Picking Tenth: Recent History of the #10 Selection

Trevor Zegras, Jamie Drysdale and Mason McTavish all joined the Ducks in recent years as early first round picks, but whose name will join that group next week in Montreal?
The Ducks currently hold eight selections in the 2022 NHL Draft, set for July 7 and 8 at Bell Centre, beginning with the 10th overall selection in Round 1.
In preparation for that pick, today we take a look back on the history of the 10th selection and what Anaheim can expect when it's on the clock.

Last Five Years:
2021 - Tyler Boucher, RW, Ottawa Senators
The son of former NHL goaltender and current ESPN broadcaster Brian Boucher, the younger Boucher stood out for his size and physicality. He split the 2021-22 season between Boston University (NCAA) and the Ottawa 67's (OHL), posting seven goals and 14 points in 24 OHL games.
2020 - Cole Perfetti, C, Winnipeg Jets
A gifted playmaker and puck-handler, Perfetti posted 111 points in his pre-draft season before landing with Winnipeg 10th overall. The now 20-year-old made his NHL debut this past season, scoring twice and tallying seven points in 18 NHL games.

2019 - Vasili Podkolzin, LW, Vancouver Canucks
Selected with the pick after Anaheim chose Trevor Zegras, Podkolzin was heralded for a blend of size and skill that allowed him to succeed in the KHL at a young age. Now 21 years old, he spent the entire 2021-22 season on Vancouver's NHL roster, collecting 26 points and a +7 rating in 79 games.
2018 - Evan Bouchard, D, Edmonton Oilers
A mobile defenseman with impressive offensive upside, Bouchard went to the Oilers tenth overall after a dominant OHL season captaining the London Knights. He officially announced his full-time NHL arrival this past year as one of the game's most promising blueliners, leading team defensemen in scoring (12-31=43) and goals.

2017 - Owen Tippett, RW, Florida Panthers
Florida chose Tippett tenth overall after the Canadian winger scored 44 goals in 60 OHL regular season games before adding another 10 in 20 postseason contests. He got a cup of coffee in the NHL immediately, at just 18 years old, but has struggled to cement himself into a permanent role at the highest level. Perhaps a change of scenery will help jumpstart his breakout, as he headlined the return from Florida to Philadelphia in this year's Claude Giroux trade deadline deal.
Recent Successes: While it may be too early to tell how the most recent picks will turn out, you don't have to look back far to find a current NHL star taken with the tenth overall selection. The newly-crowned Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche secured a key piece of their eventual core in 2015 with Finnish winger Mikko Rantanen, who owns 408 career points in as many NHL games and tallied 25 points in this year's postseason. Rantanen's teammate, Russian forward Valeri Nichushkin, was also selected tenth overall by the Dallas Stars two years prior.

All-Time Greats:Despite its notable position in the draft order, the 10th overall selection does not boast a deep history of NHL greats. The pick has produced some high-end NHL players, from two-time Stanley Cup champion Bobby Holik to Kings color analyst Jim Fox, but just a lone true superstar etched into the history of the sport.

That star was not drafted by Anaheim, a team that did not exist when he entered the NHL, but Teemu Selanne eventually made his way to Orange County, where he would become a franchise icon and Stanley Cup champion himself. His #8 now hangs in the rafters above the ice at Honda Center. The Finnish Flash ranks among the Ducks all-time leaders in nearly every offensive statistical category, and he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame alongside his longtime teammate and friend Paul Kariya in 2017.

Ducks History: The Ducks have selected 10th overall just once in franchise history, taking Nick Ritchie in that spot in 2014 with a pick acquired in the Bobby Ryan trade. Ritchie played 287 games as a Duck from 2015-20, most notably scoring the game-winning goal in Anaheim's 2-1 Game 7 victory over Edmonton in the 2017 Western Conference Semifinals. Ritchie split the 2021-22 season between Toronto and Arizona and seemed to find some success in the desert, scoring 10 goals in 24 games as a Coyote.