Which player was the first overall pick in the 2013 NHL Draft?

Nathan MacKinnon was the first overall pick in the 2013 NHL Draft, selected by the Colorado Avalanche. The Nova Scotia center entered the league after starring for the Halifax Mooseheads of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

Colorado won the 2013 draft lottery after originally holding the second selection, moving ahead of the Florida Panthers. The Avalanche chose MacKinnon over a highly regarded group that included defenseman Seth Jones and future stars such as Aleksander Barkov. MacKinnon made the jump to the NHL immediately and became one of the central pieces of Colorado’s rebuild.

His rookie season quickly showed why he had been chosen first. He recorded 63 points in 82 games and won the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie. At 18 years and 232 days, he also became the youngest player to score a playoff overtime goal when he did so against the Minnesota Wild in 2014. Readers sometimes confuse the 2013 first pick with Barkov, who was selected second overall by Florida.