Blue Jackets Worst Draft Picks

[pwisch]

It's no secret that prior to Jarmo, the Blue Jackets were the definition of failure in the NHL entry draft. So many wasted picks and eventual stars passed over.

Take a look at this list of their top-10 all time busts and let me know if you think anyone is missing.

http://alongtheboards.com/2014/08/top-10-columbus-blue-jackets-draft-busts/

Click to read more...

 

[pwisch]

The first round picks we could've had:

'00 - *Keep Rosti
'01 - Tuomo Ruutu
'02 - *Keep Nash
'03 - Ryan Suter
'04 - Travis Zajac
'05 - Anze Kopitar
'06 - Claude Giroux
'07 - Logan Couture
'08 - Tyler Myers
'09 - Ryan O'Reilly

 

[CBJWerenski8]

Hard for me to put Derick Brassard and Steve Mason, who had productive careers in Columbus, over guys like Dalton Smith and Petr Straka who were both selected in the 2nd round (Smith pretty high) and flamed out in the organization. Straka didn't even get a contract.

 

[EspenK]

How can you leave Dan Fritsche off this list? Could have been Shea Weber.

Easy to second guess, especially on guys like Filatov.

I wouldn't put Brass and Mase on this list at all.

 

[ClevelandJacketFan]

In my relatively short time following hockey, I cannot imagine there has been a bigger disappointment than Filatov.

Especially after his debut...to end up like he did is so sad.

 

[BJfan]

Didn't read past the first page. To put a third round, Calder winner on a draft bust list is foolish

 

[1857 Howitzer]

It's no secret that prior to Jarmo, the Blue Jackets were the definition of failure in the NHL entry draft.[/B]

What? Did you mean prior to Howson?

Howson picks in the NHL
Jakub Voracek 1st
Cody Goloubef 2nd
Matt Calvert 5th
Cam Atkinson 6th
John Moore 1st
David Savard 4th
Ryan Johansen 1st
Dalton Prout 6th
Boone Jenner 2nd
Ryan Murray 1st

It could have been better, but far from "the definition of failure".

Also as others have said Mason and Brassard are far from busts.

 

[Mayor Bee]

The first round picks we could've had:

'04 - Travis Zajac
'05 - Anze Kopitar
'06 - Claude Giroux
'07 - Logan Couture
'08 - Tyler Myers
'09 - Ryan O'Reilly

Most of these are completely unreasonable under the best of circumstances.

In 2004, Zajac was a huge wild card out of the BCHL. It also ignores that Columbus could have drafted Andrew Ladd simply by not trading back.

In 2006, Giroux was a guy who had exactly one good year and was still regarded as something of a reach at #22. Brassard was also regarded as interchangeable with the other players at the top: Kessel, Toews, Backstrom.

Couture in 2007 was coming off a knee injury and mono that hampered his effectiveness. He was as much of a wild card as anyone else; just because he looked great one year out from the draft didn't mean that he didn't stagnate or backslide in his actual draft year.

2008, why Myers instead of Karlsson or Eberle?

In 2009, Moore was a consensus top-15 pick who slid. O'Reilly was picked around where he was projected.

Look, if we're looking for bad picks, it should primarily focus on guys who were wasted at the time that they were taken. When Kiel McLeod basically announced before the draft that he would not sign an ELC with any team that selected him, taking him in the 2nd round (which is what happened) would be a terrible pick.

Taking a gamble on a wild card while passing up someone regarded as more of a sure thing would be a mistake. What if Brassard did in fact develop into Joe Sakic (as some had said), but had been passed on for Claude Giroux (who actually was a one-year wonder in the QMJHL)? We'd be sitting here lamenting the stupidity of a GM needing to be the smartest guy in the room.

 

[major major]

To echo Mayor Bee and Howitzer, all GM's look awful if you make a list of the best players they could have possibly taken. It's a fools analysis.

If you really want to know how good they were at drafting, you have to compare their choices with the most plausible alternatives. And of course, you must be consistent year to year in your approach. I think the best method is to rank the GM's pick along with the picks in the immediate neighborhood before and after, so for 2007 example I would re-rank Voracek 2nd among the 5 players in his neighborhood:

Couture
Voracek
Alzner
Gagner
Hamill

Doug Maclean looks terrible with this method, and Scott Howson very good.

 

[WannabeFinn]

kinda hard for me to look past picking Dalton Smith at 34th overall, especially when you look at who was taken after him in the 2nd round..

at least with guys like Brule or Filatov or Zherdev they were ranked very highly by scouts and were clearly some of the best guys on the board (at that time, anyways..)

when Dalton Smith was selected I'd say it was pretty well known that he was just a goon, another Jared Boll type. He was the 73rd ranked North American skater.. and yet we still took him 34th overall. Notables taken shortly after Smith? Petrovic, Faulk, Merrill, DSP, Spooner, Marincin, Toffoli, Jarnkrok.. all of these players were taken after Dalton Smith and before Petr Straka (55th overall).

 

[President Madagascar]

My guess with Smith is that they thought they were getting another Kyle Clifford, though yeah I wouldn't ever use a high second on someone like them. It sucks, when I heard "from the Ottawa 67's" I was excited for getting Toffoli, but nope.

 

[LetsGOJackets!!]

I think Scott Howson

did a pretty good job of drafting during his tenure-

For clarification - I thought Anze Kopitar got picked prior to our pick - if I had one player to go back in time and target it would have been Kopitar. That guy elevates all the players that play with him

Love me some Ryan Getzlaf too, and as much as I can't stand Cory Perry I wish he had been scoring all those goals for the Blue Jackets. Another player I would have loved to get is Louie Erickson

If we could re-write the past it certainly would have been nice to be able to draft one of Crosby, Ovechkin, Malkin or Stamkos

 

[PubOFH]

Well that was a depressing stroll down memory lane. Makes you realize how terrible MacLean was for this team and how many years he set us back by his terrible drafting and management of this organization.

How many times did this guy just make AWFUL first and second round picks???

 

[LetsGOJackets!!]

Don't do that to yourself Pub

Well that was a depressing stroll down memory lane. Makes you realize how terrible MacLean was for this team and how many years he set us back by his terrible drafting and management of this organization.

How many times did this guy just make AWFUL first and second round picks???

nothing good can come of it, and you will just end up depressed. We should have known how that was going to go when our 2nd rd pick Kyle McCleod said he would never play for us... and he sucked so bad he never played for anyone

 

[DJA]

It's not a good thing when it can be said that Tim Jackman was Doug MacLean's best ever 2nd round pick.

(side note- how is this guy still playing in the NHL???)


Also, Per Mars still haunts me to this day. This may have been the worst pick of any draft, in any sport, at any level. Horrendous.

 

[JacketsFanWest]

Also, Per Mars still haunts me to this day. This may have been the worst pick of any draft, in any sport, at any level. Horrendous.

I don't understand how a 3rd round pick like Steve Mason is somehow worse than a 3rd round pick like Per MÃ¥rs or a 2nd rounder like Kiel McLeod.

I have a friend in Gävle Sweden (where the team Mårs played for is based) and she was absolutely dumbfounded how anyone as slow and bad of a skater as Mårs could possibly be drafted. He wasn't even in the top 10 players on his Under 20 team. Very nice guy though, and very smart. He quit hockey to start a company that sells a new inline skate he invented that more closely emulates ice hockey skates. - http://www.marsblade.com/

IMO, the worse draft pick was re-drafting Trevor Hendrikx after he refused to sign the first time. It was like throwing away a draft pick.

I suppose sites like that want click bait with players that are more well-known, but c'mon, there are so many headcases that the CBJ have drafted. Starkov just got busted for gambling on hockey and has been kicked off 5 teams now.

 

[DJA]

I don't understand how a 3rd round pick like Steve Mason is somehow worse than a 3rd round pick like Per MÃ¥rs or a 2nd rounder like Kiel McLeod.

I have a friend in Gävle Sweden (where the team Mårs played for is based) and she was absolutely dumbfounded how anyone as slow and bad of a skater as Mårs could possibly be drafted. He wasn't even in the top 10 players on his Under 20 team. Very nice guy though, and very smart. He quit hockey to start a company that sells a new inline skate he invented that more closely emulates ice hockey skates. - http://www.marsblade.com/

IMO, the worse draft pick was re-drafting Trevor Hendrikx after he refused to sign the first time. It was like throwing away a draft pick.

I suppose sites like that want click bait with players that are more well-known, but c'mon, there are so many headcases that the CBJ have drafted. Starkov just got busted for gambling on hockey and has been kicked off 5 teams now.

Thanks for the info on Mars, good stuff! (that's the only thing I've heard about him in 13 years, too.)

2000, 2001, and 2004 stand alone as the most atrocious drafts in team history and are without a doubt the reason this franchise was a laughingstock for so long. (2003 ain't exactly anything to be proud of, either, but Methot saved that one, at least temporarily)

 

[Mayor Bee]

did a pretty good job of drafting during his tenure-

For clarification - I thought Anze Kopitar got picked prior to our pick - if I had one player to go back in time and target it would have been Kopitar. That guy elevates all the players that play with him

Love me some Ryan Getzlaf too, and as much as I can't stand Cory Perry I wish he had been scoring all those goals for the Blue Jackets. Another player I would have loved to get is Louie Erickson

If we could re-write the past it certainly would have been nice to be able to draft one of Crosby, Ovechkin, Malkin or Stamkos

Loui Eriksson - drafted 2003, #33 overall

#33 overall in 2003 - traded by Columbus to Dallas for Grant Marshall, August 29 2001



Dallas didn't have a flawless draft then though. They originally held pick #28, but traded it to Anaheim for #36 and #54. #36 for Vojtech Polak and #54 was BJ Crombeen....#28 was Corey Perry.

 

[Mayor Bee]

My guess with Smith is that they thought they were getting another Kyle Clifford, though yeah I wouldn't ever use a high second on someone like them. It sucks, when I heard "from the Ottawa 67's" I was excited for getting Toffoli, but nope.

The two guys I really wanted taken in that spot were Ludvig Rensfeldt or Calle Jarnkrok.

Rensfeldt was taken one pick later, then never developed and wasn't signed by Chicago. He was then undrafted as a redraft-eligible player.

 

[Sore Loser]

Loui Eriksson - drafted 2003, #33 overall

#33 overall in 2003 - traded by Columbus to Dallas for Grant Marshall, August 29 2001



Dallas didn't have a flawless draft then though. They originally held pick #28, but traded it to Anaheim for #36 and #54. #36 for Vojtech Polak and #54 was BJ Crombeen....#28 was Corey Perry.

Grant Marshall was serviceable, and I get the idea behind that trade. Steve Heinze hadn't been replaced to that point and Grant Marshall seemed like a solid fit. I met the guy, he was very pleasant and was one of my favorite Jackets.

Naturally, had the trade not been made, there's no saying that we had taken Eriksson, that he would have developed into the same player. The Doug MacLean regime is notably terrible in the history of NHL teams drafting players, and the development of players during that time was also dismal at best. Too many guys were rushed to the NHL and put into roles that they weren't ready for. I still believe that's the biggest turning point for the franchise, and Ryan Johansen is a prime example of what patience and easing guys into top line roles can do for them. Gilbert Brule may be the finest example of the team's negligence towards young players. Put into the lineup too soon, suffered a serious injury, missed a large chunk of a key developmental year, sent back to the WHL under mixed circumstances, then put right back into a premier role in the NHL to start the next year. What kind of message were they trying to send to that kid?

Not to mention, had we kept that pick, who's to say Eriksson would have been our choice? Dougie Mac had an obvious streak of making odd selections ... I don't think it's without reason that he would have taken Dan Fritsche ahead of Loui Eriksson, at which point we would be debating an entirely different scenario. And to boot, we still wouldn't have drafted Shea Weber.

It's always fun to look back, but hindsight is 20/20 in these discussions.

 

[Mayor Bee]

Grant Marshall was serviceable, and I get the idea behind that trade. Steve Heinze hadn't been replaced to that point and Grant Marshall seemed like a solid fit. I met the guy, he was very pleasant and was one of my favorite Jackets.

I won't argue the final three paragraphs, since I agree. I will have to take issue here though.

When the trade was made, the key factors are as follows:
- Marshall was 28 years old
- He'd never hit 15 goals in a season, and only touched 10 twice
- He'd hit 30 points once, and had just put up 37 points in the most recent season
- He was getting an inordinate amount of power play time in 2000-01, which boosted his overall numbers

On the other side:
- Columbus had just finished up the first season in franchise history
- There was zero chance of contending for a Cup, winning a playoff round, making the playoffs at all, and not much chance of finishing in the top 10 in the Western Conference
- Since the team would obviously be going through an extended building process with no chance to get prime UFAs, retaining and using prime draft picks was vital

In addition, Marshall was on the trade block by Dallas because they were at serious risk of losing him in the waiver draft. Multiple teams were said to be offering mid-round conditional draft picks in 2002 to get Marshall (and protect him on their own). He was acquired for an unconditional second-round pick from an expansion team in what was already projected to be an exceptional draft. That same team was picking 3rd in the waiver draft.

Sure, Marshall was serviceable. But a team in that position cannot throw away a quality asset to go after someone "serviceable". It's the type of deal that a team beefing up at the trade deadline would make if they had an injury to key third-liner*. Several other 2nd-rounders in 2003 were traded straight up for players, and all of them were in the 2003 calendar year (either at the draft or trade deadline). To throw a dart two years out for a player who would serve no real purpose on an expansion team is the type of shortsighted stupidity that the Ballard-era Leafs or any of the 1967 expansion teams would do.

*Marshall had played 59 playoff games with Dallas, and failed to score a single goal. His overall line: 59 games, 0 goals, 8 assists, 79 PIMs.

 

[Dr. Fire]

Let's remember one other thing, the CBJ always sucked, but weren't the suckiest sucks that ever sucked. Other then the trade up for Nash, we were never in a position to take those no doubters like a Malkin or Crosby. Throw the fact that the CBJ have the worst luck of all time in winning the draft lottery, and there you go.

There are always those 1 or 2 sure fire stars, then the rest are a crap shoot.

The thing that really pissed me off about Zherdev was that the entire scouting staff did not want to take him, and Maclean overruled them. He was the only one that wanted him, and of course being drunk with power he would not listen to his staff. I would bet that happened a lot with fat head Maclean.

 

[We Want Ten]

IMO Picard will always be numerous 1 on this list.

 

[Fro]

IMO Picard will always be numerous 1 on this list.

yeah...pretty sure me too...i sway towards Brule, but that's not his fault that Dougie ruined him before he set foot on columbus ice...so Picard is worse

 

[CentreKeeper12]

The thing that really pissed me off about Zherdev was that the entire scouting staff did not want to take him, and Maclean overruled them. He was the only one that wanted him, and of course being drunk with power he would not listen to his staff. I would bet that happened a lot with fat head Maclean.

The same happened with Brule, only Dougie Mac wanted him and the scouts wanted Kopitar