Worst Drafting Teams (in 1st Round) Since the Lockout

[Bjorn Le]

I think it's Dallas,

2005: Matt Niskanen (28th)
-Never great player for Dallas, came into his own after his trade, but he was the afterthought in what's considered a pretty bad trade for the Stars (Neal for Goligoski)

2006: Ivan Vishnevskiy (27th)
-Straight up bust. Played 5 games in the NHL and isn't a particularly good defensemen in the KHL either.

2007: None
2008: None

2009: Scott Glennie (8th)
-Bust, though derailed somewhat by injuries. Far from the only bust in the 2009 1st round however. Pick was criticized at the time.

2010: Jack Campbell (10th)
-Bust. So much talent, so little confidence. At least Dallas acquired by trade the best player from that draft. Probably shouldn't have been picked this early.

2011: Jamie Oleksiak (14th)
-Bottom pairing defensemen, couldn't stay in the lineup in Dallas. Traded away for basically nothing. Some criticized his selection at the time.

2012: Radek Faksa (13th)
-The best player so far in my mind. He's very good defensively, and in my mind one of the leagues best checking line centres. Likely maxes out as a 40 point player, though.

2013: Valeri Nichuskin (10th) and Jason Dickinson (29th)
-Jury is still out on both, Nichuskin was wildly inconsistent in the NHL and has had similar issues in the KHL. Maybe will one day make a return, hopefully a coach who knows how to handle him. Dickinson hasn't been able to make an impression at the NHL level, but there is still time.

2014: Julius Honka (14th)
-Hasn't been able to stick in the NHL yet, but still looks promising.

2015: Denis Guryanov (12th)
-Inconsistent, hasn't impressed much at the pro level but is still very young and shouldn't be given up on. Has a long way to go. Some thought he was taken too early.

2016: Riley Tufte (24th)
-Not putting up first round quality numbers in the NCAA. Not sure he can be anything more than a grinder.

2017: Miro Heiskanen (3rd)
-Looks like a stud and future star now, but it's hard to miss at 3rd overall and it's still very early.

---

That's only two NHL regulars, one of whom wasn't good until he left Dallas. And neither of them are star players. Of the guys who are too soon to tell, a few of them have serious questions and only one of them seems a sureshot to be a NHL regular. If we extend this back to 2000, it doesn't really get any better. You add one NHL regular (Steve Ott from 2000), and add two more busts (Jason Bacashihua and Martin Vagner) and one scrub NHLer (Mark Fistric).

Click to read more...

 

[snipes]

Dallas or Detroit

 

[hangman005]

Definately Vegas They have drafted 3 players in the first round since the lockout and none of them have played an NHL game... awful

 

[joe dirte]

Edmonton deserves mention. they've got 2 players not drafted near the top in khaira and klefbom thatvhave really made it as an NHL player and neither are very good. and half of their top picks have failed miserably too.

 

[nbwingsfan]

Dallas or Detroit

Curious why you would list Detroit?

We've only had three top 20 picks and two of them are our two best players while one is still in Junior?

 

[FlyTimmo]

I think Faksa could be a 60 point guy in the right situation.

 

[Bjorn Le]

I think Faksa could be a 60 point guy in the right situation.

I hope so but I don’t want to count on it. I’m happy with him being continuing to be player he is now.

 

[PKWeber]

It’s easily Montreal, the only good players they drafted in the first round is Patch,McD, and Serg but they don’t even have the last two players I mentioned.

 

[Martin Skoula]

At what point do these teams ignore their scouts and just draft by NHLe or the top scoring CHL player available at their pick?

 

[Jumptheshark]

Oilers outside the first 2 players have played regularly

 

[NoQuitInNewMexico]

Before the Barzal year the Islanders were waaaay down there. Nino (good player who they ran out of town after he scored literally one point in 55 games as a rookie), Ryan Strome, Griffin Reinhart, Ryan Pulock, Michael Dal Colle, Josh Ho-Sang

Nino did well somewhere else, Pulock and Ho-Sang are fine for their draft slots, they did well to get as much as they did for Strome and Reinhart, but man. Those were some really high picks

 

[TheAngryHank]

Curious why you would list Detroit?

We've only had three top 20 picks and two of them are our two best players while one is still in Junior?

Doesn't Detroit only have 1 top 10 pic the past 25 years?

 

[dechire]

Dallas' 1st round drafting hasn't been good but it's not like they've had a ton of high picks. Picking in the 10-15 range every year is a lot different than having multiple top 10 picks. Heiskanen is the first top 5 pick Dallas has had since 1996.

 

[Smelling Salt]

Dallas is probably the answer dating back to the late 90s. Basically since they drafted Brendan Morrow in 1997. They had a few years with no picks and a few drafting 25th and later but they couldn't even get lucky on a late 1st rounder. They did better 2nd round and later though.

Dallas Stars Draft History at hockeydb.com

Recently the Guryanov pick was unforgivable though. Just straight garbage by Nill.

 

[nbwingsfan]

Doesn't Detroit only have 1 top 10 pic the past 25 years?

Yep, and it was last draft. Weird to put Detroit on this list.

 

[Fear the Wushu]

NJ post lockout had some pretty terrible drafts. We were being carried to the playoffs every season by Brodeur and Elias. Bunch of first round exits and terrible drafting during those years.

 

[Kcb12345]

Yeah we don't get too lucky with the 1st round picks. We missed out on Barzal, DeBrincat, and Tolvanen in recent years. Heiskanen, Faksa, and Honka are good ones. Hopefully Nichushkin has a good year next year. I also like Jason Dickinson a lot and think he still has potential to be a top 6 player. When he gets confident he is very good he just hasn't had any talent to play with yet.

5th round is our thing. @ Benn and Klingberg

 

[AmericanDream]

I am in before one of our posters makes this a Blackhawks thread...and calls out Bowman for his horrible picks the past 8 years...

but yeah, Dallas is terrible in the first round, yikes!

 

[Troy McClure]

Dallas' 1st round drafting hasn't been good but it's not like they've had a ton of high picks. Picking in the 10-15 range every year is a lot different than having multiple top 10 picks. Heiskanen is the first top 5 pick Dallas has had since 1996.

Never picking high excuses failing to find superstars, but the Stars struggle to find guy who simply deserve NHL ice time. It’s been awful.

 

[sailorjerry97]

Edmonton deserves mention. they've got 2 players not drafted near the top in khaira and klefbom thatvhave really made it as an NHL player and neither are very good. and half of their top picks have failed miserably too.

lets say that they have horrible drafting outside the first round, and the only reason they were so good in the first was because of the number of top 10 picks that they had.

 

[joe dirte]

lets say that they have horrible drafting outside the first round, and the only reason they were so good in the first was because of the number of top 10 picks that they had.

i wouldn't even say theyve been good in the first round though. outside of first overalls eberle and draisaitl are the ones that have turned out to be decent player. and a few of the first overalls have failed miserably too.

 

[Mez]

i wouldn't even say theyve been good in the first round though. outside of first overalls eberle and draisaitl are the ones that have turned out to be decent player. and a few of the first overalls have failed miserably too.

Huh? did you even look at their draft history? better than the Leafs. Oilers just piss our picks away.

 

[joe dirte]

Huh? did you even look at their draft history? better than the Leafs. Oilers just piss our picks away.

huh? what about their drafting was good?????

 

[JT Kreider]

Devils were pretty brutal under Lou. Bergfors in 05, Corrente in 06, Tedenby in 08, Josefson in 09, Larsson in 11, Matteau in 12, Quenneville in 14 and Zacha with his last pick.

The big problem was there was a whole lot of nothing in the other rounds outside of Henrique and a select few towards the end like Severson, Santini and Wood

 

[dangomon]

Ignoring the last few years, the Leafs draft record is horrible. 2011 they had two 1st, Tyler Biggs and Stu Percy. Schenn isn't an awful pick (was highly touted at the time), and they did well with Naz and Reilly. Between trading many of their 1sts and taking Gauthier, along with the others listed, they've had almost no production from their first rounders.