Nice: 69th Overall

69, a number so nice, our own mcoles69 uses it in her screen name. While spending time thinking about how nice the number 69 is, I came up with a question. Who are the greatest NHL players to ever be picked 69th in the NHL Entry Draft? Surely the nicest number would be graced with the nicest players to ever play in the National Hockey League. Well, unfortunately, most of the best players are picked in places like #1 or #2, but luckily for us, there were enough real hockey players to let me make this list: the top 10 hockey players who were picked 69th overall in the NHL Entry Draft.

10. Jeff Nielsen

Y’know, Jeff Nielsen? Played for the Mighty Ducks, had 36 points in his career? Alright, he sucks, but when you make a list of 4th rounders you get stuck with a guy like this, who’s most memorable for having a huge forehead. Oh, and he was better than Joel Stepp.

9. Colin Fraser
Colin Fraser, a two-time Stanley Cup winner, first with the Blackhawks in 2010, then with the Kings in 2012. He’s only got 58 points in his career, but has still stuck around for over 300 games, which is better than Nielsen could say. Fraser is also only the second most likely man to be a serial killer from the Kings' Stanley Cup winning team. He was recently signed by St. Louis, for whom he’s played a grand total of 1 game.

8. Michael Stone
Michael Stone plays for the Phoenix Coyotes, and he’s become a fairly steady hand on their defense at the age of 24, becoming a neutral possession player in this most recent season. He could be somebody to watch in the future, a fine 4-6 defenseman.

7. Reilly Smith
Reilly Smith plays for the Bruins, and he’s probably most notable as being one of the pieces sent to Boston for Tyler Seguin. Since then he’s blossomed into a respectable young forward, and he has a pretty good future in the NHL if he keeps improving. Not a worldbeater, but not terrible.

6. Mike Sullivan
Mike Sullivan is above Reilly Smith and Michael Stone only because his career is actually over, unlike Smith and Stone who will probably be higher on this list if the word “nice” is still a meme in 3 years.

5. Bob Essensa
The first of two goalies on the list, Bob Essensa was an average goalie and then backup for Winnipeg, Detroit, and Edmonton. He finished 3rd in Vezina voting once, right behind Kirk McLean and Patrick Roy. Not exactly a distinguished career, but he played fairly well, and he had a pretty cool mask, so he comes in at 5th.

4. Steve Mason
Steve Mason has enjoyed an incredible career resurgence after being traded to the Philadelphia Flyers, a series of words that hasn’t been used to describe any goalie before him. He’s also a former Calder trophy winner, although the Blue Jackets soured on him after a while. He might be in the midst of a Vezina season, with a .928 season, which is better than anything Essensa ever put up.

3. Maxim Afinogenov

Maxim Afinogenov gets to number 3 because of that sick goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning. I mean, did you see that shit? He spins around and taps the puck between his legs and then taps it in while he’s still spinning. That’s the sickest shit ever. So what he never had 25+ goals, that one goal was worth 50, that’s why he’s number 3.

2. Glenn Anderson
Glenn Anderson, an actual Hall of Famer, with over a thousand points in the NHL and 6 Stanley Cup championships to his name. He had two 50 goal seasons, and was an important part of the Edmonton team that won 5 Stanley Cups in the 1980s.

1. Tom Glavine
What can be said about the first ballot Hall of Famer that hasn't been said before? Drafted by the LA Kings, he went on to become a part of one of the greatest pitching rotations of all time, winning 2 Cy Young awards, a World Series Trophy, and appearing in 10 all-star games. He was eventually voted into the Hall of Fame with 92% of the vote on his first ballot. Truly, no better player has ever been picked 69th in the NHL Entry Draft.

The real number 1. Jari Kurri
Another member of those great 80s Oilers, and widely considered one of the best defensive forwards of his era. He posted 1398 points in his long career, including 601 goals while playing almost his entire career on the wing with Gretzky. Those are some nice numbers, to go with the nicest player picked at the nicest spot in the entire draft.

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[EDIT CTSAI666 4/9/15 11:04 AM] Thanks to our new author for penning this article! No thanks for making me edit it! Have a nice day, Squad!