Worst draft(s) ever

[jeffw 1]

ryan malone wont be a bad player either.

Malone is 28 or 29 yrs old. He's about as good as he's gonna get.

[mack 44]

I know its been said probably a million times but i still cannot get over how the Wings consistently find gems in the bottom rounds. Its incredible.

They were the only ones out there scouting in European leagues and not half-assing it like most teams.

[Patrick67 1]

Exactly.

[Buzz_LightBeer 973]

Hejduk made out alright for a 4th rounder.

Worst draft pick EVER = Tony Mandarich =)

[Bane 1]

I know its been said probably a million times but i still cannot get over how the Wings consistently find gems in the bottom rounds. Its incredible.

They were the only ones out there scouting in European leagues and not half-assing it like most teams.

The Avalanche are another team that has done pretty well in the lower rounds Hejduk in the 4th, Jean-Michael Liles in the 4th, Mark Parrish in the 3rd in 96, and Marek Svatos in the 7th, and Chris Drury in the 3rd. Those are the ones I can remember.

[Wolfpack_1986 154]

I wouldnt go lumping Vasicek in there with the 1998 great draft class...

He sucks. He's huge, and doesnt realize it. He's been a major disappointment.

[Neilsen 0]

patrik stefan was atlanta's first draft pick ever..... never did anything.

[Datsyukiandeek 0]

patrik stefan was atlanta's first draft pick ever..... never did anything.

And no one expected him to go 1st overall. Ridiculous pressure put on a kid who was never ment to go first overall.

[supahdon 0]

It's fun finding old draft articles and reading the build up for guys that we know in hindsight turned out to be busts.

Was searching for old articles on Jamie Lundmark, and I found an article by a Calgary based writer that panned the Canucks for picking the Sedin Twins and predicted that the WHL trained Brendl/Lundmark would be a more dynamic duo for the Rangers. If I can find the article again, I'll post the link......I just found it amusing since it seemed like the writer was going to criticize anything the rival Canucks were going to do while overrating local prospects.

My team (the Devils) took Ari Ahonen in the 1999 draft. After a great WJC, he was ranked by The Hockey News as the 5th best prospect in the entire NHL. It's a shame that New Jersey was never able to trade him while he had value. In 2001, the Devils offered Ahonen/David Hale/1st round pick to Los Angeles for Rob Blake but were topped by the Avalanche.

As for bad drafts in the last 20 years, 1996 takes the cake I think. Going into the draft, people knew it was pretty awful. Interesting tidbit--at least to me--from that draft that relates to the 2007 Draft. Dean Lombardi was the newly promoted GM of the Sharks who owned the 2nd overall pick. In light of the surprising Thomas Hickey selection in this year's draft, he told season ticket holders his experience at the 1996 draft. Basically, every scouting service had Andrei Zyuzin ranked #2 but Lombardi didn't feel that highly about him and preferred Derek Morris who most didn't have ranked as a first rounder. He was too afraid to go against convention and selected Zyuzin (a few years later, Lombardi was quick to trade Zyuzin for Nicklas Sundstrom). So he told Kings' season ticket holders that he was now more than comfortable with going against what the "experts" said regarding Hickey.

[Eazy_b97 1]

patrik stefan was atlanta's first draft pick ever..... never did anything.

And no one expected him to go 1st overall. Ridiculous pressure put on a kid who was never ment to go first overall.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/hockey/nh...draft_capsules/

He was projected to go first overall by most. He was risky due to concussion problems, but he was viewed as one of the only players with real superstar potential.

Loved Burke's comments before the draft: I don't care, I'm taking a Sedin, at least one of them. Hopefully both, but whether it's Brendl or Stefan and one, I'm going home with one of them (paraphrased from memory)

[supahdon 0]

He was projected to go first overall by most. He was risky due to concussion problems, but he was viewed as one of the only players with real superstar potential.

I don't remember Stefan being a consensus #1, like you said because of injuries. At the time, I remember a lot of people projecting Brendl to go #1 to Tampa. Here's a good archive for that draft: http://slam.canoe.ca/HockeyNHLDraft99/moreheadlines.html

Loved Burke's comments before the draft: I don't care, I'm taking a Sedin, at least one of them. Hopefully both, but whether it's Brendl or Stefan and one, I'm going home with one of them (paraphrased from memory)

http://slam.canoe.ca/HockeyNHLDraft99/jun26_eur.html

Here's the quote: "I said (Friday) night, 'I've got (the third pick) and no one is walking out of here with both of them. Only I can,' " Vancouver general manager Brian Burke said.

The original draft order was:

1. Tampa Bay

2. Atlanta

3. Vancouver

4. Chicago

The four teams did some musical chairs. If I recall correctly.......Atlanta gave Tampa a third round pick to swap #1 for #2. Vancouver traded Bryan McCabe and a 2000 first round pick to Chicago for the 4th overall pick. Vancouver then traded the 4th overall and two third rounders for the 2nd overall pick.

Here's that random article I mentioned in my previous post about the Sedins vs. Lundmark/Brendl: http://slam.canoe.ca/HockeyNHLDraft99/jun2...ft_francis.html

Smith's moves sure to pay off

By ERIC FRANCIS -- Calgary Sun

It's a scary day when Neil Smith and his New York Rangers walk away the clear winners of the NHL entry draft.

More accustomed to trying to buy proven talent, Smith did well to pick up future superstars Pavel Brendl and Jamie Lundmark who will, in the long run, be better players than the Bobbsey Twins in Vancouver, who many figure would be lost without one another.

What's even scarier is the fact the Rangers will continue to scour the free agent market and will ice one of the league's best teams in a few years which could very likely include Theo Fleury.

:D

I miss those days when Rangers fans were predicting domination with the holy trinity that was Malhotra/Brendl/Lundmark.

[Eazy_b97 1]

He wasn't really a "consensus #1", but he was believed to go first overall if the team needed a star. His concussions scared some away, and made way for Brendl, but Stefan was considered the most talented player there and was likely to go #1 if the team picking needed to risk it.

[supahdon 0]

I also enjoy tracking down what Tampa ended up with after making a ton of trades.

1st overall for 4th overall and two 3rd rounders (two guys who never made it)

4th overall for Niklas Sundstrom, Dan Cloutier, 2000 1st (Nikita Alexeev), 2000 3rd rounder

Niklas Sundstrom + 2000 3rd rounder for Andrei Zyuzin, Bill Houlder, Shawn Burr, and Stephen Guolla

Dan Cloutier for Adrian Aucoin and a 2nd rounder

Adrian Aucoin for Mathieu Biron and a 2nd rounder

Andrey Zyuzin for Josef Boumedienne, Sascha Goc, and Anton But

So while Tampa avoided taking a bust like Pavel Brendl, their GM Rick Dudley took some potential good assets and in less than two years turned it into nothing useful.

[blueliner27 12]

The original draft order was:

1. Tampa Bay

2. Atlanta

3. Vancouver

4. Chicago

The four teams did some musical chairs. If I recall correctly.......Atlanta gave Tampa a third round pick to swap #1 for #2. Vancouver traded Bryan McCabe and a 2000 first round pick to Chicago for the 4th overall pick. Vancouver then traded the 4th overall and two third rounders for the 2nd overall pick.

Vancouver got 1st overall pick but then Burke said that he doesn't want to go upstairs and announce two different times. Instead, Burke offered Atlanta to take 1st overall (in exchange of 2nd overall pick) and let them announce team's first ever pick as the 1st overall.

-Source: The Province

[supahdon 0]

Vancouver got 1st overall pick but then Burke said that he doesn't want to go upstairs and announce two different times. Instead, Burke offered Atlanta to take 1st overall (in exchange of 2nd overall pick) and let them announce team's first ever pick as the 1st overall.

-Source: The Province

I almost had it right.....

-- Vancouver sent defenseman Bryan McCabe and its first-round pick in 2000 or 2001 to Chicago for the fourth pick overall in today's draft.

-- Tampa Bay traded the first pick overall to Vancouver for the fourth pick, obtained from Chicago, and two picks in today's third round.

-- Vancouver then sent the No. 1 pick, obtained from Tampa Bay, to Atlanta for the No. 2 pick today and a conditional third-round pick next year.

http://slam.canoe.ca/HockeyNHLDraft99/jun26_draft2.html