Can Stars add to trend of draft success in back half of first round?

Picking in the back half of the first round can sometimes be a crapshoot, but Stars general manager Jim Nill and his staff have found some real potential over the past handful of years - and hit a home run along the way.

This year, the Stars hold the 18th overall selection in the 2022 NHL Draft, which begins on July 7 in Montreal. Ironically, it'll be the highest they've picked in the first round since they took defenseman Thomas Harley in that exact same slot in 2019. (Dallas originally had the 15th overall pick in 2021 but traded it to Detroit for the 23rd, 48th and 138th selections.)
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Over the past seven years, the list of first rounders selected by the Stars includes Wyatt Johnston (23rd overall in 2021), Mavrik Bourque (30th overall in 2020), Harley in 2019, Ty Dellandrea (13th overall in 2018), Miro Heiskanen and Jake Oettinger (third overall and 26th overall, respectively, in 2017), Riley Tufte (25th overall in 2016) and Denis Gurianov (12th overall in 2015).
Before we take a deeper look into some of those selections, here are a handful of players taken with the 18th overall pick across the league over the past 20 years (their draft club in parenthesis). Some went on to have long careers while others have won multiple Stanley Cups, and a few are impact players right now.
2015
Thomas Chabot (Ottawa) - 188 points (42 goals, 146 assists) in 313 career games with the Senators
2014
Alex Tuch (Minnesota) - 177 points (73 goals, 104 assists) in 305 career games with the Wild, Vegas Golden Knights and Buffalo Sabres
2012
Teuvo Teravainen (Chicago) - 369 points (118 goals, 251 assists) in 526 career games with the Blackhawks and Carolina Hurricanes; won a Stanley Cup with Chicago in 2015
2007
Ian Cole (St. Louis) - 165 points (29 goals, 136 assists) in 670 career games with the Blues, Pittsburgh Penguins, Columbus Blue Jackets, Colorado Avalanche, Minnesota Wild and Carolina Hurricanes; won back-to-back Stanley Cups with Pittsburgh in 2016 and 2017
2003
Eric Fehr (Washington) - 221 points (113 goals, 108 assists) in 652 career games with the Capitals, Winnipeg Jets, Pittsburgh Penguins, Toronto Maple Leafs, San Jose Sharks and Minnesota Wild; won a Stanley Cup with Pittsburgh in 2016
2000
Brooks Orpik (Pittsburgh) - 194 points (18 goals, 176 assists) in 1,035 career games with the Penguins and Washington Capitals; won a Stanley Cup with Pittsburgh in 2009 and again with Washington in 2018

Recent Stars first rounders

Johnston and Bourque had standout seasons in the Canadian Hockey League, and both are expected to get extended looks during training camp this fall. Johnston, 19, won the CHL Top Scorer Award for the 2021-22 campaign following a CHL-best 124-point regular season. Nill and his staff were lauded for doing their due diligence on Johnston, who missed an entire season because of the COVID-19 pandemic prior to the 2021 draft.
Bourque, 20, won the Guy Lafleur Trophy as the QMJHL's postseason MVP after leading the Shawinigan Cataractes to their first-ever championship with a team-leading 25 points in 16 playoff games. He also appeared in six games with the Texas Stars in the 2020-21 season, compiling five points (one goal, four assists).
Harley played 34 of his 35 career NHL games last season, picking up his first career NHL goal in the regular-season finale on April 29 vs. Anaheim. He made his NHL regular-season debut on Nov. 2 vs. Winnipeg, logging 15:09 time on ice, two hits, two blocked shots and one shot on goal. Because of the CHL-NHL agreement for the 2020-21 season, Harley was able to play 38 games with Texas as a 19-year-old instead of having to return to the OHL's Mississauga Steelheads.
Oettinger is also an example of a Stars player finding success after being taken in the latter half of the first round. The 23-year-old took the league by storm with his unforgettable performance in the first round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs against Calgary.
Oettinger finished the seven-game series with a .954 save percentage, including a legendary 64-save performance in Dallas' 3-2 overtime loss in Game 7. It marked the second-most saves in a Game 7 in NHL history behind Kelly Hrudey of the New York Islanders, who made 73 against the Washington Capitals in the 1987 Patrick Division Semifinals - a game that required four overtimes.
The Stars currently hold six selections in the 2022 NHL Draft with picks in each of the first six rounds (Dallas traded its seventh-round selection along with Ben Bishop to Buffalo for future considerations on June 10).
Round 1 will be televised on Thursday, July 7 at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN and streamed on ESPN+. The Stars will host a Draft Party presented by AT&T Fiber at The Owners Box in The Omni Dallas (555 S Lamar St, Dallas, TX 75202 ) for the first round with live radio coverage on Sportsradio 96.7-FM and 1310-AM The Ticket.
Rounds 2-7 will be broadcast on NHL Network and ESPN+ beginning at 10 a.m. CT on Friday, July 8.
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Kyle Shohara is the Digital Manager for DallasStars.com and writes about the Stars/NHL. Follow him on Twitter @kyleshohara.