Biggest Bantam Draft Busts

Hipfan

Registered User
Nov 27, 2009
354
0
I'm going to go with Cole Penner - Prince Albert used a 4th overall selection on the guy in one of the deepest bantam drafts I can remember and he squandered every chance he got. It really stings for PA as you see the others chosen around him:

1 - Jared Cowan
2 - Landon Ferraro
3 - Ryan Howse
4 - Cole Penner
5 - Jimmy Bubnick
6 - Cody Eakin
7 - Carter Ashton
9 - Brayden Schenn
10 - Riley Boychuk
12 - Stefan Elliott
13 - Kellan Tochkin
16 - Nathan Lieuwen
18 - Tyson Barrie
19 - Evander Kane

ANY of those guys would have been a better selection than Cole Penner!!
 

Juniorhockeyguru

Registered User
Nov 18, 2012
1,095
509
Which WHL picks in your eyes have been some of the biggest busts in recent memory.


Andrew DeSousa who was taken 2nd overall by the Ams in 1998. He played 5 years in the dub but hockey wise he played for a couple teams and never developed into the defenceman he was suppose to.

Other names the Chiefs could of had instead of him.....Dan Blackburn or Nathan Paetsch.

Josh Lepp taken 4th overall by the Rockets. They could of had Brent Seabrooke or Eric Fehr.

Sasha Golin taken 5th overall in 2003
 

lakai17

Registered User
Aug 10, 2006
20,917
1,325
Gillies and Leffler in 04.

Leffler was money in minor hockey.
 

Skinnyjimmy08

WorldTraveler
Mar 30, 2012
22,483
11,942
Kamloops crapped the bed in 2011 when they went with Jordan Thomson 4th overall. Terrible pick... local boy Ryan Gropp was ranked right around there too(went 2 spots later) but Kamloops chose to go with the undersized dman instead and said there would be too much pressure drafting a local kid with that high of a pick.
 

dickiedunnwrotethis

It's gotta be true.
May 16, 2009
524
192
saskatoon
ABSOLUTELY for PG he was

He scored 40 points in 51 games in his first and only "full" year there. That's not a "bust" in my world. Did he meet the high expectations reserved for a #1 pick? No, he didn't. Is that his fault? Partially. Keep in mind though that the deciding factor in taking Forsberg first overall wasn't necessarily his talent level but that his brother was already in the organization: they knew he would sign with them. Other high level prospects let it be known they wouldn't. That's how much a tire fire that management team was considered to be in the hockey community.

If the pejorative term of bust is going to be thrown around maybe aim at the right target: the PG management team at that time.
 

Emerald City Bruin

I-90 W for 2500mi
Aug 3, 2004
985
4
Seattle,WA
Kamloops crapped the bed in 2011 when they went with Jordan Thomson 4th overall. Terrible pick... local boy Ryan Gropp was ranked right around there too(went 2 spots later) but Kamloops chose to go with the undersized dman instead and said there would be too much pressure drafting a local kid with that high of a pick.

It wasn't a given that Gropp would go WHL even if taken by the Blazers. If I remember right, there was something that came out at that time that they didn't want to use such a high pick on someone who may not come.
 

Skinnyjimmy08

WorldTraveler
Mar 30, 2012
22,483
11,942
It wasn't a given that Gropp would go WHL even if taken by the Blazers. If I remember right, there was something that came out at that time that they didn't want to use such a high pick on someone who may not come.

Gropp gave the typical answer of "undecided still" at the time to teams... Just like Needham, Benjafield, Kneen and Rizzo did to Blazers too. IMO Blazers just felt Thomson was the better pick. Alot of Kamloops residents were anticipating Gropp to be drafted by the Blazers but they just had him ranked later.

Dont get me wrong, Thomson was an extremely good player in bantam and deserving to be drafted high, but unfortunately he became a bust
 

RandyBobandi

Registered User
Apr 16, 2012
519
11
Saskatchewan
Gillies and Leffler in 04.

Leffler was money in minor hockey.

I would hardly consider Gillies a bust. He was never expected to be a 50 goal scorer he was a power forward. He played 3 full seasons with the Blades and every year he played for team Canada (U17,U18, and U20 won gold) he was a 1st round pick in the NHL and made the Wild before his junior career was even done so I wouldn't say he was a bust.

Couple guys to add to the Cougars busts Travis Eagles #2 in 96 (it shows he missed an entire year 97/98 so I'm guessing he was injured and that set him back) also Jonathan Parker #5 in 97 was really awful.

Also the 99 draft was pretty bad Ryan Hollweg went #1 lol. He was a beast back then but no one really made an impact and only a handful made it to the NHL and Kyle Brodziak is the leading scorer(in the NHL) from that draft so you get an idea of how bad it was.

Does anyone know what the deal was with Penner? He kinda bounced around and hardly played in the WHL
 

Sticks and Pucks

Registered User
Jan 2, 2008
2,282
152
Does anyone know whatever happened to Stephen George? Drafted fourth overall in 1996 and I can't find anything on him.
 

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