Ever since the creation of the NHL Entry Draft in 1963, teams have drafted many greats. Today we look at players that are not-so-great.
Anaheim Ducks - Logan MacMillan
Drafted 19th overall in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft and son of 11 NHL season veteran Bob MacMillan, Logan is just one of four 1st round picks to never play a game in the NHL. Anaheim had big hopes for the former Rimouski Oceanic and Halifax Mooshead. After winning a gold medal with Canada's U-18 team, Anaheim ignored the fact that MacMillan wasn't a big scorer during his time in the juniors or they were just clouded by their first Stanley Cup victory. MacMillan only lasted 30 games in Anaheim's system where he played in the ECHL for the Bakersfield Condors until they traded him to the Calgary Flames where he played a further 118 games for the Abbotsford Heat.
Anaheim could had plenty of choices to chose other than MacMillan such as Max Pacioretty (22nd overall by Montreal), Mikael Backlund (24th overall by Calgary), P.K Subban (43rd overall by Montreal) or even Wayne Simmonds (61st overall by Los Angeles).
Phoenix/Arizona Coyotes - Brandon Gormley
Drafted 13th overall in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, Gormley was considered as one of the best defenceman during his time in the juniors. Phoenix thinking it was a steal at the time, still had to wait for the defenceman to finish his career in the juniors which finished in 2012. Once he was done with the Moncton Wildcats, the Coyotes assigned him to their AHL affiliate, the Portland Pirates (now disbanded). He played decently in Portland except for a few defensive flaws resulting him in having a +/- of -29 throughout 2 seasons. During the 2013-14 season, Gormley got his first taste of the NHL where he played only 5 games resulting in no points. He later played 53 more, with him scoring 2 goals and 5 points. He hasn't played in the NHL since the 2015-16 season with the Colorado system. He now plays in Europe.
Phoenix could have drafted Vladimir Tarasenko (16th overall by St. Louis), Evegeny Kuznetsov (26th overall by Washington), Justin Faulk (37th overall by Carolina), John Klingberg (131st overall by Dallas), Brendan Gallagher (147th overall by Montreal) and finally Mark Stone (178th overall by Ottawa).
Boston Bruins - Zach Hamill
Drafted 8th overall in the 2007 draft, Hamill was coming off a stellar WHL season with the Everett Silvertips scoring 32 goals, 61 assists and 93 points. After being drafted, Hamill returned to the Silvertips and put up once again a stellar season with 75 points. His scoring ability never translated to the pro level. Most of his time spent with the Boston organization was with their AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins before being dealt to the Washington Capitals, then one year later signed with the Vancouver Canucks.
Some players drafted after Hamill are Logan Couture (9th overall by San Jose), Ryan McDonagh (12th overall by Montreal), Kevin Shattenkirk (14th overall by Colorado), Max Pacioretty (22nd overall by Montreal) and P.K Subban (43rd overall by Montreal)
Buffalo Sabres - Marek Zagrapan
Playing in a pre-season game is the closest 2005 13th overall pick Marek Zagrapan got to the NHL. Playing for the Chicoutimi Sagueneens in his draft year after coming from Europe, Zagrapan scored a massive 82 points, then after being drafted he stayed with the Sagueneens where he scored 85 games. He then reported to Buffalo's farm team, the Rochester Americans. Having difficulties making it up Buffalo's depth chart that already had star players like Derek Roy, Paul Gaustad, Jochen Hecht, Zagrapan never made it in Buffalo's roster.
Notable players drafted after Zagrapan are Tuukka Rask (21st overall by Toronto), T.J Oshie (24th overall by St. Louis), James Neal (33rd overall by Dallas), Marc-Edouard Vlasic (35th overall by San Jose), Kristopher Letang (62nd overall by Pittsburgh) and finally Jonathan Quick (72nd overally by Los Angeles).
Calgary Flames - Brent Krahn
Goaltenders being taken in the first round are a big gamble with 2 goaltenders being taken in the first 10 picks of the first round. With their 9th overall pick, the Calgary Flames opted to draft Brent Krahn, a 6'5, 220 pound goaltender product of the Calgary Hitmen. His draft year, he posted a 33-6-0 campaign with the Hitmen. Having troubles staying healthy once he turned pro, Krahn played 8 AHL seasons with 6 different teams posting a positive record of 100-75-14. Krahn played a single game game for the Dallas Stars when he let in 3 goals on 9 shots.
In 2010-11, Krahn retired from hockey. Other players drafted after Krahn are Justin Williams (28th overall by Philadelphia), Niklas Kronwall (29th overall by Detroit), Antoine Vermette (55th overall by Ottawa) and Henrik Lundqvist (205th overall by New York Rangers)
Carolina Hurricanes - Jeff Heerema
After having multiple stellar seasons with the OHL's Sarnia Sting, Heerema had the size, gritty style of play that the Carolina Hurricanes were looking for. So the Carolina Hurricanes drafted the winger 11th overall in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft. He got his first taste in the NHL at the 2002-03 season debut, where he appeared in 10 games and scored 3 times. He later moved on to the St. Louis Blues, where he played a further 22 games and scored only a single lonesome goal. He played most of his professional career in the AHL with the Cincinnati Cyclones and the Birmingham Senators.
Other players the Hurricanes could have drafted are Alex Tanguay (12th overall by Colorado), Scott Gomez (27th overall by New Jersey), Jonathan Cheechoo (29th overall by San Jose), Mike Fisher (44th overall by Ottawa), Andrei Markov (162nd overall by Montreal) and Pavel Datsyuk (171st overall by Detroit).
Chicago Blackhawks - Kyle Beach
Projected 10th in North American according to The Hockey News in his draft year, Kyle Beach was a player known for having a bad temperament, which caused him to slide down from the very top of the ranking. Drafted 11th overall in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, he would never play in the NHL but played 208 AHL games. He spent 3 years in Chicago's system before being dealt to the New York Rangers due to off-ice issues.
Other players that made it to the NHL full-time that were drafted after Beach were Tyler Myers (12th overall by Buffalo), Erik Karlsson (15th overall by Ottawa), Jake Gardiner (17th overall by Anaheim), Jordan Eberle (22nd overall by Edmonton), John Carlson (27th overall by Washington), Roman Josi (38th overall by Nashville) and Adam Henrique (82nd overall by New Jersey)
Colorado Avalanche - Vaclav Nedorost
Although the Avalanche do somewhat decent with higher draft selections, they really chose badly in 2000 when they decided to choose Vaclav Nedorost 14th overall. Colorado opted to draft a low-scoring centreman from Czech Republic. He would play just 62 games with the Colorado Avalanche until he was traded to the Florida Panthers where he would play a further 32 games with the organization. In his 99 games in the Big League, Nedorost scored a whopping 10 goals, 10 assists and 20 points which is quite sad considering his draft position.
Players drafted after Nedorost are Brad Boyes (24th overall by Toronto), Justin Williams (28th overall by Philadelphia), and Niklas Kronwall (29th overall by Detroit).
Columbus Blue Jackets - Nikita Filatov
Being very talented during his junior years with CSKA Moscow and being named top European skater heading to the draft, the Columbus Blue Jackets drafted Nikita Filatov 6th overall in 2008, which was a blunder for the Ohio based team. Making the team after his second pro season, Filatov was unhappy with his ice-time was loaned back to the CSKA Moscow in 2009. Coming back from his home country during the 2010-11 season, Filatov split his time between the NHL and AHL until he was traded to the Ottawa Senators for a third-round pick. He played just s tiny nine games with the Senators organization before he returned to Russia to play in the KHL.
The Blue Jackets could have drafted either Colin Wilson (7th overall by Nashville), Tyler Myers (12th overall by Buffalo), Erik Karlsson (15th overall by Ottawa) or Jordan Eberle (22nd overall by Edmonton).
Dallas Stars - Scott Glennie
A superstar for the Brandon Wheat Kings, Glennie was drafted 8th overall in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft by the Dallas Stars. With the Wheat Kings, Glennie scored 308 points in 252 games with the organization, and was later ranked seventh in all of North America by the NHL Central Scouting. However, Glennie's junior talent never translated to the NHL and played just a single NHL game. He spent 5 out of 6 seasons of his four pro seasons with Dallas' AHL affiliate, the Texas Stars where he won a Calder Cup. The most recent team he played for is the Manitoba Moose where he scored 20 points in 45 games.
Dallas had plenty of choices to choose from if they didn't draft Glennie. They could have drafted Ryan Ellis (11th overall by Nashville), Marcus Johansson (24th overall by Washington), Kyle Palmieri (26th overall by Anaheim), Ryan O'Reilly (33rd overall by Colorado), Jakob Silfverberg (39th overall by Ottawa), Tomas Tatar (60th overall by Detroit), Tyson Barrie (64th overall by Colorado), and Mike Hoffman (130th overall by Ottawa)
Some teams missed out on huge opportunities if they hadn't drafted their original player. Imagine if some teams could have drafted stars instead of busts, maybe their position would be completely different. Did we forget anyone? Part 2 will be out soon.
.jpg)
Post a Comment