Kucherov: biggest draft steal of all-time?

[Number 57]

I am arguing that drafting a player of Kucherov's ilk at the end of the 2nd round is unheard of and very likely to be one of the biggest draft steals of all time by the Bolts.

Think about it, he is producing to the level of guys like MacKinnon, Crosby, McDavid, Draisaitl, Kane, Thornton, who were all generational talent 1st-overall slam-dunks or close to it. He also has 2 Stanley Cups and 2 additional finals appearances, as well as a Hart, Art Ross and Lindsay trophy. He was drafted 58th overall. How could that be?

He will probably end up a top-50 points scorer of all time when he retires. When it comes to points/game he is 13th all-time currently, 15th all-time in the playoffs.

What happened to scouts and GMs at the draft table that year? How can you let a player of this magnitude fall so far in the draft? Imagine letting Nathan MacKinnon fall to 58th overall while you draft Lucas Lessio, Alexander Ruutu and David Musil before him.

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[Ol' Jase]

Brett Hull says “say what”?

 

[Number 57]

Brett Hull says “say what”?

Kucherov is far ahead of Hull in points per game currently, though, and Hull was considered mainly as a sniper. Kucherov is a very complete offensive player in comparison.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Lidstrom was a third rounder, right?

 

[Faceboner]

Hasek and Datsyuk also zetterberg he might be having better career numbers than those guys but they were much later picks which factors into how much of a steal a pick is/was

 

[Tom Polakis]

I'm sure he's up there, but if you want to argue for all-time draft steals, the Red Wings alone had these examples of pretty good players drafted low.

Sergei Federov: Round 4, #74
Niklas Lidstrom: Round 3, #53
Pavel Datsyuk: Round 6, #171
Henrik Zetterberg: Round 7, #210

 

[FunkySeeFunkyDo]

Mario at first overall is the biggest steal. I mean that in the value at the pick in the draft sense and not the tankiest tank that led to the pick sense.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

Nah dawg.

 

[Ol' Jase]

Kucherov is far ahead of Hull in points per game currently, though, and Hull was considered mainly as a sniper. Kucherov is a very complete offensive player in comparison.

Kucherov is currently 1.19 PPG career wise.

Hull finished 1.10 PPG.

That’s not “far ahead”. Sorry.

 

[Paper]

You almost need your own category of goalie draft steals.

Hasek, Roy, Lundqvist, Kiprusoff, Rinne was an 8th rounder, I mean even Brodeur was a late first and not the first goalie taken cause some team traded up to take Trevor Kidd instead.

 

[Scandale du Jour]

Kucherov is currently 1.19 PPG career wise.

Hull finished 1.10 PPG.

That’s not “far ahead”. Sorry.

Especially when one guy hasn't declined yet.

 

[Ol' Jase]

Especially when one guy hasn't declined yet.

Yep. Considering that Hull was drafted 114th overall, it just doesn’t make sense that Kucherov could be considered the biggest draft steal in history.

 

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

I'm sure he's up there, but if you want to argue for all-time draft steals, the Red Wings alone had these examples of pretty good players drafted low.

Sergei Federov: Round 4, #74
Niklas Lidstrom: Round 3, #53
Pavel Datsyuk: Round 6, #171
Henrik Zetterberg: Round 7, #210

Dayum Red Wings! Fedorov or Lidstrom for me- goalies don’t really count, right? And St. Louis wasn’t actually a draft steal. Idk, Luc Robitaille or someone may have a claim, but Fed is really solid at #74.

 

[RebuildinVan]

Luke Robitaille enters the chat for all time draft steals

 

[Brodeur]

What happened to scouts and GMs at the draft table that year? How can you let a player of this magnitude fall so far in the draft?

Russian factor to some degree. Calgary apparently had Kucherov and Gaudreau on a "side" list and they thought they could get them in the 4th round or later.

Presiding over that draft had been Jay Feaster, whose work-the-list mantra had been well-established. But Button convinced him to leave Gaudreau and Russian winger Nikita Kucherov as wild cards. In other words, don’t include them in the team’s in-house rankings of prospects.

“I said to Jay, ‘I’d like the latitude of not putting them on the list. Then when it’s time to make the call, let me make the call,’ ” recalls Button.

The Flames merrily made their second-round shouts — Markus Granlund, 45th; Tyler Wotherspoon, 57th — then groaned when the Tampa Bay Lightning nabbed Kucherov at No. 58.

“I turned to Jay and said, ‘We’ve got to take Johnny with the next pick,’ ” recalls Button. “Jay said, ‘Go ahead. Take him.’ ”

Although after digging up Bob McKenzie's ranking and his survey had Kucherov at #56. Here's a write up courtesy of Grant McCagg going into that draft:

Set an all-time U-18 tournament record with 21 points in seven games, capturing Best Forward honours, and impressing a plethora of NHL scouts and GMs in the process with his offensive wizardry. Strengths - Breathtaking skill level, very agile and quick, skilled puckhandler, works hard at both ends of the rink. Crafty forechecker with a quick stick and soft hands, has a sniper's mentality and abilities, can roof the puck from two feet out. Weaknesses - He's a Russian still playing in Russia, no guarantees he'll come over or stay for long. Needs to bulk up for pro game, could be more physical. NHL Upside - Has the skill to be a top-line winger, but will it be in the NHL?

The previous year, Tarasenko/Kuznetsov fell a bit relative to their perceived upside due to the Russian factor. I don't remember what Kucherov's contract situation was at that point.

Going back a ways, on talent Alexander Mogilny would have been in the conversation for the top pick against Mike Modano. But because nobody knew when he could come over, Mogilny lasted until pick #89.

Going back to Kucherov, I feel like he was bit of a late riser. Central Scouting's list is always a bit flawed since they release it before the U18s, but they had Kucherov as the #17 European.

 

[GlitchMarner]

He's one of the biggest steals.

Here are some others (that haven't been mentioned):

Pavel Bure (fourth round)
Doug Gilmour (seventh round)
Brad Marchand (third round)

 

[nowhereman]

I think you could include Bure in the conversation at 113th overall/6th round, especially considering his draft circumstances. Every other team thought that he was ineligible to be drafted, due to a lack of games played, but the Canucks/Mike Penny did their due diligence and recognized that he actually did meet the threshold. When Vancouver drafted him, everyone else was blown away that he was even available.

The definition of a draft day "steal".

 

[Number 57]

I'm sure he's up there, but if you want to argue for all-time draft steals, the Red Wings alone had these examples of pretty good players drafted low.

Sergei Federov: Round 4, #74
Niklas Lidstrom: Round 3, #53
Pavel Datsyuk: Round 6, #171
Henrik Zetterberg: Round 7, #210

I feel Kucherov's peak will be better than Z/Dats/Fedorov, but it's debateable. Those Wings draft steals are unbeliveable. Good point!

 

[T REX]

Wasn't the Great one never drafted? That's a pretty good steal if you ask me. LOL

 

[Matsun]

It's a bigger steal to get a superstar outside the first round today then it was in the 80s so Kucherov is probably the biggest steal for me.

 

[Number 57]

Kucherov is currently 1.19 PPG career wise.

Hull finished 1.10 PPG.

That’s not “far ahead”. Sorry.

Kucherov is currently 13th of all-time, Hull 33rd. How is that not far ahead?

You also cherry picked by rounding up/down. Kucherov is 1.194 and likely to be better by year's end since he's scoring at more than a ppg clip. Hull is 1.096. Get real.

It's a bigger steal to get a superstar outside the first round today then it was in the 80s so Kucherov is probably the biggest steal for me.

Exactly. Hull was drafted in 1984. Did teams even had scouting departments back then? Come on.

 

[DingDongCharlie]

Probably not even top 5 all time. I haven't gone and checked but I'd have Lidstrom, Hasek, Datsyuk and Bure higher without looking. Still a crazy good find for this era of heavily scouted drafts.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Of the modern era (last 25 years or so, I'd say absolutely). Not really fair to compare to Europeans drafted in the 80's and 90's.

 

[Number 57]

I think you could include Bure in the conversation at 113th overall/6th round, especially considering his draft circumstances. Every other team thought that he was ineligible to be drafted, due to a lack of games played, but the Canucks/Mike Penny did their due diligence and recognized that he actually did meet the threshold. When Vancouver drafted him, everyone else was blown away that he was even available.

The definition of a draft day "steal".

It's just not the same though. There was nothing stopping NHL teams from picking Kucherov, no shenanigans like you are talking about. You've got a 1st-overall caliber talent right there for the picking, no reason at all to let him slip.

 

[Habsrule]

My guess is lack of scouting in his draft year. He played 8 games in the KHL and had 2 assist. Now he did have 58 points in 41 games played in the Russian MHL (junior league). He didn’t play in the World Juniors until after he was drafted also.

Probably lack of exposure had him slip in the draft.