2003 NHL Draft
Thomas Vanek in the 2003 NHL Draft
Buffalo Sabres selected Thomas Vanek 5th overall in the 2003 NHL Draft.
It was the first of the 10 picks Buffalo Sabres made in the draft. Of the 292 players selected in 2003, 130 have played in the NHL regular season. His 1029 games put him 16th in the class, but only 8 have scored more points than his 789.
- Overall pick
- 5
- Round and pick
- Round 1, pick 5
- Drafting team
- BUFBuffalo Sabres
- Date
- Age at the draft
- 19 years
The picks around it
Picks 2–8 in the 2003 draft
- 2Eric StaalC1365 GP · 1063 PCARCarolina Hurricanes
- 3Nathan HortonR627 GP · 421 PFLAFlorida Panthers
- 4Nikolay ZherdevR421 GP · 261 PCBJColumbus Blue Jackets
- 5Thomas VanekL1029 GP · 789 PBUFBuffalo Sabres
- 6Milan MichalekL747 GP · 446 PSJSSan Jose Sharks
- 7Ryan SuterD1526 GP · 696 PNSHNashville Predators
- 8Braydon CoburnD983 GP · 234 PATLAtlanta Thrashers
Games and points are NHL regular season to date.
Place in the draft class
Where he came in the 2003 class
1st
of 1 Austrians selected
4th
of 176 forwards selected
Counted in draft order across the whole draft. The position is the one listed at the draft.
After the draft
The road to the NHL
Thomas Vanek made his NHL debut on October 5, 2005, 2 years and 106 days after the draft.
1029
Games
373
Goals
416
Assists
789
Points
NHL regular season to date.
The team's draft
Buffalo Sabres picks in the 2003 draft
- 5Thomas VanekL1029 GP · 789 PBUFBuffalo Sabres
- 65Branislav FabryRBUFBuffalo Sabres
- 74Clarke MacArthurL552 GP · 304 PBUFBuffalo Sabres
- 106Jan HejdaD627 GP · 135 PBUFBuffalo Sabres
- 114Denis EzhovDBUFBuffalo Sabres
- 150Thomas MorrowDBUFBuffalo Sabres
- 172Pavel VoroshninDBUFBuffalo Sabres
- 202Nathan PaetschD167 GP · 42 PBUFBuffalo Sabres
- 235Jeff WeberGBUFBuffalo Sabres
- 266Louis Philippe MartinRBUFBuffalo Sabres