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1996 NHL Draft

Zdeno Chara in the 1996 NHL Draft

New York Islanders selected Zdeno Chara 56th overall in the 1996 NHL Draft, with the 4th pick of round 3.

He was the second of the 7 Slovaks selected that year. It was the third of the 10 picks New York Islanders made in the draft. Of the 241 players selected in 1996, 99 have played in the NHL regular season. None of them has played more games than his 1680, and only 2 have scored more points than his 680.

Overall pick
56
Round and pick
Round 3, pick 4
Drafting team
NYINew York Islanders
Date
Age at the draft
19 years

The picks around it

Picks 53–59 in the 1996 draft

  1. 53Eric NaudLBOS
  2. 54Francois MethotCBUF
  3. 55Terry FriesenGSJS
  4. 56Zdeno CharaD1680 GP · 680 PNYI
  5. 57Greg PhillipsCLAK
  6. 58Sergei ZimakovDWSH
  7. 59Tom PotiD824 GP · 327 PEDM

Games and points are NHL regular season to date.

The 1996 NHL Draft

Place in the draft class

Where he came in the 1996 class

2nd
of 7 Slovaks selected
21st
of 80 defensemen selected

Counted in draft order across the whole draft. The position is the one listed at the draft.

First Slovaks selected

  1. 37Marian CisarL73 GP · 30 PLAK
  2. 56Zdeno CharaD1680 GP · 680 PNYI
  3. 119Richard LintnerD112 GP · 20 PPHX
  4. 196Andrei PodkonickyC8 GP · 1 PSTL
  5. 216Ivan CiernikL89 GP · 26 POTT
  6. 227Lubomir VaicC9 GP · 2 PVAN
  7. 228Ronald PetrovickyR342 GP · 92 PCGY
Every pick from Slovakia in the 1996 draft

After the draft

The road to the NHL

Zdeno Chara made his NHL debut on November 19, 1997, 1 year and 150 days after the draft.

1680
Games
209
Goals
471
Assists
680
Points

NHL regular season to date.

The team's draft

New York Islanders picks in the 1996 draft

  1. 3J-P DumontR822 GP · 523 PNYI
  2. 29Dan LacoutureL337 GP · 45 PNYI
  3. 56Zdeno CharaD1680 GP · 680 PNYI
  4. 83Tyrone GarnerG3 GP · 0 WNYI
  5. 109Andy BerenzweigD37 GP · 10 PNYI
  6. 128Petr SachlCNYI
  7. 138Todd MillerCNYI
  8. 165Joe PrestifilippoGNYI
  9. 192Evgeny KorolevD42 GP · 5 PNYI
  10. 218Mike MuzechkaDNYI