The first three picks were defensemen as Berard was followed by Wade Redden and Aki Berg. Nine defensemen were chosen in the first round, the most since 1989 when nine rearguards were also selected.
The Capitals had two first rounders again but struck out with both. Washington's first choice was the 17th overall and the Caps selected left wing Brad Church, whose Washington and NHL career consisted of just two games. The Church selection set the tone for one of the Capitals' worst drafts ever. The Caps took Miika Elomo with the 23rd pick; he also played in just two NHL games. Washington picked 10 players in total, with backup goaltender Sebastien Charpentier standing out as the best choice of the bunch.
The first round was teeming with talented prospects including Daymond Langkow (fifth overall), Shane Doan (seventh), Kyle McLaren (ninth), Jarome Iginla (11th), J-S Giguere (13th), Jay McKee (14th), Martin Biron (16th) and Petr Sykora (18th).
Other noteworthy picks in later rounds included Georges Laraque (31st), Jochen Hecht (49th), Sami Kapanen (87th), Marc Savard (91st), Michal Handzus (101st), Miikka Kiprusoff (116th), Brent Johnson (129th), Brent Sopel (144th), Stephane Robidas (164th), P-J Axelsson (177th) and Filip Kuba (192nd).
Hindsight is 20/20: Sykora is coming off his ninth straight season with 21 or more goals and 73 or more games played. Sykora was chosen one pick after Church.
Full Draft Results Here
