Worst draft pick ever?

My vote must go out to Brian Wesenberg. The guy has only played in 1 NHL game with the Flyers. Horrendous pick ever in Mighty Ducks history.

Agree/Disagree?

How bout Chad Kilger? He was like, what, 4th overall? And this wasn't a weak draft situation, especially considering Iginla was available.

My vote must go out to Brian Wesenberg. The guy has only played in 1 NHL game with the Flyers. Horrendous pick ever in Mighty Ducks history.

Agree/Disagree?


I would probably have to say Holmqvist. I know he's still on the team, so i can see how you can argue it.....but it took him forever to get here....and you just expect more from a 1st round pick.

I would probably have to say Holmqvist. I know he's still on the team, so i can see how you can argue it.....but it took him forever to get here....and you just expect more from a 1st round pick.

I wouldn't call Holmquist the worst pick, even if I thought it was a bit strange to pick him ahead of the more talanted swede, Huselius. I know we were looking for a center, and the only two centers from that draft who have done better than Holmqvist are Mike York and Ladislav Nagy. Both of them were picked much later in the draft, in the 6th and 7th rounds.. So what do we learn from that draft? Always take the best player available.

I have to agree with Jerky that Wesenberg must be the biggest dissapointment from our draftpicks. Although, didn't we trade him to Philly for something? If so, atleast we got something back for him.
Another bad pick was Nik Tsulygin. He played some 4 seasons in the farm before going back to russia, where he's doing pretty good now. Just 6 picks after we took Tsulygin, Janne Niinimaa was picked, and another 4 picks later Bryan McCabe...

Chad Kilger hands down. 4th overall and he did nothing! :banghead:

Chad Kilger hands down. 4th overall and he did nothing! :banghead:

Has to be Kilger. The 4th overall pick should be a impact player. He was a clear cut case of what happens when you rush a kid.

Has to be Kilger. The 4th overall pick should be a impact player. He was a clear cut case of what happens when you rush a kid.

Agreed. Kilger as well for me. Mmmmmm Shane Doan.

Chad Kilger hands down. 4th overall and he did nothing! :banghead:

He did get us Selänne (and Chouinard)...

I go with Wesenberg. Kilger is an NHL regular at least...

I give the blame on the Holmqvist situation to Gauthier. He should have brought the guy over at least 2 years earlier...

Another potential dissappointment in the making is Smirnov. I really like what he brings to the table, but so far he hasn't been able to put it all together...

Has to be Kilger. The 4th overall pick should be a impact player. He was a clear cut case of what happens when you rush a kid.

Or maybe he was never as good as people thought.

There's simply no way of knowing that it was because he was rushed that he failed. I mean, he could have been brought along patiently, and still been a bust.

The only time I think rushing someone is clearly bad is when you bring them up only to healthy scratch them or have them ride the pine for most of the season. See Manny Malhotra.

Has to be Kilger. The 4th overall pick should be a impact player.

History doesn't support that a 4th "should" be an impact player. The drafts I looked at (92-98) its more like 50% of the top 4 become impact players and the others are like Kilger, becoming just decent role players.

My vote would be for a tie between every 2nd round pick from 93 to 98, excluding Cullen. Not a single successful NHL player in that group by any definition of success.

FWIW, Wesenberg was traded for Mike Crowley.

A case must also be said about Stephen Peat. Horrible pick considering we passed up Ossi Vaananen for this guy. And then to makes matters worst, we trade his rights for a 4th rounder.

A case must also be said about Stephen Peat. Horrible pick considering we passed up Ossi Vaananen for this guy. And then to makes matters worst, we trade his rights for a 4th rounder.

Well the kid had to know he had no chance with Anaheim. Gauthier was at the helm and Peat was not only North American but also tough. Which was a no no in the Gauthier era.

History doesn't support that a 4th "should" be an impact player. The drafts I looked at (92-98) its more like 50% of the top 4 become impact players and the others are like Kilger, becoming just decent role players.

My vote would be for a tie between every 2nd round pick from 93 to 98, excluding Cullen. Not a single successful NHL player in that group by any definition of success.

FWIW, Wesenberg was traded for Mike Crowley.

Actually, Wesenberg was traded for the rights to Mike Crowley, but the centerpiece of the trade (from the Ducks' perspective) was Anatoli Semenov.

Kilger hasn't exactly set the NHL on fire, but he has stayed in the NHL for 9 or 10 years. Smirnov and---dare I say it?---Chistov, both have the potential to be huge "busts". Smirnov was taken 12th overall---and the only reason he fell that low was the perception by some that he was a "headcase"---and Chistov was drafted 5th overall. I had a conversation with Pierre Gauthier about a month after the draft and, believe it or not, he told me that he was convinced that Chistov was the best player in the Draft that year. (Call me crazy, but I think a guy named Kovalchuk is better.)

Changing gears, while it's often difficult to assess recent drafts (say, the four or five most-recent drafts), some of the Ducks "best" draft picks may have been Trent Hunter (6th round, '98 I believe), Pierre Parenteau (9th round, 2000) and Jordan Leopold (2nd round). Oh, Martin Gerber should be included since he was an 8th rounder. I just think it's a lot easier to assess the talent of 26 or 27 year old than that of an 18 year old kid.

Speaking of Leopold, Popovic better have a good rookie season next year, or else we really lost out big right now on the deals(Leopold for a 2nd, 2nd for Carney, Popovic picked with other 2nd rounder).

Speaking of Leopold, Popovic better have a good rookie season next year, or else we really lost out big right now on the deals(Leopold for a 2nd, 2nd for Carney, Popovic picked with other 2nd rounder).

Hmmm... Carney has been our #1 d-man and we're carefully developing Popovic. Jordan has finally gotten into the Calgary lineup. I kinda like acquiring a #1 D-man for our team. Popovic is still a potential prospect to hold the point ( could Havelid be gone? ). I think we made out great on the deal and we're still gonna get more ( hopefully ) from Popovic.

I would probably have to say Holmqvist. I know he's still on the team, so i can see how you can argue it.....but it took him forever to get here....and you just expect more from a 1st round pick.
Of course! He's barely playing on the 4th line.

Actually, Wesenberg was traded for the rights to Mike Crowley, but the centerpiece of the trade (from the Ducks' perspective) was Anatoli Semenov.

I always forget that Semenov was part of that deal... his 2nd stint in Anaheim was nothing but forgetable.

Or maybe he was never as good as people thought.

There's simply no way of knowing that it was because he was rushed that he failed. I mean, he could have been brought along patiently, and still been a bust.


Take Alexei Smirnov for example... :lol

My vote has to go to Chad Kilger...4th overall pick for a career 4th liner....at best.

Where were Davidson and that other Swede who broke the lineup with him in the same year drafted? (I forget his name, I think it was tarnqvist or something)

Speaking of Leopold, Popovic better have a good rookie season next year, or else we really lost out big right now on the deals(Leopold for a 2nd, 2nd for Carney, Popovic picked with other 2nd rounder).

I know that the Ducks organization is high on Popovic, but I was really disappointed by his apparent lack of productivity in Cincinnatti. Let me add that I haven't seen him play other than when he was in the Ducks camp, so maybe I'm missing something. I've heard a number of excuses, but weren't his "numbers" dismal?

Where were Davidson and that other Swede who broke the lineup with him in the same year drafted? (I forget his name, I think it was tarnqvist or something)
I think you're thinking of Antti Aalto (Finnish). He was a 6th rounder. Davidsson was a 2nd rounder in 1994.

The only other Swede you might be thinking of is Jorgen Jonsson, who wasn't an Anaheim pick. Or Jonas Ronnqvist, but he wasn't around until after Davidsson was gone. He was a 4th rounder.

Hmmm... Carney has been our #1 d-man and we're carefully developing Popovic. Jordan has finally gotten into the Calgary lineup. I kinda like acquiring a #1 D-man for our team. Popovic is still a potential prospect to hold the point ( could Havelid be gone? ). I think we made out great on the deal and we're still gonna get more ( hopefully ) from Popovic.

We could've had Carney and Leopold. If we would've traded the Popovic 2nd rounder for Carney, and kept Leopold, we likely would've been more dangerous. Jordan's on Calgary's first PP unit, and has racked up alot of points. Like I said, Popovic better do well, or it makes those moves look really dumb.

I think you're thinking of Antti Aalto (Finnish). He was a 6th rounder. Davidsson was a 2nd rounder in 1994.

The only other Swede you might be thinking of is Jorgen Jonsson, who wasn't an Anaheim pick. Or Jonas Ronnqvist, but he wasn't around until after Davidsson was gone. He was a 4th rounder.

Ronnqvist thats right, no they both were in the lineup in the same year I swear, I remember seeing Davidson score his first NHL goal and Ronnqvist assisting on it on a sportscenter replay once.

urgghh Aalto, man he was bad

Ronnqvist thats right, no they both were in the lineup in the same year I swear, I remember seeing Davidson score his first NHL goal and Ronnqvist assisting on it on a sportscenter replay once.

Davidsson scored his 1st NHL goal back in 98/99 well before Ronnqvist got drafted. I don't know who you are thinking of, but Ronnqvist only scored 4 NHL assists ever. Pretty select group that scored with his help!

Davidsson scored his 1st NHL goal back in 98/99 well before Ronnqvist got drafted. I don't know who you are thinking of, but Ronnqvist only scored 4 NHL assists ever. Pretty select group that scored with his help!

Damn, who AM I thinking of then...

Damn, who AM I thinking of then...

It has to be Team Rookie Sensations as I liked to call them.

Johan Davidsson and Antti Aalto. Played together before both deciding to go back to their homelands.

I say Nikolai Tsuyligin or Maxim Balmo....

We could've had Carney and Leopold. If we would've traded the Popovic 2nd rounder for Carney, and kept Leopold, we likely would've been more dangerous. Jordan's on Calgary's first PP unit, and has racked up alot of points. Like I said, Popovic better do well, or it makes those moves look really dumb.

That's like saying " We could have drafted Frolov instead of the present Russian winger drafted in the same year. "

Damn, who AM I thinking of then...
Espen Knutsen?

C'mon guys the Leafs scouting staff has the market cornered on brutal draft picks
Luca Cereda
Jeff Farkas
Marek Posmyk
Jeff Ware
and the list goes on adn on ....realy sad scouting by the Leafs.

You guys picked Johan Davidsson in the 1994 2nd round. Ahead of Jose Theodore, Deron Quint, And Patrik Elias.

You guys picked Johan Davidsson in the 1994 2nd round. Ahead of Jose Theodore, Deron Quint, And Patrik Elias.

And you guys are on the brink of elimination in the First Round.

You guys picked Johan Davidsson in the 1994 2nd round. Ahead of Jose Theodore, Deron Quint, And Patrik Elias.

And your team chose Adrian Foster ahead of a ham sandwich.

And your team chose Adrian Foster ahead of a ham sandwich.

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Look on the bright side guys, at least we never drafted Mike Danton. :)

The worst pick up this franchise ever made was Pierre Gauthier.

He knew of Smirnovs problems when he took him.
He knew of Chistovs lack of experiance and immaturity.

Traded Leopold, which led to getting Carney but we could have used ANOTHER 2nd to get Carney and have kept Leopold.

Did I mention that man scared away almost every north american we had?

Oh yeah the Teemu Selanne trade was bad too...someone refresh my mind of the other big offer we got for him from I believe Detroit or Colorado.

Look on the bright side guys, at least we never drafted Mike Danton. :)
Danton has a bright future in hockey.......playing for the prison hockey team that is.

*****y Tibbets is way worse than Danton.

*****y Tibbets is way worse than Danton.
I never knew "Billy" was a bad word. :D

Worse than "allegedly" plotting a murder for hire? I mean, Tibbets is no angel, but being charged with hiring a hit man is no joke.

Tibbets is a rapist and charged multiple times for assault. The list goes on thought but I'm too lazy to search for that...

Tibbets is a rapist and charged multiple times for assault. The list goes on thought but I'm too lazy to search for that...
Yeah, neither one is a model citizen.

Could somebody tell me whatever has happened to Maxim Balmochnykh ?
I remember he was a highly touted prospect a couple of years ago.

He's the Devils' problem now. He was part of the Sykora deal.

He's the Devils' problem now. He was part of the Sykora deal.


In short, I should go to the Devils board to ask this same question again ? :)

There's a reason why he got traded.

Could somebody tell me whatever has happened to Maxim Balmochnykh ?
I remember he was a highly touted prospect a couple of years ago.
To call him a chronic underachiever would be giving him too much credit.

In short, I should go to the Devils board to ask this same question again ? :)

There's a reason why he got traded.
He never did anything, except for the occasional stick foul-related suspension.

I know that the Ducks organization is high on Popovic, but I was really disappointed by his apparent lack of productivity in Cincinnatti. Let me add that I haven't seen him play other than when he was in the Ducks camp, so maybe I'm missing something. I've heard a number of excuses, but weren't his "numbers" dismal?


kick save Popovic is a defensmen and his #'s were far from dismal, he 's a D-man. He finished with 14 points which isn't great for a offensive guy, but the ducks are developing him as a defensive d-man, not as a offensive d-man. He was drafted as a offensive guy and had 24 points last year, but he had a lot of trouble on D. This year he has been playing a lot with Armstrong and Mottau. Both of those guys are developed offensive D-man, so he has been asked to play the stay at home D-man. According to everyone in Cincy he is by far there best D man. I am not sure what excuses you are talking about. But, anytime Chuck Fletcher or anyone talks about him the always talk about how he is becoming one of their best defensive d-man and is having a good year. Believe me I saw Mark in the Juniors and his D was scary even though his offense was great.
Again he had good offensive #'s last year, but his D was shaky at times and now he is a very solid d-man and those are #'s that won't show up on a score sheet.
As someone said before they are developing him slowly and they are also changing his style of play. I guess I was just surprised to see his name even mentioned in the worst draft pick ever thread...especially since he is 21 and most d -man don't come into their own till around 23. Don't get me wrong he is no Ray Bourque and if he was he would have been drafted in the top 5 or the top pick like Jay Bouwmeester, he wasn't he was drafted pretty low in the first round. He's a smart guy and will keep improving. I doubt he will be a worst draft pick ever.

kick save Popovic is a defensmen and his #'s were far from dismal, he 's a D-man. He finished with 14 points which isn't great for a offensive guy, but the ducks are developing him as a defensive d-man, not as a offensive d-man. He was drafted as a offensive guy and had 24 points last year, but he had a lot of trouble on D. This year he has been playing a lot with Armstrong and Mottau. Both of those guys are developed offensive D-man, so he has been asked to play the stay at home D-man. According to everyone in Cincy he is by far there best D man. I am not sure what excuses you are talking about. But, anytime Chuck Fletcher or anyone talks about him the always talk about how he is becoming one of their best defensive d-man and is having a good year. Believe me I saw Mark in the Juniors and his D was scary even though his offense was great.
Again he had good offensive #'s last year, but his D was shaky at times and now he is a very solid d-man and those are #'s that won't show up on a score sheet.
As someone said before they are developing him slowly and they are also changing his style of play. I guess I was just surprised to see his name even mentioned in the worst draft pick ever thread...especially since he is 21 and most d -man don't come into their own till around 23. Don't get me wrong he is no Ray Bourque and if he was he would have been drafted in the top 5 or the top pick like Jay Bouwmeester, he wasn't he was drafted pretty low in the first round. He's a smart guy and will keep improving. I doubt he will be a worst draft pick ever.
Good post. Just wondering, do you know what Popovich's +/- was this last year. That might give some indication (though not conclusive proof) of his defensive abilities.

Good post. Just wondering, do you know what Popovich's +/- was this last year. That might give some indication (though not conclusive proof) of his defensive abilities.

He actually finished at a even rating. I am not sure what happend he was like a +7 or 7 going into the last two weeks of the season and it appears he and the whole team fell apart on D looking at the box scores everynight. That was also the stretch when Bryz was playing bad and letting in a lot of soft goals and had that major melt down. Not making excuses for the last two weeks of the season you need to play well all year. To be honest I have no idea what happend those two weeks. I started listening to a lot of Cincy games a little over half way through the season and I heard nothing but good things about him and how much his D has improved and how he was the best defensive guy and top guy on the penalty kill.
I am not sure if anyone on this board ever saw him at St. Mikes when I tell you his D was scary it was scary. The guy could skate like no one else he is fast as heck, he is a natural at joining the rush and has a great shot, but his D was so awful at times. So to hear he has developed into a successful D-man just shows me with training coaching he had the ability to improve and get better. I know he did score a goal in there playoff game the other night. He's a guy who leads by example and I know he is one of the alternate captains in Cincy and he was the captain at St. Mikes for 2 years and all the guys at St. Mikes looked up to him.
Anyway, sorry for the pro-Mark Popovic post, but I have seen him play since he was like 17 years old and I just think it is harsh to judge a guy who you haven't seen play especially when he is a D-man , a forward fine b/c #'s tell a lot. But, to put him in the worst draft pick ever catagory when he is still 21 and is developing just how the Ducks want him to develop I think is a little harsh.
Again, I am not sure what you guys expected but again he wasn't picked 1 or 2 in the draft he was a very low first round pick. He will be a top 4 D-man. Will he be a superstar? No. But that is why he wasn't picked in the top 5 in his draft class. If you remember Chistov was the Ducks 1st pick that year.

If Mark is 25 and still in the AHL then fine start bashing him, but I think it is just a little to early in his career to start picking on the guy. But, I doubt he will be 25 and still in the AHL Mark is a classy character guy with a hard work ethic so I am sure he will be fine and you guys will really like him he is a real real nice guy.

kick save Popovic is a defensmen and his #'s were far from dismal, he 's a D-man. He finished with 14 points which isn't great for a offensive guy, but the ducks are developing him as a defensive d-man, not as a offensive d-man. He was drafted as a offensive guy and had 24 points last year, but he had a lot of trouble on D.

I've never seen Popovic as an offensive D-man in the NHL. He never scored a lot of points in Junior or the AHL and his THN draft preview blurb starts "Here's another stay-at-home defenseman." He's always been billed as a good passer though, something we need badly is that first good pass out of the zone.

The question I have is did he get any time on the power play this season? If he didn't, no way I'd expect very many points from him. If he did, his totals are definately low.

I've never seen Popovic as an offensive D-man in the NHL. He never scored a lot of points in Junior or the AHL and his THN draft preview blurb starts "Here's another stay-at-home defenseman." He's always been billed as a good passer though, something we need badly is that first good pass out of the zone.

The question I have is did he get any time on the power play this season? If he didn't, no way I'd expect very many points from him. If he did, his totals are definately low.


Mark actually scored a lot of points in the juniors. He averaged 40 points a season in his 4 years at St. Mikes and that is only a 60 game schedule. He was very offensive minded but, his D was so bad that is why he dropped so low in the draft. He was expected to go higher, but scouts were nervous about his D. Anyway time will tell. But, I doubt he will be one of your worst draft picks ever.
It appears he is doing well in the playoffs 3 points in 3 game and a +3. So he is stepping it up. I also noticed he is shooting more and getting more shots on the stat sheet.