85Ben Bishop (G) St. Louis Blues Texas Tornado (NAHL) 86 Robby Dee (C) Edmonton Oilers Breck School (USHS–MN) 87 Marc-Andre Gragnani (D) Buffalo Sabres (from Calgary) P.E.I. Rocket (QMJHL) 88 T. J. Hensick (C) Colorado Avalanche University of Michigan (CCHA) 89 Chris Lawrence (C) Tampa Bay Lightning (from Dallas via Philadelphia) Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL) 90 Dan Collins (RW) Florida Panthers Plymouth Whalers (OHL) 91 Oskars Bartulis (D) Philadelphia Flyers (from Tampa Bay) Moncton Wildcats (QMJHL)
Round four