With the 4th overall selection in the National Hockey League Draft, Future Considerations selects…

Alex Pietrangelo.

The fourth overall pick from the 2008 NHL Entry Draft emerged as one of the league’s top defensemen over the course of the 2012-13 season. He was 12th in the league in ice time this past season and led the Blues in points by a blueliner with 24.

Pietrangelo’s exploits haven’t just been in the NHL, either. The veteran of the Ivan Hlinka Memorial and World Junior Championship has also represented Canada at the World Championship and is a contender to don the Maple Leaf again at the Winter Olympics next year.

FC’s 4th Ranked Players By Year

2008: Alex Pietrangelo (STL, 4th overall)
2009: Magnus Paajarvi (EDM, 10th overall)
2010: Brett Connolly (TBL, 6th overall)
2011: Adam Larsson (NJD, 4th overall)
2012: Mikhail Grigorenko (BUF, 12th overall)

2013: Aleksander Barkov

For six seasons, Future Considerations has been bringing you the best in NHL Draft eligible content. To celebrate the NHL Draft — our sixth, we’re going back through our previous rankings to identify who was the best of the best at each pick, starting with all our 30th overalls and working to our top picks.