If only being top pick in the NHL draft meant the talented teen gets a timed ticket for a Stanley Cup championship.
Except very few of the young men who make their way through the crowd to centre stage — Auston Matthews’ turn comes Friday — have seen their status translate to a Cup ring, at least right away.
First-overall selections between 1980-2010 (we’ll give the 2011-15 class more time to grow) have won just seven Cups with the teams that drafted them.
Three of those were with one franchise, Mario Lemieux, Sidney Crosby and Marc-Andre Fleury via Pittsburgh.