Sometimes, what gets said on Draft Day should have stayed back on Draft Day, or been forgotten altogether. But other times, the quotes reveal the kid in the player and are instantly relatable. And then there';s Phil Kessel, for whom
Draft Day was time to add a new verb to the English language.

"I was hard at work building swimming pools in London. I';d been a Maple Leaf about five or six hours before I found out. I heard the news on the radio on the way home that evening."

Darryl Sittler ';70 (#8)

"The day the Devils drafted me was a great day … I went through the first round not even nervous because I was ranked in the second, then boom, I had to go down these stairs and give a short speech in front of 20,000 people about how excited I was to get drafted. Then I turned around and asked my agent, ‘Where is New Jersey?';"

Martin Brodeur ';90 (#20)

Our FREE 2018 NHL Draft Guide is HereThe #2 pick (Bruce Fedyck-US PRESSWIRE)

"Nobody remembers number two, boys. Nobody remembers number two."

Alexandre Daigle ';93 (#1)

"Nobody remembers number two, boys. Nobody remembers number two. Classic all-time quote. Guess who ate the sh*t sandwich on that one?"

Chris Pronger ';93 (#2)

"As I';ve told our media, Pavel Brendl is a can';t-miss player. In my opinion, it';s a question of How many goals he';s going to score, not Can he play?"

Brian Burke, 1999

"Rolling the dice here a little bit. Roberto Luongo is going to be an excellent
goaltender. He is a class act and a kid that we would have been happy to ride with. But as the Draft progressed, it was clear that the value of Luongo was greater than the value of the first overall pick; but in our minds, if we could
get to DiPietro, he possesses an element that Roberto perhaps doesn';t possess."

Mike Milbury, 2000 draft

"I wasn';t that upset [drafted fifth overall]. I think you have something to prove now that I got drafted fifth, but hopefully I';ll go out and show that maybe I should have gotten draft-picked higher."

Phil Kessel ';06 (#5)Phil Kessel, Pittsburgh Penguins, January 2, 2018 (Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)

"Every kid of dreams of playing for his boyhood team. It has not sunk in yet. I
keep looking down at the [Avalanche] logo going Are you kidding me? I used to draw this every day at school. This is unbelievable."

Matt Duchene ';09 (#3)

"I was so shocked. I was shaking in my seat. I got up to the podium, or whatever it is, and I was shaking so much I couldn';t even put my jersey on."

Taylor Hall ';10 (#1)

"John Tavares told me not to read about myself. He told me that he found his draft year [2009] a bit difficult [because of] the pressures that came with being an exceptional player ... Everyone is excited about you in the beginning but it almost turns into What you can do to keep on impressing people? What can
you do to keep up your image? And Mr. Tavares scored 72 goals as a 17-year-old. How do you possibly [top that]?" 

Connor McDavid ';15 (#1)(Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports)

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