Kinda random but did anyone know we Actually drafted Jake Muzzin??
I had written up a small blurb about that in my post about the 2005-2007 drafts but took it back out. They also drafted Matt Moulson in 2003 (in the 9th round no less) and let him walk... kinda ties into what Crafton said about "cutting the cord" on prospects that don't seem to be going anywhere.
After posting that yesterday, and then again this morning with Crafton's question re: Pens vs. rest of the NHL, I wanted to look at the drafts from the past decade or so, and find some of the "late bloomers" and who drafted them, since it's not always the team they broke through with... there is a surprising number of decent* players/regular NHLers that went in really late rounds, some that wouldn't even be drafted today since they dropped it from 9 to 7 rounds:
[FIELDSET="6th & 7th round picks, 2001-2009"]
2001
172. Dennis Seidenberg (PHI)
175. Ryan Clowe (SJS)
176. Marek Zidlicky (NYR)
192. Jussi Jokinen (DAL)
193. Brooks Laich (OTT)
214. Cristobal Huet (LAK)
221. Johnny Oduya (WAS)
2002
191. Ian White (TOR)
2003
168. Marc Methot (CBJ)
182. Bruno Gervais (NYI)
186. Drew Miller (ANA)
205. Joe Pavelski (SJS)
214. Kyle Brodziak (EDM)
2004
176. Pat Kaleta (BUF)
180. Roman Polak (STL)
206. Anton Khudobin (MIN)
214. Troy Brouwer (CHI)
224. Matt Hunwick (BOS)
227. Chris Campoli (NYI)
2005
190. Matt D'Agostini (MTL)
195. Joe Vitale (PIT)
200. Sergei Kostitsyn (MTL)
230. Patric Hornqvist (NSH)
2006
160. Andrew MacDonald (NYI)
161. Viktor Stalberg (TOR)
177. Mathieu Perreault (WAS)
2007
168. Carl Hagelin (NYR)
171. Dustin Jeffrey (PIT)
194. Carl Gunnarsson (TOR)
2008
156. Jared Spurgeon (NYI)
178. Zac Rinaldo (PHI)
186. Jason Demers (SJS)
207. Anders Lindback (NSH)
2009
172. Eric Wellwood (PHI) e: was thinking Kyle Wellwood here
[/FIELDSET]
[FIELDSET="8th & 9th round picks, 2001-2004"]
2001
232. Martin Gerber (ANA)
264. P.A. Parenteau (ANA)
2002
234. Max Talbot (PIT)
241. Dennis Wideman (BUF)
282. Adam Burish (CHI)
2003
239. Tobias Enstrom (ATL/WIN)
245. Dustin Byfuglien (CHI)
263. Matt Moulson (PIT)
265. Tanner Glass (FLA)
thanks Florida...
271. Jaroslav Halak (MTL)
291. Brian Elliott (OTT)
2004
239. Brandon Yip (COL)
258. Pekka Rinne (NSH)
262. Mark Streit (MTL)
265. Dan Winnik (PHX)
[/FIELDSET]
Since around 2008/2009, I can't find anyone has come out of the last 2 rounds to become a regular NHLer. IMO this reinforces two points: 1. it takes
years for a lot of these guys before they are ready to graduate to the NHL, and 2. maybe the NHL was right to cut out those last 2 rounds of the draft, since there does not appear to be the same amount of talent available that late like there was in years prior.
A good number of those players listed broke through on teams other than the one that drafted them, but I didn't go through them all to see how their draft team handled them, though it does suggest that the Pens are not alone when it comes to trading/cutting loose prospects who have not shown enough to re-sign.
Now, for every one of those guys, there are at least a dozen that never even made the jump to the NHL; there are also at least a dozen taken in the first three rounds that also never made the jump.
But it illustrates just how much of a crapshoot the draft can be - first/second round guys are not necessarily guarantees, and it's not always wise to discount anyone taken after the third round. It's great to take a look at our prospect pool and get a feel for who is NHL-ready, who has the highest ceiling, etc., but until these guys are given time to show their stuff, nothing is set in stone.
*Included are players who played regular minutes as a regular top-12 forward/top-6 D/starting goalie at some point in the last decade, but the list is certainly not exhaustive/all-inclusive.