John Tavares. Victor Hedman. The 2009 NHL draft was a win-win, but did they get the order right?

It was Brian Lawton, then the general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning, who selected Victor Hedman second overall in the 2009 NHL draft.

The New York Islanders had finished last and won the lottery — back then only one team would win and move up a maximum of four places — to retain the first pick, and chose John Tavares.

At the time, there was a heated debate over who would go No. 1. Tavares had been hyped since joining the Ontario Hockey League as a 15-year-old with exceptional status. Hedman, though, was a six-foot-six defenceman who could skate and was already playing with men in the blueliner factory that was Swedish hockey.

So what if Tampa had won the lottery? Who would Lawton have taken?

“People have asked me that, and to be honest I’m thankful I’ve never had to make that decision,” said Lawton.

In a draft redo — forced upon him by the NHL Network, where the former player, agent and GM now works as an analyst — he took Hedman.

“John’s had an incredible career: four 80-point seasons, 47 goals last year. There’s no way in revisionist history that the New York Islanders shouldn’t have taken Tavares. He had everything they were looking for,” Lawton said.

“I put Hedman first, but it’s still really, really close. John is a No. 1 centre. The problem is, I have trouble finding people above Victor as a No. 1 defenceman in the league.”

Tavares has captained the Islanders, and now the Maple Leafs. He has appeared in 36 playoff games, but only been on a team that won a round once.

Of course, it’s worked out OK for the Lightning, who’ve gone through three GMs and three coaches in Hedman’s time.

The 29-year-old Hedman is a perennial finalist for the Norris Trophy, winning once but losing out to Nashville’s Roman Josi this year. He has played more than 100 playoff games, and his Lightning have made the Stanley Cup final twice, losing to Chicago in 2015 and now this year against Dallas.

“The thing about the Islanders-Tampa Bay (Eastern final): too bad the Islanders didn’t take (Hedman) first overall, because if they did they’d be in the finals,” said former Stanley Cup champion Kris Versteeg, now an analyst with Sportsnet. “He controls the game from the back end — his hockey IQ, his skill. He’s a five-star player. Plays in every situation. That’s why he’s the third-best player in the entire world, and by far the best defenceman in the entire world.

“You’ve got Connor McDavid, you’ve got Nathan MacKinnon and then you’ve got Victor Hedman.”

Hedman has been a force on the blue line — creating offence, being physical and leading the Lightning in the absence of injured captain Steve Stamkos.

“He stays positive all the time,” teammate Erik Cernak said Monday. “He always has something to say. It’s great to hear from a guy like that. He’s older, has experience. He’s good for our team.”

Hedman leads the Lightning in average ice time, quarterbacks the power play and had 10 goals through Game 5. Brian Leetch and Paul Coffey are the only defencemen who had scored more often over the grind of a single post-season.

“There’s no part of the game you can’t use him in,” said Lawton. “He’s turned it up a notch. It’s never about Victor scoring. It’s about winning.”

Lawton says he never had any doubts that Hedman would be a star, but in his rookie year there were those who second-guessed him.

The Colorado Avalanche, for example, thought they had a steal in Matt Duchene at third overall. Some in the scouting community thought Duchene had a chance to go first or second. He went on to lead all rookies in scoring — beating Tavares by an assist — with 55 points (24 goals, 31 assists). In the end, defenceman Tyler Myers was voted rookie of the year.

Hedman was 21st in rookie scoring (four goals, 16 assists), sixth among first-year blueliners, but averaged more than 20 minutes a game on a fairly bad team.

“The guy played 20 minutes a night, right out of the box,” said Lawton. “He’s a defenceman in the NHL. The team is not great, but it’s obvious that he’s awesome … His hockey IQ is brilliant. The amount of ground he can cover is incredible. His physicality makes it almost impossible to pick on him. He’s just so big, nobody knows what to do with him. In practice, he was tracking down Marty St. Louis, our quickest player.

“We’re seeing all these things. This is going to be amazing.”