Ten Worst Draft Picks Since 2000

[Tortorella's Rant]

Didn't see a thread. Got this from a hockey Facebook page:

http://hockeyreporters.weebly.com/7/post/2012/08/ten-worst-draft-picks-since-2000.html

[Ossi Vaananen]

Nikita Filatov should be on this list.

[Bilbro Baggins]

No Hugh Jessiman?

[Brad Marchand]

Nikita Filatov should be on this list. Pretty much anyone from 4-10 in 07' should as well.

[Canuckian93]

Sidney Crosby Rick Dipietro

[coleman26]

No Hugh Jessiman?

[Tom Sestito]

Sidney Crosby Rick Depietro

[elvis15]

Didn't see a thread. Got this from a hockey Facebook page:

http://hockeyreporte...since-2000.html

[Squeak]

Yep. List, I deem you invalid.

Brent Krahn as #1 is also kind of silly. Don't get me wrong, he was a bust and all, but there wasn't a lot of talent in that draft. Basically, after #3 you were playing hunches. And he was the #1 ranked Goalie in North America. Al Montoya went higher and has done equally poor since being drafted.

Chistov, Jessiman, Svitov all deserve to be on because they were abhorrent busts in years when there was better on the table. When can we start calling Thomas Hickey a bust, because that kid is going nowhere, fast.

[-Vintage Canuck-]

Nikita Filatov should be on this list.

[coleman26]

Montoya has a job on teams where they literally had no other options lol. What was he, like, #5 in NYIs system by the time he played? And he's benchwarming this year unless Pavs goes down (which, I'll pray every night that he doesn't)

Not saying Krahn isn't terrible, but a #6 basically being so bad at his job that he can't be trusted to start except in life or death scenarios making the league minimum isn't success. We could split the difference and just agree that neither of them are doing very well for themselves, though.

EDIT: Al Montoya went 20 picks before Cory Schneider in the same draft.

[Tim Thomas]

jack skille ..... facepalm no skills

[coleman26]

I imagine suffering through Jack Skille's lack of development must have driven many, many Hawks fans to the bottle.

[topbananas]

Potential fades quickly. This is evident with the 10 former Top-10 draft picks below.

They were all once regarded as some of the best talents of their draft class. But as the years past, their expected bright NHL futures faded into careers in lower-level leagues.

General Managers and scouting staffs are often the first to be thrown under the bus for high draft picks not panning out. In some instances, a simple overvaluation of a player's upside could be the case. After all, draft picks are only as valuable as the hands they are in.

Nonetheless, it takes two to tango. Regardless of calibre of talent, it takes elite work ethic and determination to make it big at the next level. Not every player is willing to put in the time and effort that is required. The domino effect follows, as they play for the Spangler Cup instead of the Stanley Cup.

Here is a look at the 10 worst draft busts since 2000.

10. Jack Skille, 7th overall in 2005 by the Chicago Blackhawks

The book is somewhat still out on Skille. It's closing fast, though.

It took Skille six years to finally earn a regular roster spot with the Blackhawks. However, the 6-foot-1, 219-pounder didn't live up expectations. So the Blackhawks dealt him to the Florida Panthers in a minor deal. Despite the change of scenery, Skille is yet to develop into an impact forward. He only managed to muster 10 points in 46 games this year.

9. Boris Valabik, 10th overall in 2004 by the Atlanta Thrashers

Hoping he would follow in the footsteps of all-star defenceman Zdano Chara, the Thrashers selected 6-foot-7, 245-pound Boris Valabik in '04.

After finishing out his junior career with the Kitchener Rangers, Valabik constantly flew back and forth from Atlanta to their farm team, the Chicago Wolves. Six years later, Valabik's most memorable moment is losing a fight to the late Rick Rypien, who stood 8-inches shorter than the Slovak native.

Valabik has since played for the AHL affiliates of the Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins. He is set to become a restricted free agent this summer.

8. Nikita Alexeev, 8th overall in 2000 by the Tampa Bay Lightning

Standing 6-foot-5, Alexeev was supposed to be Tampa Bay's future top-line power forward, capable of scoring 20-plus goals per year. Instead, Alexeev topped out at a 10-goal, 21-point season at the age of 25 for the Bolts.

Alexeev is currently struggling to make a living in the KHL. The Russian native has only scored a combined 12 points in his past three seasons throughout 73 games.

7. Mikhail Yakubov, 10th overall in 2000 by the Chicago Blackhawks

At the 2000 Entry Draft, the Blackhawks held the tenth and eleventh overall picks. They turned to Russia for the future, drafting Yakubov at 10, followed by Pavel Vorobiev.

Although Vorobeiv didn't exactly live up to expectations either, Yakubov's stint in the NHL was the least-impressive of the two. He only suited up for 53 games, finding the back of the net twice.

After trying to make the NHL work from 2000-07 without any success, Yakubov went back to Russia. He currently laces up the skates with the Magnitogorsk Metallurg in the KHL.

6. Stanislav Chistov, 5th overall in 2001 by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim

Selected directly ahead of Minnesota Wild star Mikko Koivu, Chistov was regarded as the next slick Russian scorer, eliciting some comparisons to the great Pavel Bure. Obviously, this comparison turned out to be off the marker by a mile and a half.

Everything seemed to go downhill after Chistov's 12-goal, 30-point rookie season with the Ducks. After his first year in The Show, he bounced around in the minors and was never able to become a top-line scorer at either level.

Chistov has at least excelled in the KHL. Over the past four years, the 5-foot-9, 193-pound centre has tallied 124 points in 211 games.

5. Alexander Svitov, 3rd overall in 2001 by the Tampa Bay Lightning

Besides the second-overall pick, Jason Spezza, the talk of the 2001 draft was about the three high-end Russian prospects -- Ilya Kovalchuk, Chistov, and of course, Svitov.

The Lightning bought into the hype, selecting Svitov with the third-overall pick, ahead of Florida Panthers centre Stephen Weiss. Besides a couple exciting toe-to-toe fights, there is not much to remember the 6-foot-3, 198-pound centre by in Tampa Bay. Svitov, who now plays in the KHL, only played 74 games in a Bolts' uniform, netting 11 points.

4. Alexandre Picard, 8th overall in 2004 by the Columbus Blue Jackets

Sixty-seven NHL games later, Picard is yet to score his first big-league goal. And at the age of 26, the 6-foot-2, 206-pounder's window is closing fast. If opportunity doesn't strike soon, Picard could be a lifer in the AHL.

Along with the likes of Nikita Filatov, Rotislav Klesla, Nik Zherdev and Pascal Leclaire - Picard is a first-round draft choice that the Blue Jackets would like to take a mulligan on. To be fair though, Columbus didn't go off the wall with this pick. Picard was the third ranked North American skater by Central Scouting.

3. Lars Jonsson, 7th overall in 2000 by the Boston Bruins

Jonsson went from being touted as the Bruins' future blueline anchor to never suiting up for a single game with them. This change in plans happened because Boston was never able to sign him because of running into problems with the NHL collective bargaining agreement due to Jonsson already being under contract in the Swedish Elite League.

Jonsson finally made his way over to North America in 2006 when he signed with the Philadelphia Flyers. His two-year stint in Philly wasn't exactly smooth, though. He only played eight games with the Flyers, spending the rest of the time with their AHL affiliate. He later went back to his old stomping grounds in the SEL, where he still plays.

2. Petr Taticek, 9th overall in 2002 by the Florida Panthers

Three strikes and he is out -- the story of Taticek's NHL career, as he only suited up for three games in the big leagues.

Taticek was never able to find the back of the net at the consistent pace with the San Antonio Rampage in the AHL after leaving the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. Therefore, he never gave the Panthers a strong reason to give him a shot.

After struggling in the AHL for four years, Taticek, who was selected ahead of the Carolina Hurricanes' Cam Ward and Washington Capitals' Alex Semin, went back to the Czech Republic. The 6-foot-2, 190-pound centre has since spent the past six seasons with Davos in the Swiss Elite League.

1. Brent Krahn, 9th overall in 2000 by the Calgary Flames

Disregarding the clear-as-day precedents that show drafting a goaltender in the first round rarely pays off, former Flames GM Craig Button looked between the pipes at the 2000 draft, drafting Brent Krahn, who was NHL's Central Scouting Service's top ranked puck-stopper.

Krahn was coming off a 33-6-0 season with the Calgary Hitmen. On the surface, these numbers look like he stood on his head. However, the Hitmen were a stacked team. This is evident in their 58-10-2-2 season finish. Therefore, it seems Krahn's win-loss stat was inflated. Meanwhile, Krahn's .912 save percentage and 2.38 goals-against-average were impressive, but not exactly top-10 draft-pick impressive.

Obviously, Button's risk of selecting Krahn over the likes of Ron Hainsey, Anton Volchenkov and Niklas Kronwall definitely didn't pay off. The 6-foot-5, 220-pounder never suited for a single game for the Flames, due to not reaching organization expectations and a recurring knee injury. He finally made his NHL debut in 2009 with the Dallas Stars. His one-and-only NHL game didn't go smooth, though. Krahn, who is currently out of a puck-stopping job, let three pucks get past him on 12 shots.

[coleman26]

I'll also be nitpicky and say that a bad draft pick is one where you waste it on someone who clearly wasn't a good choice. Current examples would be someone like Dylan McIlrath who was chosen when Cam Fowler was available, something like 14 picks ahead of where anyone reasonable expected him to be. A list for 'terrible draft choices' should really only incorporate WTF moments, which has never been illustrated better than when the Rangers took Jessiman when Parise was just, like, sitting there, expecting to be taken. Also, Getzlaf, Burns, Brown, Kesler, Richards and Perry. That's a bad draft choice. Choosing a goalie who doesn't work out is a bust. I don't think busts necessarily mean it was a bad choice. You need a goalie, you take the best one available, especially if the people left in the draft or hit-and-miss, right?

[coleman26]

or, and as a Jets fan this destroys me, fricken Mark Scheifele. Why didn't you trade down if you were going to do that? Or, like, call an audible because you didn't think Coutourier would be available, and just... take him instead. Terrible choice.

[Hobble]

or, and as a Jets fan this destroys me, fricken Mark Scheifele. Why didn't you trade down if you were going to do that? Or, like, call an audible because you didn't think Coutourier would be available, and just... take him instead. Terrible choice.

[coleman26]

I'm not calling him a bust. I'm saying he was chosen so far out of position that it will never justify it. Jets could have traded down to the 20's and gotten Sheifele, and then the kid would never have to play his entire career with people mentioning how the Jets 'should have' taken Coutourier. I can't imagine league interest was boiling over to such a point that taking Scheifele that early can ever be justified. I like him, I've liked watching him play, he was just a bad choice where he was chosen.

[Aladeen]

If the player's name is not Aladeen then he is a bust!

[shiznak]

or, and as a Jets fan this destroys me, fricken Mark Scheifele. Why didn't you trade down if you were going to do that? Or, like, call an audible because you didn't think Coutourier would be available, and just... take him instead. Terrible choice.