Prior 4th picks
2010: Ryan Johansen
2009: Evander Kane
2008: Alex Pietrangelo
2007: Thomas Hickey
2006: Nick Backstrom
2005: Benoit Pouliot
2004: Andrew Ladd
2003: Nick Zherdev
2002: Joni Pitkanen
2001: Stephen Weiss
2000: Rusty Klesla
1999: Pavel Brindl
1998: Bryan Allen
1997: Ruberto Luongo
Finally, I can stop with what I'll consider a top star player, but the next three years are pug fugly until we get to Paul Kariya in 1993.
There's your history of the #4 pick. Problem is 1) you guys have no patience 2) you overvalue what a #4 pick actually is and 3) you all sat around during a pointless season having fantasies about the guy, listening to stupid talking heads who said he was Nick Lidstrom 2.0.
This is the problem with drafting defensemen, if you get impatient, you end up wasting your pick and if the player actually is good, someone else reaps the benefits.