There have been just three goaltenders selected first overall in the history of the NHL entry draft.
The Montreal Canadiens chose Michel Plasse with the first pick 31 years ago. The last time the New York Islanders drafted first, they took Rick DiPietro in 2000. The Pittsburgh Penguins chose Marc-André Fleury first in 2003.
But if goaltending is so important, why haven't more been selected first overall?
"Because most of them end up with other teams before they are ready to start or they take three to four years to get there, whereas [Steven]Stamkos was helping his team [the Tampa Bay Lightning]by the first week in February," Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke said.
While Plasse mostly was a backup for his NHL career, which lasted 299 games with six teams, the jury is still out on DiPietro. Fleury came through with a Stanley Cup championship in his fourth full season a few weeks ago.
There are exceptions to Burke's reasoning. In his first NHL season, a 22-year-old Cam Ward not only won the 2005-06 Stanley Cup but was named the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as the playoff most valuable player.
But the wait-and-see nature of goaltenders is mostly correct. Fleury's opponent in the Stanley Cup final, Chris Osgood of the Detroit Red Wings, was a third-round selection in 1991. Even though he played regularly early in his pro career, the Red Wings acquired veteran Mike Vernon because Detroit coach Scotty Bowman didn't feel Osgood was good enough to win a championship. Vernon won in 1996-97 and then Osgood followed up with a title of his own in 1997-98.
The 2008-09 Vézina Trophy winner, Tim Thomas of the Boston Bruins, and the two other nominees were all late-round draft picks or a free agent. Thomas was a ninth-round pick. New York Rangers netminder Henrik Lundqvist, the best goalie taken in DiPietro's draft, was a seventh-round selection. Minnesota Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom was a free-agent signing.
"I just think goaltenders are harder to predict than skaters because the position is just as much mental as it is physical," said Tim Bernhardt, a former Maple Leafs netminder and long-time Dallas Stars chief scout who discovered Marty Turco with the Cambridge Junior B Winter Hawks and drafted him in the fifth round 15 years ago.