Most disappointing 1st round pick ?

[Reydin]

Well for the Leafs, where do I start
1989 3 1st Rd. picks 3) Scott Thornton 12) Rob Pearson 21) Steve Bancroft
1995 15) Jeff Ware 1999 24) Luca Cereda 1990 10) Drake Berehowsky 1992 8) Brandon Convery

 

[Dr Awesome]

Wade Belak FTW.

agreed, I was hoping someone would mention him.

 

[Slapshooter]

There are too many 1st rounders which are virtually unknown to everybody, so disappointment factor has to be connected with the amount of hype. That is the reason why Alexandre Daigle comes first in mind.

 

[sbkbghockey]

Gilbert Brule- CBJ (now with Edmonton). He was great in Major Jr. but totally sucked after moving up to the NHL. Lost his confidence, playmaking, and scoring abilities

 

[tommygunn]

Re: Patrik Stefan

 

[fan67]

jeff heerema, 11th overall in 99, was seen as a cant miss prospect. Alot of ppl still feel he's the most naturally gifted player to ever come out of thunder bay.

 

[Nicko999]

Patrick Stefan! 1st overall WTF???

 

[Section311]

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.

 

[mouser]

I'll offer up a slightly different spin on this: the worst 1st picks (not necessarily players)

1983: Minnesota drafts Brian Lawton #1 overall. The next eight players drafted:
Sylvain Turgeon, Pat LaFontaine, Steve Yzerman, Tom Barrasso, John MacLean, Russ Courtnall, Andrew McBain and Cam Neely.

While Lawton spent parts of nine seasons in the NHL, even the weakest of the group after him, McBain, finished with better career stats.


1988: Quebec drafts Daniel Dore #5 and Toronto takes Scott Pearson #6. The next four players drafted:
Martin Gelinas, Jeremy Roenick, Rod Brind'Amour, Teemu Selanne.

 

[jstreet]

For Preds it is David Legwand.

 

[Hockeyville USA]

This topic is torture to Canuck fans everywhere, but I'll take a shot!

Dan Woodley (7th overall)
*Alek Stojanov (7th)
Jason Herter (8th)
Josh Holden (12th)
Shawn Antoski (18th)
Libor Polasek (21st)
Nathan Smith (23rd)

*thank you, Pittsburgh, for saving our ***** here

Patrick White, 25th overall in 2007, looks well on his way to joining this elite group! (12 points in 58 NCAA games for an "offensive" centre)

Holden would have been very good for the Canucks if not for a skate cut to the wrist in his final year of junior. Pretty sure he never regained full strength after that due to the immense tendon damage

 

[DitchMarner]

Well for the Leafs, where do I start
1989 3 1st Rd. picks 3) Scott Thornton 12) Rob Pearson 21) Steve Bancroft
1995 15) Jeff Ware 1999 24) Luca Cereda 1990 10) Drake Berehowsky 1992 8) Brandon Convery

Then there's Luke Schenn. He's never been a star or close to it but has somehow played almost 1000 games at the NHL level.

Not a bad career at all, but he's been fairly underwhelming for a top five pick.

TOR seems to have a bad record with drafting d-men in the first round since 1990 or so.


Liljegren was drafted years ago and it feels like he still hasn't really come into his own. But maybe he's just a lackluster top six d-man.

Sandin seems to have found some sort of a niche in WSH...


At least there's Rielly.

 

[Soundgarden]

I don't think you can play nearly 1,000 games and still be a bust, disappointing maybe but not a bust.

 

[Henry Miller]

Just curious, do most people consider a player a bust if it is injury related?

 

[Hockeyville USA]

Just curious, do most people consider a player a bust if it is injury related?

Still a bust but a good reason to be one. Greg Oden is still a bust but he has good reasons as to why he failed in the NBA. Same with Nolan Patrick.

 

[Fire Sweeney]

Scott Scissons for sure, way to screw up a legendary draft.

 

[carjackmalone]

Gord Kluzak

 

[VanIslander]

1st overall pick Rick DiPietro signed a guarranteed 15-year contract and then the goalie got a career-ending injury and siphoned tens of millions from the Islanders for over the next decade.

It's hard to be more disappointed than that.

 

[kirby11]

As a Sabres fan, Marek Zagrapen, Alex Nylander, and Mikhail Grigorenko are probably the biggest first round flops in recent history.

Zagrapen because there were a decent number of guys picked around him who went on to have very good to solid careers (Oshie, Cogliano, Niskanen) while he didn't get a single NHL game in.

With Nylander, I hated the pick as soon as it was made because I would've rather had one of McAvoy or Sergachev, and it didn't seem like Nylander's skill was good enough to warrant often lazy play away from the puck. The Sabres didn't do him any favors with rushing him to the AHL, but I remember watching a game in Rochester during his second year there and he was just invisible the entire time.

Grigorenko just got screwed with being pushed to the NHL immediately and he never found his footing. Not really his fault, he was more a victim of circumstance than anything.

 

[Hockeyville USA]

As a Sabres fan, Marek Zagrapen, Alex Nylander, and Mikhail Grigorenko are probably the biggest first round flops in recent history.

Zagrapen because there were a decent number of guys picked around him who went on to have very good to solid careers (Oshie, Cogliano, Niskanen) while he didn't get a single NHL game in.

With Nylander, I hated the pick as soon as it was made because I would've rather had one of McAvoy or Sergachev, and it didn't seem like Nylander's skill was good enough to warrant often lazy play away from the puck. The Sabres didn't do him any favors with rushing him to the AHL, but I remember watching a game in Rochester during his second year there and he was just invisible the entire time.

Grigorenko just got screwed with being pushed to the NHL immediately and he never found his footing. Not really his fault, he was more a victim of circumstance than anything.

Going off of Zagrapan, another Buffalo one that I find fascinating is in 2000: Artem Kryukov. Never came over to North America and quite frankly, not a great pro in the K. Imagine if the Sabres take Alexander Frolov or Brad Boyes (I won't mention Justin Williams because he exceeded expectations and saying he should have gone way higher is just hindsight bias), maybe Frolov or Boyes produce like they did, but on the Sabres in this hypothetical back in late 2000s, when the Sabres were anywhere from great to decent. I know Boyes got to Buffalo eventually, but he wasn't as good then as he was when he started out in Boston and St Louis.

 

[carjackmalone]

As a Sabres fan, Marek Zagrapen, Alex Nylander, and Mikhail Grigorenko are probably the biggest first round flops in recent history.

Zagrapen because there were a decent number of guys picked around him who went on to have very good to solid careers (Oshie, Cogliano, Niskanen) while he didn't get a single NHL game in.

With Nylander, I hated the pick as soon as it was made because I would've rather had one of McAvoy or Sergachev, and it didn't seem like Nylander's skill was good enough to warrant often lazy play away from the puck. The Sabres didn't do him any favors with rushing him to the AHL, but I remember watching a game in Rochester during his second year there and he was just invisible the entire time.

Grigorenko just got screwed with being pushed to the NHL immediately and he never found his footing. Not really his fault, he was more a victim of circumstance than anything.

The sabres got a stinker in Jiri Dudacek

 

[x-bob]

The Habs all-time 1st Round No-Star team. Criteria - played less than 200 NHL games:

Jose Charbonneau Alain Heroux Terry Ryan
Matt Higgins Alfie Turcotte Lindsay Vallis
Jan Ingman Gord McTavish Dan Geoffrion
Bruce Baker Eric Chouinard Cam Connor


Brent Bilodeau Robin Sadler
Eric Charron David Wilkie

Ray Martiniuk

Alain Héroux is now a window salesman in Montreal. Bought my windows from him 5 years ago…

 

[buffalowing88]

Going off of Zagrapan, another Buffalo one that I find fascinating is in 2000: Artem Kryukov. Never came over to North America and quite frankly, not a great pro in the K. Imagine if the Sabres take Alexander Frolov or Brad Boyes (I won't mention Justin Williams because he exceeded expectations and saying he should have gone way higher is just hindsight bias), maybe Frolov or Boyes produce like they did, but on the Sabres in this hypothetical back in late 2000s, when the Sabres were anywhere from great to decent. I know Boyes got to Buffalo eventually, but he wasn't as good then as he was when he started out in Boston and St Louis.

Reiger was lousy at drafting in the first round. He was a good GM in terms of operating with a self-imposed cap, finding late-round steals, and making savvy veteran trades but his 1st/2nd round picks are tough to look at.

I don't know if Frolov or Boyes would have even had much room in Buffalo by that point. Guys like Roy, Gaustad, and Pominville developed into supporting cast players at around the same time and by 2005 they had guys like a rookie Vanek on the fourth line. It would have been interesting to see though!

 

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

As a Sabres fan, Marek Zagrapen, Alex Nylander, and Mikhail Grigorenko are probably the biggest first round flops in recent history.

Zagrapen because there were a decent number of guys picked around him who went on to have very good to solid careers (Oshie, Cogliano, Niskanen) while he didn't get a single NHL game in.

With Nylander, I hated the pick as soon as it was made because I would've rather had one of McAvoy or Sergachev, and it didn't seem like Nylander's skill was good enough to warrant often lazy play away from the puck. The Sabres didn't do him any favors with rushing him to the AHL, but I remember watching a game in Rochester during his second year there and he was just invisible the entire time.

Grigorenko just got screwed with being pushed to the NHL immediately and he never found his footing. Not really his fault, he was more a victim of circumstance than anything.

The Zagrapan draft was the first one I really remember well, and it was like.. “..eh, not a lot of certainty at that spot, but still.. soft skilled guy who can maybe play with Vanek in 5 years? If all goes well? It’s Buffalo’s pick, we know that.” Just not a really resounding endorsement, and sure enough mans did absolutely nothin.

Played in a lotta leagues though. Was still going last I checked, France. I respect his hustle/love of the game, I guess, but he kinda encapsulates my frustrations with this team. Never hittin on picks at the right time, ah well.

 

[Hobnobs]

patrick stefan

If we go by media (and some of the incompentent mess that was thrashers management) hype, yes.

If we go by people who actually followed hockey and knew who he was as a player at the time? No.