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Not every NHL star came into the League as a highly touted Draft pick. In fact, several prominent stars such as Peter Bondra of the Washington Capitals (right) have been selected very late in the Draft. Others weren't drafted at all.
The tables below illustrate some of these "dark horse" success stories, including players like Ed Belfour and Curtis Joseph, two of the top goalies in the entire NHL.
| Dark Horse Entry Draft Selections | |||
| Player | Pick | Year | Drafted By |
| Dan McGillis | 238th | 1992 | Detroit |
| Pavol Demitra | 227th | 1993 | Ottawa |
| Vladimir Konstantinov * | 221st | 1989 | Detroit |
| Anson Carter | 220th | 1992 | Quebec |
| Johan Hedberg | 218th | 1994 | Philadelphia |
| Dave Taylor * | 210th | 1975 | Los Angeles |
| Dominik Hasek | 207th | 1983 | Chicago |
| Arturs Irbe | 196th | 1989 | Minnesota |
| Vladimir Malakhov | 191st | 1989 | NY Islanders |
| Trevor Letowski | 174th | 1996 | Phoenix |
| Luc Robitaille | 171st | 1984 | Los Angeles |
| Roman Cechmanek | 171st | 2000 | Philadelphia |
| Theoren Fleury | 166th | 1987 | Calgary |
| Peter Bondra | 156th | 1990 | Washington |
| Doug Gilmour * | 134th | 1982 | St. Louis |
| Daniel Alfredsson | 133rd | 1994 | Ottawa |
| Steve Larmer * | 120th | 1980 | Chicago |
| Brett Hull | 117th | 1984 | Calgary |
| Pavel Bure | 113th | 1989 | Vancouver |
| * retired | |||
| Undrafted Talent Currently Playing in the NHL | |||
| Signed Player | Year | By | Last Amateur Club |
| Ed Belfour | 1987 | CHI | University of North Dakota |
| Andy Delmore | 1997 | PHI | Sarnia, OHL |
| Curtis Joseph | 1989 | STL | University of Wisconsin |
| Mike Keane | 1985 | MTL | Moose Jaw, WHL |
| John Madden | 1997 | N.J. | University of Michigan |
| Brian Rafalski | 1999 | N.J. | HIFK, Helsinki (FIN) |
| Martin St. Louis | 1998 | CGY | University of Vermont |
| Todd Simpson | 1994 | CGY | Saskatoon, WHL |
| Steve Thomas, DET | 1984 | TOR | Toronto, OHL |
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Despite their vital importance to the success of every NHL team, goaltenders are not often selected very high in the Entry Draft. In fact, some of the best goalies in the game today weren't high picks at all. Ed Belfour (right), who backstopped the Dallas Stars to the Stanley Cup in 1998-99, was undrafted coming out of the University of North Dakota.
| Highest Drafted Goaltenders | |||
| Player | Pick | Year | Drafted By |
| Michel Plasse | 1st | 1968 | Montreal |
| Rick DiPietro | 1st | 2000 | NY Islanders |
| Marc-Andre Fleury | 1st | 2003 | Pittsburgh |
| Kari Lehtonen | 2nd | 2002 | Atlanta |
| Roberto Luongo | 4th | 1997 | NY Islanders |
| Ray Martyniuk | 5th | 1970 | Montreal |
| John Davidson | 5th | 1973 | St. Louis |
| Tom Barrasso | 5th | 1983 | Buffalo |
| Michel Larocque | 6th | 1972 | Montreal |
| Brian Finley | 6th | 1999 | Nashville |
| Al Montoya | 6th | 2004 | NY Rangers |
| Jamie Storr | 7th | 1994 | Los Angeles |
| Grant Fuhr | 8th | 1981 | Edmonton |
| Pascal Leclaire | 8th | 2001 | Columbus |
| Jimmy Waite | 8th | 1987 | Chicago |
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