Biggest Draft Bust of All time?

[God Bless Canada]

Probably more accurate to say it is one of the worst first rounds ever. The latter rounds prodsuced more gems than any other draft.

But all three players had been eligible at least once. Fedorov and Lidstrom were both eligible for the first time in 1988. Konstantinov was 22 when he was drafted. Lidstrom was certainly a great steal.

But everyone in hockey knew who Fedorov and Konstantinov were, but nobody wanted to touch them because nobody knew when they might defect from the USSR. If not for the old Soviet regime, Fedorov goes early in the first round of the 1988 Draft.

In terms of players eligible for the first time (born between September 16, 1970 and September 15, 1971), 1989 is widely considered to be one of, if not the worst drafts ever.

 

[dbbourn]

Gretzky.....

Pick #49 in 1992. 13 NHL Games Played.

 

[Chili]

You could give this thread other names...

i.e. Which prospect was the most poorly scouted or Where did the scouts make their biggest consenus blunder?

But they are scouting teenagers and trying to project them as adults, a pretty inexact science. Some kids do peak in their teens and never get any better. And I'm sure that is not easy to project.

The media also hypes these kids, putting the top choices under a microscope.

If I was being drafted, I don't think I would want to be a top pick. It can create false expectations. (i.e. I'll never forget the Tampa owner comparing Vincent Lecavlier to Michael Jordan---what a way to put unnecessary expectations on a prospect).

 

[Evilo]

I'm not sure who is the biggest bust of all time, but I'd say Edmonton's run from 1982 to 2000 in the first round is the most unimpressive of all time IMO.

1982 Jim Playfair (20th) -> 21 NHL games

1983 Jeff Beukeboom (19th) -> good pick

1984 Selmar Odelein (21st ) -> 18 NHL games

1985 Scott Metcalfe (20th) -> 19 NHL games

1986 Kim Issel (21st) -> 4 NHL games

1987 Peter Soberlak (21st) -> 0 NHL game

1988 Francois Leroux (19th) -> had an OK career (200 games) but not first rounder worthy.

1989 Jason Soules (15th) -> 0 NHL game

1990 Scott Allison (17th) -> 0 NHL game

1991 Tyler Wright (12th) -> good career (600 games) but not first round worthy.
1991 Martin Rucinsky (20th) -> good pick

1992 Joe Hulbig (13th) -> 55 NHL games

1993 Jason Arnott (7th) -> good pick
1993 Nick Stajduhar (13th) -> 2 NHL games

1994 Jason Bonsignore (4th) -> 79 NHL games
1994 Ryan Smyth (6th) -> good pick

1995 Steve Kelly (6th) -> 147 NHL games (20+ points)

1996 Boyd Devereaux (6th) -> OK career, not first rounder worthy.
1996 Matthieu Descoteaux (19th) -> 5 NHL games

1997 Michel Riesen (14th) -> 12 NHL games

1998 Michael Henrich (13th) -> 0 NHL game

1999 Jani Rita (13th) -> 66 NHL games

Incredible run, huh?
19 drafts, 23 first rounders, 4 good picks, 4 under average picks, 15 busts. And that's with a good stretch picking in the top 10.

 

[OilerMcLord]

I'm not sure who is the biggest bust of all time, but I'd say Edmonton's run from 1982 to 2000 in the first round is the most unimpressive of all time IMO.

1982 Jim Playfair (20th) -> 21 NHL games

1983 Jeff Beukeboom (19th) -> good pick

1984 Selmar Odelein (21st ) -> 18 NHL games

1985 Scott Metcalfe (20th) -> 19 NHL games

1986 Kim Issel (21st) -> 4 NHL games

1987 Peter Soberlak (21st) -> 0 NHL game

1988 Francois Leroux (19th) -> had an OK career (200 games) but not first rounder worthy.

1989 Jason Soules (15th) -> 0 NHL game

1990 Scott Allison (17th) -> 0 NHL game

1991 Tyler Wright (12th) -> good career (600 games) but not first round worthy.
1991 Martin Rucinsky (20th) -> good pick

1992 Joe Hulbig (13th) -> 55 NHL games

1993 Jason Arnott (7th) -> good pick
1993 Nick Stajduhar (13th) -> 2 NHL games

1994 Jason Bonsignore (4th) -> 79 NHL games
1994 Ryan Smyth (6th) -> good pick

1995 Steve Kelly (6th) -> 147 NHL games (20+ points)

1996 Boyd Devereaux (6th) -> OK career, not first rounder worthy.
1996 Matthieu Descoteaux (19th) -> 5 NHL games

1997 Michel Riesen (14th) -> 12 NHL games

1998 Michael Henrich (13th) -> 0 NHL game

1999 Jani Rita (13th) -> 66 NHL games

Incredible run, huh?
19 drafts, 23 first rounders, 4 good picks, 4 under average picks, 15 busts. And that's with a good stretch picking in the top 10.

Yep, this is proof as to why your chief of scouting should NOT be based in Mexico.

 

[Vman]

Stefan, Brendl, Lundmark

 

[dbbourn]

1995 Steve Kelly (6th) -> 147 NHL games (20+ points)

Had no idea Steve Kelly was picked so high. Thanks for the laugh.

 

[Chili]

1986 Kim Issel (21st) -> 4 NHL games

The Wings had the first pick in 1986 and the consensus #1 was Joe Murphy. They really liked Adam Graves and apparently seriously considered taking him #1.

The 20 other teams then proceeded to pick guys like Neil Brady, Dan Woodley, Warren Babe, Everett Sanipass, Ken McRae, Jeff Greenlaw, and Kim Issel.

I was at that draft and after Issel's name was announced, the whole Wings table jumped up in jubilation (led by Neil Smith). Graves went on to have a better career then most of the guys picked in front of him, including Murphy.

 

[Northern Dancer]

It's a shame the draft wasn't around back then, but Turk Broda had a pretty big bust.

 

[Malefic74]

The Wickenheiser pick is the best case for hindsight being 20/20 as far as drafting goes. Every single team in the league had Wickenheiser as #1. There are a more than a few stories that tell of nearly every team in the league offering the Habs something for the pick, so it's not like Montreal went out on a limb and got burned on a reach. Then as now, the Habs were pretty diminutive up front which was part of the choice for Wickenheiser.

Wickenheiser did have a pretty good career. Part of the problem was that he was a small town prairie boy who got thrown to the wolves of the Montreal media who were lobbying long and loud for Denis Savard. The media hounds gleefully compared the points totals between Wickenheiser and Savard all year long (which was unfair anyway as Savard was getting 1st line minutes and powerplay time on a weaker Hawks team and Wickenheiser played limited minutes on a very established Habs squad) and were basically out for blood. The longer it went on the worse it got for Wickenheiser, which is a shame as he had the CH tattooed on his heart. Finally he felt he had to ask for a trade which the Habs pulled for him.

He went on to play much better in St. Louis until his injuries caught up to him. I remember reading about all this after his death and it reminded me yet again why I despise the Montreal sportswriters so much. This was also true around the time of the whole Boo Koivu thing. There are times when it sucks to be a Habs fan far from Montreal for lack of information, and times when I'm thankful for it as insulation against the garbage spewed out by hypocritical media figures.

 

[Bruinster*]

hands down, gord kluzak. bruins take him #1 overall and then watch as as bellows, ron sutter, stevens, housley, andreychuk, craven, daneyko, etc, etc, etc, etc, go by. that does not even count the guys who went latter like gilmour, dineen, ferraro.

ugh. i feel bad he was injured so often, but he was still never going to be one of those guys.

I hope this is a Joke ? Kluzak a bust ???

like I said in a previous post on the Bruins board, IMO a Healthy Kluzak can be a impact very close to Scott Stevens !

 

[I hate Jon Sim]

Ryan Leaf

 

[ryz]

Compared to how good he was supposed to be: Eric Lindros

 

[Marconius]

Compared to how good he was supposed to be: Eric Lindros

I seriously question if you saw Lindros play. Before the concussions started piling up Lindros was living up to ALL expectations, he was one man wrecking crew. He stepped into a men's league at 18 and physically dominated the ice.

 

[Lowetide]

I'm not sure who is the biggest bust of all time, but I'd say Edmonton's run from 1982 to 2000 in the first round is the most unimpressive of all time IMO.
1983 Jeff Beukeboom (19th) -> good pick

1984 Selmar Odelein (21st ) -> 18 NHL games

I pretty much agree but did want to point out the impact injuries had on some of these fellows. Beukeboom was a good pick (as you noted) that could have been better save a jackass cheap shot artist named Matt Johnson who sucker punched him. What a creep.

And Selmar was a very good junior (saw him a lot when he played for the Pats) but wasn't the same after suffering an injury against Adirondack (AHL) while playing for the Nova Scotia Oilers maybe 1987.

 

[ryz]

I seriously question if you saw Lindros play. Before the concussions started piling up Lindros was living up to ALL expectations, he was one man wrecking crew. He stepped into a men's league at 18 and physically dominated the ice.

He was hyped to sit with Gretzky and Lemieux on the all-time pecking order. He's not a top 100 player of all-time, probably not top 200. Probably not even top 20 of his generation.

Maybe I'll change the wording to "most dissapointing".

 

[Marconius]

He was hyped to sit with Gretzky and Lemieux on the all-time pecking order. He's not a top 100 player of all-time, probably not top 200. Probably not even top 20 of his generation.

Maybe I'll change the wording to "most dissapointing".

And I fully believe he would of been mentioned in the same breath as Gretzky & Lemieux had he stayed healthy. There was no comparison for Lindros at the time, the closest was probably Neely or Messier. Lindros combined elite offense with an unmatched physical presence.

If you are saying that Lindros' actual, injury-plagued career failed to place him in the top 100 of all time, or the top 20 of his generation, I fully agree with you. But the several seasons he did play injury-free, did nothing but indicate that we were about to see another 'generational' player. To say otherwise is nothing short of uninformed.

I suppose one could also make the point that Lindros' very style of play made it impossible for him to have a relatively injury-free career and thus there was no way he would ever be able to take his rightful spot among hockey's elite.

 

[OHLArenaGuide]

Should a career cut short by injuries be considered eligible for "bust" status? As mentioned, Gord Kluzak should never be considered a bust, he had Hall of Fame potential if he hadn't also had Barbaro legs.

The biggest busts are guys like Bonsignore and Daigle who stayed healthy but still never panned out.

And for the record, the Capitals didn't want Greg Joly in 1974 anyway. They wanted Pat "the Brat" Price, who, while he also never lived up to expectations, would have been a much more solid pick (726 NHL games, 261 points). Price jumped to the WHA after the Blazers offered him a gigantic contract and the Caps picked Joly instead.

 

[Hasbro]

I hope this is a Joke ? Kluzak a bust ???

like I said in a previous post on the Bruins board, IMO a Healthy Kluzak can be a impact very close to Scott Stevens !

The reason I can see Kluzak being called a bust is the Bruins knew he had knee problems going into the draft. they took the risk and it didn't pan out.

And I fully believe he would of been mentioned in the same breath as Gretzky & Lemieux had he stayed healthy.

And he told his parents to shut up.

 

[Hawker14]

kluzak was a very good player and i definitely wouldn't label him a bust. when he could play, he was fantastic.

my biggest bust of all time is dale mccourt, drafted 1st overall in '77.
he had unbelievable talent, but never lived up to his potential. he should have been a superstar.

he was a bust.

 

[Hyped]

And Selmar was a very good junior (saw him a lot when he played for the Pats) but wasn't the same after suffering an injury against Adirondack (AHL) while playing for the Nova Scotia Oilers maybe 1987.

I agree on Odelein. He was an absolute star in junior and probably had a decent NHL career ahead of him until his injury. But it was to my benefit as he was one of my instructors at the SGI Hockey School in Yorkton for a few years...