There can't be too many exercises across the scope of big time professional sports, more challenging than the NHL draft.

Good morning to you.

Good Friday morning. I'm Dan Kovachievich of D.K. Pittsburgh Sports.

This is Daily Shot of Penguins. It comes your way bright and early every weekday. If you're into

football and or baseball, I also offer daily shots of Steelers and pirates in the same place that

you found this. The Penguins will be picking in tonight's NHL draft, presumably barring some moves,

at numbers 11 and 12, back to back.

They could, of course, move up, they could move down, they could move those picks to other teams for prospects

that are closer to being ready for the NHL, and they could also come away with absolutely nothing.

I'm going to take you back 21 years to the NHL draft that to this date, and maybe for all time, will have the easiest

top two selections, because the class of 2004 had as the first selection, Alexander

Ovechkin going to Washington, the second selection, Yvgeny Malkin, going to Pittsburgh.

Why do I bring this up?

Well, because the third selection of that class was Cam Barker.

Yes, the Cam Barker.

No shame in this.

He had a nice little NHL career, 310 games.

This was a defenseman. He had 21 goals,

75 assists, and after a handful of seasons between the Blackhawks and the wild, cup of coffee

with the Oilers, another with the Canucks, he went off to Russia and finished his professional career with a few years over there.

Number four was Andrew Ladd.

Now, he had himself more of the kind of career that you would expect from the fourth overall pick.

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