The Blackhawks hit it big at No. 3 with Denis Savard and Jonathan Toews. But Cam Barker was one who didn't work out.

When the Blackhawks moved up in the NHL draft lottery to get the No. 3 pick, it was a remarkable stroke of luck.

Whether it’s a stroke of good fortune remains to be seen.

General manager Stan Bowman called it a “game-changer” and his hope is that the Hawks’ choice will be a staple of the franchise for the better part of the next two decades.

The draft was instituted in 1963, and three years later the Hawks had the No. 3 pick for the first time. They selected Terry Caffery, a Canadian center who would go on to play 14 games during his NHL career.

That was not a harbinger of things to come. Since drafting Caffery, the Hawks have used the No. 3 pick for their selection on four occasions. None of those players — Denis Savard (1980), Ed Olczyk (1984), Cam Barker (2004) and Jonathan Toews (2006) — had a career remotely as short as Caffery.

Savard is in the Hall of Fame, Toews will almost certainly make it one day and while Olczyk isn’t likely to join them, the Chicago native scored 342 goals over 1,031 games and had a career befitting a No. 3 overall pick.

Barker decidedly will not be a Hall of Famer, and by virtue of where he was drafted, an argument can be made that he was a bust. But Barker did play 310 games during his NHL career and had a 40-point season for the Hawks in 2008-09 before getting traded to the Wild midway through the following season.

Whomever the Hawks draft June 21 will have his own draft-day stories and learn if he’s capable of dealing with the pressure that comes with being a top pick. The Tribune spoke with Savard, Olczyk, Barker and Toews to get their take on what it’s like to be such a high draft pick.

Remembering draft day

The 1980 draft was held at the Montreal Forum, but Savard, who grew up in a Montreal suburb, didn’t think he would be going to his hometown team. The word was that the Canadiens, who had the first pick, would take center Doug Wickenheiser and the Jets planned to take a defenseman at No. 2.

But Savard wasn’t confident he would wind up with the Hawks. Three years earlier, the Hawks had drafted his cousin, Jean Savard, in the second round and it hadn’t worked out.

“My dad said because of the bloodlines, because of cousins, who knows, they may not take us,” Savard said.

The Canadiens took Wickenheiser, the Jets picked defenseman Dave Babych and the Hawks chose Savard. Back then, young players didn’t know of one another like they do now, so Savard barely knew of Wickenheiser. Savard never saw him play until they competed on an NHL rink for the first time.

“We just played in our league,” Savard said. “It’s funny because the kids now — because of the agents and because of the way the league does it — you’re aware a lot more about other players than we were. Today there’s so much publicity on every kid who’s getting drafted, which is a good thing.

“In our days I had no idea who Doug Wickenheiser was. I knew (of him), but as far as 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th overall. Never heard of them.”

In 1984, the Hawks didn’t hold the No. 3 pick until moments before they used it. The Penguins drafted Mario Lemieux first overall, the Devils then took forward Kirk Muller. The draft was once again held at the Montreal Forum and Olczyk’s anxiety only increased as he heard there was a timeout on the draft floor.

Denis Savard began his Hall of Fame career with the Blackhawks, but in 1980 he wasn't confident the Hawks would take him with the No. 3 pick. (Nuccio DiNuzzo / Chicago Tribune)

“I knew there was interest (from the Hawks), but they knew I wasn’t going to last to the sixth pick,” Olczyk said. “Once there was a timeout on the floor, I remember my agent, Ricky Curran, said maybe the Hawks are talking with L.A. And sure enough, they announced the Hawks had made a trade with L.A. and moved up to the third pick.”

The trade allowed the Hawks to draft Olczyk, who later learned they had made a side deal with the Devils not to take him.

Seeing Barker’s name among the top five in the 2004 draft along with Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Andrew Ladd and Blake Wheeler is a bit of a shock. In retrospect, one of those names doesn’t belong, but at the time Barker was the clear top defenseman in the draft.

At 6-foot-3, Barker was the prototype big blueliner NHL teams still covet.

“I knew they wanted a D-man,” Barker said. “So it wasn’t a huge surprise when it happened. I had been told I was going there. The interviews and all that, I thought went well. Obviously, when it happens it’s pretty surreal. That whole weekend is just so busy and really flies by. You don’t get much time to reflect until after.”

When Toews arrived in Vancouver for the 2006 draft, he fully expected to leave as a member of the Penguins organization.

“Maybe I wasn’t looking for the signs the right way,” Toews said. “Just had the feeling I guess that they were interested in me. Clearly I was wrong. Every time we played Pittsburgh, Patrick Sharp was quick to remind me they passed on me. So I made sure I had good games against them over the years.”

After the Blues took defenseman Erik Johnson, the Penguins went with center Jordan Staal, which led Toews to worry he might be waiting a long time to get picked.

“Everyone in the media was saying they thought Jordan Staal would go second,” Toews said. “Sure enough that’s what happened and I thought I could be sliding. I could be sitting here for longer than I expected. Then I went No. 3 and I was surprised when it happened. That’s when the nerves and the reality hit and it was definitely a crazy moment and a great memory.”

Feeling the pressure

Olczyk’s dream of playing for the Hawks came true a few months after he was drafted when he made the opening-day roster and posted a 50-point rookie season. He followed that with a 79-point campaign the next year. But he began to struggle a bit during his third season and Olczyk, who was still just 20, began to let the pressure to perform affect him.

He finished with a career-low 16 goals, and with 51 points Olczyk had regressed to near his rookie season total.

“I can only speak from having the pressure of being the first-ever American-born native son to be drafted by his hometown team in the first round,” Olczyk said. “So there was a lot of pressure. I always felt pressure playing at home because I wanted to do so well for so many people and I wanted to win for the fan base because I was a fan as a kid.”

A month before the start of Olczyk’s fourth season, the Hawks dealt him and Al Secord to the Maple Leafs for Rick Vaive, Steve Thomas and Bob McGill.

“I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world because it helped pave the way for me to play 16 years in the league,” Olczyk said.

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Eddie Olczyk emcees the Blackhawks Convention opening ceremony at the Chicago Hilton on July 27, 2018. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)

After Savard was drafted, he came to Chicago a couple of weeks before training camp to skate with some of the Hawks veterans.

“That gave me so much confidence,” Savard said. “I remember calling (my dad) and saying, ‘Oh, I don’t think I need to worry here. They’re good players, but I can play with them. I’m not even concerned.’”

If there was any pressure with being a high pick, Savard didn’t feel it. He had 75 points as a rookie during the 1980-81 season and averaged more than 100 points during the first eight seasons as he developed into an NHL superstar.

It was only during the latter part of Savard’s first stint with the Hawks — he was traded after the 1990 season and returned for two-plus seasons before retiring in 1997 — that he developed some kind of fear.

“As you get older, the fear starts to become a factor,” Savard said. “I can’t tell you what the fear is. Is it the fear of getting hurt? Is it the fear of not producing? Is it the fear of disappointing your family? I don’t know exactly what it is.

“There were quite a few things as you get older you’re just not as confident and it’s hard. When you’re a kid, you just go play with no expectations at the start. Even though you’re third (pick), you don’t really know yourself.”

Unlike Savard and Olczyk, Toews didn’t play for the Hawks the year he was drafted. He went back to North Dakota for his sophomore season. When he decided to turn pro the following season, he was on a rebuilding team that also included another prized rookie — Patrick Kane, the No. 1 pick in the 2007 draft.

Toews was able to view his draft position as a blessing and not a curse.

“If you’re a top-five pick, you’re probably going to get a ton of opportunities no matter what,” Toews said. “Coaches, GMs, scouts, they want to see your talent pay off and put you in the right scenario to be able to prove and to show you’re a special player and you deserve to come in and contribute right away at that level.

“For me, it was just about taking advantage of those opportunities and being overprepared for them. Not being too comfortable for a second.”

Barker, who lives in British Columbia with his wife and two sons and is still close to many of his former Hawks teammates, didn’t have the NHL career he hoped for and isn’t sure why it didn’t last longer. He broke his right ankle in junior hockey then needed surgery on it again just before training camp in 2006, but he doesn’t use that as an excuse.

His 40-point season at age 22 seemed to be a turning point, but the following season he had 14 points in 51 games when the Hawks dealt him to the Wild for Nick Leddy.

“It’s hard to pinpoint what the difference was,” Barker said. “Throughout my career I feel like, ‘If I get hot I can make a run for the whole year.’ But if you're kind of struggling and things aren’t going great then you’re not getting the same opportunities. I’ve always been like that.

“I had a year like that in the KHL where everything was just aces, and that 40-point year in Chicago was pretty similar.”

The hardest part for Barker is that he missed out on the 2010 Stanley Cup run. Being viewed as a player who didn’t live up to being the No. 3 pick in the draft? It’s not an issue for him.

“I’m very proud of what I accomplished,” Barker said. “I plan on playing a couple more years here. Can’t be too concerned with what other people think. Everyone wants to play 1,000-plus games and win a bunch of Cups and go to the Hall of Fame. But how many kids play hockey that never get to play a single game (in the NHL)? I feel pretty fortunate and to look at it any other way is kind of foolish.”

Barring a trade, the Hawks soon will have another No. 3 pick. And Toews will be there to have a laugh with the newest member of this select group.

“It’s interesting now that most likely we’ll be welcoming another third overall pick into the fold,” Toews said. “I think we would probably joke that the first overall picks are usually overrated and you really want the guy that goes No. 3 anyway.”

jgreenfield@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @jcgreenx

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