Most disappointing 1st round pick ?

[jimmysheva]

Conner Bleackley for Colorado. Worst draft pick in franchise history.

 

[Bexlyspeed]

Islanders have multiple: Dave Chyzowski 2nd overall, Scott Scissons 6TH overall, Ryan Strome 5th overall, Michael Dal Colle 5TH overall.

 

[Hockeyville USA]

Ryan Sittler and Jason Bowen are two of the most disappointing 1st rounders, considering they were top 15 picks. While the 1992 Draft wasn't great, still hurts to completely whiff on a USHS-NY player at 7 and a goon at 15. Probably cost the Flyers a Cup.

 

[MarkusKetterer]

maybe stamkos

This aged well

 

[iamjs]

I would go with stefan and diagle...also def jessiman, mainly because I believe almost eversingle other player taken in that draft is a nhl regular now.

I believe Stefan also said he was skating with a lingering hip problem for several seasons before seeking medical advice, which that doctor strongly advised him to retire.

Daigle cracked 20 goals and 50 points 3x in his career. I know it's not the best numbers that you want for a very hyped #1, but if you're looking at most disappointing 1st round picks, there are much worse options.

My vote would go "the Volchinator", Alexander Volchov. #4 overall pick in the '96 Draft, zero points in three career NHL games. Had a poor attitude and did not have the talent to match. Was eventually traded to Edmonton but never played an NHL game with the Oilers. After the 1999-00 season, he returned to Russia.

 

[DitchMarner]

Sheldon Keefe

anyone remember him


his brother Adam is still kicking around in the AHL

Oh yeah, isn't he a coach now or something?

 

[DitchMarner]

Filatov was a big disappointment. Then you have Galchenyuk. He had some productive seasons, but you want a better career from a third overall pick. He showed some promise early on, too. Sam Bennett has become a solid and valuable player but still has to be considering disappointing for the hype he received and how high he was drafted. Chris Gratton had two 62 point seasons but otherwise scored in the 30 to 50 point range for years. Stu Barnes (fourth overall) peaked at 65 points and had numerous seasons with 29 to 49 points.

Obviously all these guys (except Filatov) were still solid players and better than players who didn't play in the NHL at all or were fringe players.

 

[JianYang]

Filatov was a big disappointment. Then you have Galchenyuk. He had some productive seasons, but you want a better career from a third overall pick. He showed some promise early on, too. Sam Bennett has become a solid and valuable player but still has to be considering disappointing for the hype he received and how high he was drafted. Chris Gratton had two 62 point seasons but otherwise scored in the 30 to 50 point range for years. Stu Barnes (fourth overall) peaked at 65 points and had numerous seasons with 29 to 49 points.

Obviously all these guys (except Filatov) were still solid players and better than players who didn't play in the NHL at all or were fringe players.

I think galchenyuk's off ice issues probably bled into his on ice performance.

When you watched him early in his career, you could tell pretty quickly that he belonged in the nhl...it was just a matter of what type of role would be best.

But that lifestyle can catch up pretty quickly for most players when left unchecked.

 

[MadLuke]

I think galchenyuk's off ice issues probably bled into his on ice performance.

Mario Tremblay back in the day, did leak that it was probably the case in a live radio interview (it is supposed to be anonymous, but I imagine people talk a lot about it), he did try to use the nhl substance abuse help program more than once before leaving MTL.

Not sure if he could have matched Forsberg-Rielly (or even Wilson that having quite the career, fresh 7 years 45 millions deals, big piece when they won the cup), but he could have been a top 5 of his draft class.

That 30 goal season could have been more representative of what he could have been than the other, he had top 6 nhl talent (and some size-length to him) for sure.

 

[HisIceness]

It has to be Yakupov. I'm sure we all remember "Fail for Nail". I don't quite remember his comparable but he was just as hyped as Taylor Hall two years prior and way more hyped than Hopkins the year before.

350 total games. Out of the league by 2018.

 

[DitchMarner]

It has to be Yakupov. I'm sure we all remember "Fail for Nail". I don't quite remember his comparable but he was just as hyped as Taylor Hall two years prior and way more hyped than Hopkins the year before.

350 total games. Out of the league by 2018.

I'm not sure what went wrong with him exactly. I don't think he even had a bad attitude or was lazy or unwilling to work to improve (although I've heard he only liked practicing things he was already good at).

I guess he simply wasn't as good as scouts thought. He had a good shot but wasn't anything special as a playmaker and wasn't a guy who could rush end-to-end or beat guys with one-on-one moves like fellow Russian first overall picks Kovalchuk and Ovechkin. He was also really bad defensively and he worked at improving in that regard but became an unnatural and non-instinctive player doing so.

 

[Hockeyville USA]

I'm not sure what went wrong with him exactly. I don't think he even had a bad attitude or was lazy or unwilling to work to improve (although I've heard he only liked practicing things he was already good at).

I guess he simply wasn't as good as scouts thought. He had a good shot but wasn't anything special as a playmaker and wasn't a guy who could rush end-to-end or beat guys with one-on-one moves like fellow Russian first overall picks Kovalchuk and Ovechkin. He was also really bad defensively and he worked at improving in that regard but became an unnatural and non-instinctive player doing so.

Bad hockey IQ, didn't have the drive and determination to work on his craft consistently.

 

[The Panther]

Man, Nail Yakupov sucked.

I didn't see him at all in Juniors, but I caught an Oilers game early in his short rookie NHL season -- at which point he was still being hyped... and he did have a statistically-decent rookie year -- and my immediate reaction was, "This players blows."

It was clear to me from seeing him play once or twice that his hockey IQ was painfully low to process things at NHL-speed. It didn't help that he had basically a muffin shot. Then, when you add on the stories that have been told about his rather juvenile attitude towards a pro-hockey career (supposedly causing some scouts to cross him off their list), I really wonder what the Oilers' "brain"-trust was thinking in that period.
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I know this thread is, like, 50 years old, but I wanted to say that I personally will never consider players like Alexandre Daigle a "bust". I know people are responding to the media-hype that surrounded the player, but I will never evaluate or even label players according to meaningless media hype (that has absolutely nothing to do with what a player actually did on the ice).

Daigle was a disappointment, in sum, sure. But he was a serviceable, skilled NHL player. He played 616 games -- probably would have hit 1000 if he hadn't gone to Europe in his prime. He did lead an NHL team in scoring (when he was 28). So, both for the first few years of his career, and again near its end, he was a first-line NHL-er. This is A LOT more than can be said for some other 1st overall picks (Yakupov, Stefan).

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

Zach Senyshyn

 

[DitchMarner]

Man, Nail Yakupov sucked.

I didn't see him at all in Juniors, but I caught an Oilers game early in his short rookie NHL season -- at which point he was still being hyped... and he did have a statistically-decent rookie year -- and my immediate reaction was, "This players blows."

It was clear to me from seeing him play once or twice that his hockey IQ was painfully low to process things at NHL-speed. It didn't help that he had basically a muffin shot. Then, when you add on the stories that have been told about his rather juvenile attitude towards a pro-hockey career (supposedly causing some scouts to cross him off their list), I really wonder what the Oilers' "brain"-trust was thinking in that period.
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Haha... did he really?

I thought his shot was one of his better strengths. He was no Stamkos or anything, but I feel I saw him score goals on shots that looked quite good. It could be that usually he had a weak shot but sometimes he would fire with accuracy and velocity.

I forgot to mention his low hockey IQ.

So let's see... he had poor vision and hockey IQ, he wasn't great at rushing the puck or beating guys one-on-one, he wasn't a strong puck protector or grinder type, he generally wasn't a great shooter and he had terrible defensive instincts - what did he have exactly that made him so hyped? Maybe they just needed to hype someone from a weak draft.

 

[Finster8]

Zach Senyshyn

You beat me to it. SSM he was decent but when he went in the 1st was a complete shock. Although he did score 1 goal in the NHL

 

[sr edler]

Daigle was a disappointment, in sum, sure. But he was a serviceable, skilled NHL player. He played 616 games -- probably would have hit 1000 if he hadn't gone to Europe in his prime. He did lead an NHL team in scoring (when he was 28). So, both for the first few years of his career, and again near its end, he was a first-line NHL-er. This is A LOT more than can be said for some other 1st overall picks (Yakupov, Stefan).

Scott Pellerin also led one of those Minny teams in scoring. He (Daigle) didn't have any reasonable competition at all on those teams, from an offence point of view, and when he had (Yashin in Ottawa) he was comfortably out-paced. He was a 1st liner on awful NHL teams, that's like bragging about being a 1st liner in the Bundesliga or something.

 

[Albatros]

He was a 1st liner on awful NHL teams, that's like bragging about being a 1st liner in the Bundesliga or something.

Dieter Hegen was a beauty. Really underrated. The Habs drafted him only in the 3rd round 46th overall though, but I reckon he could have done a better NHL career than Daigle.

 

[The Panther]

Scott Pellerin also led one of those Minny teams in scoring. He (Daigle) didn't have any reasonable competition at all on those teams, from an offence point of view, and when he had (Yashin in Ottawa) he was comfortably out-paced. He was a 1st liner on awful NHL teams, that's like bragging about being a 1st liner in the Bundesliga or something.

It's not really bragging when I described him as a "serviceable NHLer".

I'm not saying he was a great player. I specifically said he was, in fact, a disappointment. I'm just saying he wasn't what I would call a "bust" because his career was a full tier (or two) above guys like Yakupov.

 

[sr edler]

It's not really bragging when I described him as a "serviceable NHLer".

I'm not saying he was a great player. I specifically said he was, in fact, a disappointment. I'm just saying he wasn't what I would call a "bust" because his career was a full tier (or two) above guys like Yakupov.

Whether we like it or not, the bust thing relates to level of hype and talent. You are free though to have your own definition of what a bust is, obviously. Personally I don't care that much about either Daigle or Yakupov.

 

[Ceremony]

Yakupov's shot was one of the few things he had going for him in Colorado:



That and his smile.

 

[Darz]

One per draft from each year i watched the draft up to 2016...couldn't make a decision between 2 players for 1999 so i included 2 for that draft

1984 - #13 - Minn - David Quinn
1985 - #10 - LA - Dan Gratton
1986 - #3 - NJ - Neil Brady
1987 - #9 - Que - Bryan Fogarty
1988 - #5 - Que - Daniel Dore
1989 - #2 - NYI - Dave Chyzowski
1990 - #5 - NYI - Scott Scissons
1991 - #7 - Van - Alek Stojanov
1992 - #7 - Phi - Ryan Sittler
1993 - #1 - Ott - Alexandre Daigle
1994 - #4 - Edm - Jason Bonsignore
1995 - #8 - Mtl - Terry Ryan
1996 - #4 - Wsh - Alexandre Volchkov
1997 - #6 - Cgy - Daniel Tkaczuk
1998 - #6 - Cgy - Rico Fata
1999 - #1 - Atl - Patrik Stefan
1999- #4 - NYR - Pavel Brendl
2000 - #1 - NYI - Rick Dipietro
2001 - #3 - TB - Alexandr Svitov
2002 - #9 - Fla - Petr Taticek
2003 - #12 - NYR - Hugh Jessiman
2004 - #3 - Chi - Cam Barker
2005 - #13 - Buf -Marek Zagrapan
2006 - #20 - Mtl - David Fischer
2007 - #20 - Pit - Angelo Esposito
2008 - #6 - Clb - Nikita Filatov
2009 - #8 - Dal - Scott Glennie
2010 - #10 - NYR - Dylan McIlrath
2011 - #11 - Col - Duncan Siemens
2012 - #1 - Edm - Nail Yakupov
2013 - #11 - Phi - Samuel Morin
2014 - #5 - NYI - Micheal Del Colle
2015 - #15 - Bos - Zach Senyshyn
2016 - #5 - Van - Olli Julolevi

 

[MadLuke]

I'm not saying he was a great player. I specifically said he was, in fact, a disappointment. I'm just saying he wasn't what I would call a "bust" because his career was a full tier (or two) above guys like Yakupov.

the line will be thin between a big disappointment and a really big disappointment, daigle never scored a playoff goal his whole career, was never a 0 or + player an good argument can be made that undrafted Desharnais career (AHL-swiss-NHL) > drafted above Pronger and Kariya Daigle.

How many player stocks in the AHL-euroleague-reinvented has bottom 6 nhler, could have had those 50 pts season in they were given the opportunity of a good offensive role as many times ?

Could be related to league dept a bit, but I do not feel we would have ever disputed that Wickenheiser was a bust because he played 556 nhl games

 

[DitchMarner]

Daniel Tkaczuk... there's a name I forgot a long time ago. Funny how he and Matt Tkachuk were drafted in the same slot and by the same team.

 

[seventieslord]

A lot of Alexander Daigle's career GP come from his draft pedigree, talent level and perceived potential. He had a long leash.

Looking at the list of players with 600-650 GP and 300-350 points who played in the last 30 years, I wouldn't take Daigle over any of them.

Andre Burakovsky
Kevin Miller
Johan Garpenlov

And then from the sub-300 points crowd:

Colin Wilson
Tanner Pearson
Sam Bennett
Andrei Nikolishin
Andrew Copp
Michael Grabner

these are for the most part middle six types who worked hard to earn their minutes and often contributed in ways other than pure offense. Daigle had his opportunities given to him, and as mentioned, later on by default on a woefully anemic team.

These are all better players than Daigle, in the sense that they achieved similar career GP and points, in fewer minutes, lower in the lineup with lesser linemates and without a lot of PP time.

What I'm trying to say is Daigle isn't your usual ~625 GP, ~325 point player.

----------------

I also don't think that Daigle is the most disappointing 1st round player ever. 1st overall? Maybe. But there are a LOT of first rounders who went absolutely nowhere. Daigle provided some offense, some promise, and had shown enough that he could be traded for an asset after a few years. A player like Volchkov for example, went to zero almost immediately.

What's worse? Hoping for a 95-96 value player and getting 40? Or hoping for an 80 value and getting 0?

And there are tons of Volchkovs out there. They are more disappointing than Daigle, especially the ones that got picked in the top 10.