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Player Discussion Bigger Bust- McIlrath or Jessiman?

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Bigger Bust?

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SnowblindNYR

SnowblindNYR

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Nov 16, 2011
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Edit: Probably too late for this, I think "worse pick" would have been a better question.

First of all, apologies if I posted this poll already because I feel like it's been on my mind for a while. But I'm curious about your guys' thoughts are.

I know that Jessiman is more infamous as the biggest bust of that 2003 draft where pretty everyone drafted in the first round was at least a useful player. That said I think that McIlrath was a worse pick.

1) 2010 may have still had some big tough guys but 2003 definitely did. Drafting for size was a lot more understandable in 2003.

2) Jessiman from what I gather was supposed to be a size and skill pick. I know that they were expecting more from McIlrath than he became. But it seemed like it was just a play for size and toughness. Maybe 10 years before a pick like that would have been worthy of a top 10 pick, but I'm sorry no matter how much still in transition the 2010 team was from toughness to speed, it was a dumb pick even then.

3) I don't know if the Rangers legend is true about the Rangers overreacting that one time Gaborik was picked on and no one responded. But if that's true that's the most ridiculous think to base a top 10 pick on. Was Gaborik even injured? Regardless, it was one play in an 82 game season. And if you're that upset by it, pick a tough guy in the 5th round.

4) I'd understand this obsession with toughness a lot more if this were the 2007 draft after a tough Anaheim team just won the cup. One of the most skilled teams in recent memory won the cup in 2010 (Chicago). In fact the last 3 cups were won by skill teams.

5) We did need toughness, but we needed skill more. We had absolutely no depth on that team. It was Gaborik and a bunch of nothing. Tarasenko would have been perfect for that team. And Russians are a lot more likely to come over if they get to play for the Rangers.
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Both are similar, yet their own unique brand of brutal, but 2003 really sticks out to me to this day.

This team hasn't had a True #1 Center in 20 years, and I always wonder what the team would've looked like if they took Ryan Getzlaf.
 
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Hugh Jessiman every time for me.

Not just because Hugh Jessiman taught us that we need to be prepared for huge busts at all times and therefore were wary of the possibility when McIlrath came around, but compared to Jessiman, McIlrath at one time showed a little bit of promise at one point which is/was more than I can say about Jessiman at any stage of his career past draft day.
 
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SnowblindNYR said:
3) I don't know if the Rangers legend is true about the Rangers overreacting that one time Gaborik was picked on and no one responded. But if that's true that's the most ridiculous think to base a top 10 pick on. Was Gaborik even injured? Regardless, it was one play in an 82 game season. And if you're that upset by it, pick a tough guy in the 5th round.
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Sather gave an interview or some interviews at the time specifically mentioning Lundqvist being run in relation to the McIlrath pick. It was a very frustrating time to be me.
 
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At least Mcilrath had a pretty serious knee injury that could be used as a partial excuse in impeding his development. Did Jessiman ever suffer any major injury?
Actually just looked it up he did have an ankle injury in 2004.
 
I remember when Jessiman was drafted my brother played in the ECAC at the time. He was baffled. Said he was a dog and took of shifts but could turn it on at times. Said he was soft in the corners and along the walls though.

I hated the pick immediately.
 
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I should have called this worse pick. I think that gives some more flexibility. Jessiman is probably the bigger bust. But I still say McIlrath is the worse pick.
 
Bob Richards said:
I wanted to believe in McIlrath so bad. So bad.

This whole process taught me to never have hopes and dreams.
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Yeah the 1999 draft was the one that had me envisioning amazing things especially with Brendl. When he scored 73 for the Hitmen at age 17 I thought we had our super sniper. Talk about dashing hopes and dreams.
 
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SnowblindNYR said:
I should have called this worse pick. I think that gives some more flexibility. Jessiman is probably the bigger bust. But I still say McIlrath is the worse pick.
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Dustin Brown and Seabrook went directly behind Jessiman. Parise, Getzlaf, Burns, Kesler, Richards and Perry as well. Some of the biggest stars of the generation. That was one of the greatest first rounds ever and picking 12th, we took inarguably the worst player. I mean, the worst by a f***ing mile. If we put the top 30 names in a hat we'd have a 29/30 chance of doing better than Hugh. Picks don't get worse than Hugh Jessiman.

We missed on some players with McIlrath, notably Fowler, Schwartz, Tarasenko and Kuznetsov, but the first round of 2010 won't be nearly as memorable as 2003 in terms of producing stars. 2003 was an amazing draft and we picked a guy who played 2 games.

Biggest bust, worst pick, whatever you want to call it, Jessiman is your guy.
 
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IamNotADancer said:
Hugh Jessiman every time for me.

Not just because Hugh Jessiman taught us that we need to be prepared for huge busts at all times and therefore were wary of the possibility when McIlrath came around, but compared to Jessiman, McIlrath at one time showed a little bit of promise at one point which is/was more than I can say about Jessiman at any stage of his career past draft day.
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Yes at no point after being drafted did Jessiman look good. McIlrath at least made progress. Hell, he'll probably even get some more NHL games before all is said and done.
 
Stupid Carcillo. I loved McIlrath's game in Hartford but he was built for the Dead Puck Era. Vigneault didn't help him either.

Jessiman was a mess. Best 1st round in recent NHL History and naturally the Rangers screwed it up.
 
The only reason why the McIlrath pick even compares is because it came after the Jessiman pick. You'd think they would have learned their lesson after 2003.

It was harder to miss is 2003 for sure, but in all the ways the 2017 draft broke poorly for the Rangers, that 2010 draft broke perfectly for them. Fowler was in the conversation for 1OA for a season or two prior. No one thought Tarasenko would be available at 10. It was purely a matter of the FO trying to be the smartest guys in the room and of course it was a huge swing and miss.

People here claim to have the ability to let bygones be bygones, but I don't think they give proper consideration to how significant the negative effects of both of these picks were.

The players the Rangers should have gotten with those picks absolutely could have put the team over the top during this past run of coming close multiple times. And the "should have" thing has nothing to do with hindsight (like it does with Sanguinetti, for example). That's why we still talk about it.
 
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I was lucky enough to play against Jessiman, who was an absolute beast on the ice. He fell to NYR, whereas McIlrath was a reach pick who I saw in some mock drafts going as late as the third round.

Hugh was probably the bigger bust, but McIlrath was by far the dumber pick considering what our roster needed at the time. Fowler was a no brainer there.
 
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