Was there a worse draft than the 1999 draft?

[turnbuckle*]

other poor draft years for first rounders were 1975, 1985 and 1986.

Personally, I think 1975 was the worst draft year ever.
Here's the first round:

Bridgman
Dean
Klassen
Maxwell Bryan, not Brad
Lapointe Rick, not Guy
Ashby
Vaydik
Mulhern
Sadler
Blight
Price
Dillon
Laxton
Halward
Mondou
Young
Sauve
Forsyth

Pretty lousy.

1986 was certainly an average draft in the top round :

Murphy
Carson
Brady
Zalapski
Anderson
Damphousse
Woodley
Elyniuk
Leetch
Lemieux Jocelyn
Young
Babe not Ruth
Janney
Sanipass
Pederson
Pelawa
Fitzgerald
Greenlaw
Huffman
Issel

 

[Mess]

Who was taken in the 1996 draft?

http://hockeydb.com/ihdb/draft/nhl1996e.html

 

[Egil]

No way do they take Phillips over Morris. And if we are including non first-rounders, several other players would also go ahead of him.

While not scientific, Phillips is #5 on the 1996 draft year poll, which ain't too shabby. Morris, Chara, Kaberle and Briere were voted ahead of him (and I would put him ahead of Briere).

BTW, Andreas Dackell is the LEADING scorer from the 1996 draft. I think that says it all...

 

[The Slap Shop]

Kings draft picks that look good from the 96 99 drafts

96 Draft- 4th Round Eric Belanger

99 Draft- 3rd Round Frantisk Kaberle, 9th Round Noah Clarke.

 

[Unthinkable]

Good thing the Devils only took Josh DeWolf and some kid named Colin White....The latter, White, he never panned out did he?

Are you serious? Colin White is a top four defender for the New Jersey Devils and has won two Stanley Cups since being drafted. He's a solid physical stay at homer who has done a good job toning down his overagressiveness/penchant for taking bad penalties. Never panned out? Wow.

 

[Deleted member 3032]

Are you serious? Colin White is a top four defender for the New Jersey Devils and has won two Stanley Cups since being drafted. He's a solid physical stay at homer who has done a good job toning down his overagressiveness/penchant for taking bad penalties. Never panned out? Wow.

He knows perfectly well he panned out. Just like he didn't actually look forward to drafting Robert Dome.

His point was that trade sucked for Pittsburgh.

 

[HuskyFlames]

Oleg Saprykin is coming along nicely for the Flames. He wasn't given much NHl time with us from now till his draft but that was during a HUGE Flames restructuring and went through a few coaches, new GMs, etc. He is now playing on the #1 line with Iginla and playing very well. He is pace to break his current season record this year and pot close to 20 goals. During the start of this season he was a healthy scratch quite a few times but has since really picked up his game. Expect this kid to be a 30 goal scorer within 2-3 years or sooner.

 

[Evilo]

Unthinkable is your handle, huh?
How ironic...

 

[EquabaleAce]

Well, 1st round was a pity, but 2nd round proved to be very effective for the Canadiens : 4 players of our current line-up where drafted back then!!!!

Begin 40
Bulis 43
Garon 44
Dagenais 47

Dagenais re-entered the draft 2 years later though......

But that's not pathetic for a 2nd round : 2 decent wingers, a great back-up with starter potential and an enforcer.

you missed dackell at 136 overall by ottawa

 

[DarkHorse]

Isles took advantage of 1999.
Weinhandl, Mapletoft and Martinek are pretty solid choices late in the draft; Connolly and Pyatt became Peca, Kudroc was dealt for Torres (and in the end Niinimaa) and Kolnik is doing fine in Florida.

5 C Tim Connolly
8 L Taylor Pyatt
10 D Branislav Mezei
28 D Kristian Kudroc
78 R Mattias Weinhandl
101 R Juraj Kolnik
130 C Justin Mapletoft
228 D Radek Martinek

 

[thestonedkoala]

Wild really like both drafts:
1996:
Andrei Zyuzin (Yes, he hasn't panned out like everyone hoped but you know what? He's been a steady blueliner)
Willie Mitchell (Round 8 and is a steady contributor to our blueline)

I don't consider the 1996 strong but I don't consider it to be the weakest. I mean to me it was almost an average year, except for the fact a lot of the first rounders turned out to be well terrible.

The 1999 are almost on the cusp of being a bad draft.

 

[ginner classic]

Wild really like both drafts:
1996:
Andrei Zyuzin (Yes, he hasn't panned out like everyone hoped but you know what? He's been a steady blueliner)
Willie Mitchell (Round 8 and is a steady contributor to our blueline)

I don't consider the 1996 strong but I don't consider it to be the weakest. I mean to me it was almost an average year, except for the fact a lot of the first rounders turned out to be well terrible.

The 1999 are almost on the cusp of being a bad draft.

No question in my mind that 96 was the worst draft class out of the last 20 years. 99 had a ton of quality picked in later rounds, there is very little of that in 96 and the first round is without question the most pathetic ever.

 

[Daniel_Tkaczuk]

Don't be so negative........I still see a lot of promise in Hillier.....He may never win a Vezina, but he has a solid future.......

Give him a break. He's a really great ball hockey player here in Halifax. I would definitely rate his skills over Joey DiPenta and Stephen Dixon

 

[Daniel_Tkaczuk]

Oleg Saprykin is coming along nicely for the Flames. He wasn't given much NHl time with us from now till his draft but that was during a HUGE Flames restructuring and went through a few coaches, new GMs, etc. He is now playing on the #1 line with Iginla and playing very well. He is pace to break his current season record this year and pot close to 20 goals. During the start of this season he was a healthy scratch quite a few times but has since really picked up his game. Expect this kid to be a 30 goal scorer within 2-3 years or sooner.

The only things holding him back are his work ethic and attitude. Kay Whitmore said it to me best, "he's a great player... when he wants to be..."

 

[HuskyFlames]

The only things holding him back are his work ethic and attitude. Kay Whitmore said it to me best, "he's a great player... when he wants to be..."

Actually his attitude and work ethic has turned around 180 degrees this year. For a coach like Sutter to believe in him and put him on the 1st line shows alot. Plus he is really working in practices. He is more physical this year and pissing peopel off. He even threw down his gloves to stand up so Iginla didn't have to fight and he won big time. Plus he is doing extra things like helping goalies in practices (when our goalies are coming back from injuries). Oleg had a really hard time with all the changes in Calgary the last few seasons but Sutter has really gotten him back on track and he is playing the best hockey of his NHl career this year. Things only look to be going up for this kid now. Kobasew on the other hand needs alot more work.

 

[Birko19]

The 1999 draft was full of busts... but the 1996 draft was pretty pathetic from the first pick to the last.

While 96 was very weak, I would'nt say it was pathetic from first to last pick, here's some quality impact players that came out of that draft:

Derek Morris (Best player of the draft)
Zdeno Chara
Tomas Kaberle
Daniel Briere
Chris Phillips
Mark Parrish
Marco Sturm
Pavel Kubina
Tom Poti
Andreas Dackell

Pretty bad draft, yes, but some decent impact players came out as well.

 

[Raging Bull]

What about the BEST draft year?
1990 was pretty decent, some names in the 1st round:
1.Que Owen Nolan
2.Van Petr Nedved
3.Det Keith Primeau
4.Phi Mike Ricci
5.Pit Jaromir Jagr
7.L.A Darryl Sydor
8.Min Derian Hatcher
14.Buf Brad May
19.Wpg Keith Tkachuck
20.N.J Matin Brodeur
21.Bos Bryan Smolinski
Trevor Kidd actually got selected before Brodeur.

 

[BlackJack21]

The Sedin's aren't that bad.....

Mezei has been badlucky...

I think he will be a top 3 d-man for a long time.

Depend of what we mean by impact player...

BJ21

 

[Chainshot]

Are you serious? Colin White is a top four defender for the New Jersey Devils and has won two Stanley Cups since being drafted. He's a solid physical stay at homer who has done a good job toning down his overagressiveness/penchant for taking bad penalties. Never panned out? Wow.

Perhaps you should check your sarcasm detector.

 

[Saint Parrish]

What about the BEST draft year?
1990 was pretty decent, some names in the 1st round:
1.Que Owen Nolan
2.Van Petr Nedved
3.Det Keith Primeau
4.Phi Mike Ricci
5.Pit Jaromir Jagr
7.L.A Darryl Sydor
8.Min Derian Hatcher
14.Buf Brad May
19.Wpg Keith Tkachuck
20.N.J Matin Brodeur
21.Bos Bryan Smolinski
Trevor Kidd actually got selected before Brodeur.

In 1991 Eric Lindros got drafted as nr 1....Peter Forsberg as nr 6 and Markus Näslund as nr 15...draftin is weard

 

[SedinFan*]

I have no complaints with the Canucks getting the Sedins. They've been amazing!

 

[thestonedkoala]

While 96 was very weak, I would'nt say it was pathetic from first to last pick, here's some quality impact players that came out of that draft:

Derek Morris (Best player of the draft)
Zdeno Chara
Tomas Kaberle
Daniel Briere
Chris Phillips
Mark Parrish
Marco Sturm
Pavel Kubina
Tom Poti
Andreas Dackell

Pretty bad draft, yes, but some decent impact players came out as well.

Also you forgot Willie Michell and Andrei Zyuzin

 

[Mizral]

I would rank both Chara and Sturm above Derek Morris. Morris is a fine defenseman, but he's had a few struggles in his career. Chara right now is one of the best #2 defensemen in the league, and Sturm is perhaps the most underrated forward around, and is very close to winning a Selke trophy.

I think folks are starting to take 2nd and 3rd looks at the Sedin's, especially lately. Henrik has 20 points in 21 games, Daniel around 15 in 19. They do need to score more, but consider this: Both are averaging around or under 13 minutes of ice time, and their regular linemates over the last 3 seasons have been a mix & match of Trent Klatt, Trevor Linden, Jason King, Magnus Arvedson, Jarkko Ruutu, Mike Keane, and on occassion, and double-shifted Bertuzzi. Other than Bertuzzi, none of those guys are exactly illustrious goal scorers. The Sedins are great at making their linemate better, and that to me is the mark of a special talent. They both can be 1st liners, but Daniel in particular MUST score more goals. He is doing great setting up plays, but Daniel must develop as a goal scorer to take the next step.

 

[Flames Draft Watcher]

No impact players among the top 12... what went wrong?

Sorry but it's too early to say that.

I know that in Calgary it looks like Saprykin is developing into an impact player. He will likely be our 1st line LWer for years.

Try not to judge the drafts before the players are fully developed.

 

[looooob]

In 1991 Eric Lindros got drafted as nr 1....Peter Forsberg as nr 6 and Markus Näslund as nr 15...draftin is weard

I think alot of people around here keep forgetting what type of a player Lindros was pre-concussions. it's not like he was a bad number one pick with all due respect to Forsberg and Naslund