Alexandre Volchov was mentioned earlier and I agree. While the 1996 draft may have been one of the worst in the draft's history some pretty good talent came out of it. Washington is a defenseman away, IMO, from being a Cup contender well Zdeno Chara who was picked many picks later could have helped the Caps out there.
Alexandre Volchov was mentioned earlier and I agree. While the 1996 draft may have been one of the worst in the draft's history some pretty good talent came out of it. Washington is a defenseman away, IMO, from being a Cup contender well Zdeno Chara who was picked many picks later could have helped the Caps out there.
true, but what are the chances washington would still have chara now? he was slow to develop, was traded, and has since hit UFA. plus, no one thought chara would turn out like he has.
probably the best bet for washington was to take someone like briere, who fell so far only because of his size. but then they it might have made them too good to draft ovechkin and backstrom earlier in the decade.
Didn't the rangers have a 1970s rookie named Gene Carr who was promoted as a future super star but didn't amount to much? I think he had a published biography (by Stan Fischler) and all that.
Didn't the rangers have a 1970s rookie named Gene Carr who was promoted as a future super star but didn't amount to much?
DJ Man stole my thunder. I wanted to add Gene Carr's name to the discussion.
St. Louis chose Gene Carr fourth overall in the 1971 Entry Draft. Apparently, Emile Francis had hoped that Carr would still be available when the New York Rangers chose at the tenth spot. With Carr gone, Francis had to make do with Steve Vickers.
Just 15 games into the season - 1971-72 - Francis sent Jack Egers, Andre Dupont and Mike Murphy to St. Louis for Gene Carr, Jim Lorentz and Wayne Connelly. Obviously, Francis saw something in Gene - perhaps hoping he'd be the star his father (Red) was - and was determined to bring him to New York. Gene's big year with the Blueshirts was 1972-73, when he scored 9 goals and had 10 assists. His career year was 1977-78, when (with Los Angeles and then Pittsburgh) he scored 19 golas and added 37 assists.
Egers would never top Carr's 56 points, but he did hit the 20-goal mark twice with St. Louis.
Come to think of it, Ryan Sittler was a pretty huge flop. Flyers drafted him 7th overall in 1992 right outta high school. You just know they took the gamble because he was the son of a famous NHLer, but to take a winger so high in the draft and then have him not only never make the NHL, but not even score more than 4 goals per season in the AHL is pretty damn sad.
Doug Wickenheiser is a name I am surprised I havent read yet. Serviceable NHLer, but for a #1 pick who had 170 points in his draft year he has to be considered a bust.
Doug Wickenheiser is a name I am surprised I havent read yet. Serviceable NHLer, but for a #1 pick who had 170 points in his draft year he has to be considered a bust.
Come to think of it, Ryan Sittler was a pretty huge flop. Flyers drafted him 7th overall in 1992 right outta high school. You just know they took the gamble because he was the son of a famous NHLer, but to take a winger so high in the draft and then have him not only never make the NHL, but not even score more than 4 goals per season in the AHL is pretty damn sad.
Sittler was certainly a huge bust, but he wasn't considered to be a reach at all when he was drafted.
In actuality he was considered the "safest" pick in the draft ... Not a boom or bust guy at all.
Sittler was certainly a huge bust, but he wasn't considered to be a reach at all when he was drafted.
In actuality he was considered the "safest" pick in the draft ... Not a boom or bust guy at all.
as i recall, he was projected as a top 15 guy. i don't think too many teams had him as high as #7. certainly, i remember hearing a lot more hype about brandon convery (#8) and david cooper (#11). but i do remember sittler being a member of arguably the best american wjc team of that decade.
Quote:
The Flyers first pick, the seventh overall pick, was Ryan Sittler, son of Hockey Hall of Famer and former Flyer Darryl Sittler. The Flyers, by their own admission, were not prepared to make a selection when their pick came up, having thought they had traded the pick to Quebec as part of the Lindros deal. As a result, they hastily opted for a "Mike Ricci Revisted" approach and took Sittler, dubbed the "safest" pick in the draft by The Hockey News. Quebec did not want Sittler, which is why Lindros arbitrator Larry Bertuzzi awarded Flyers prospect Chris Simon to the Nordiques as additional compensation for Lindros. Sittler, plagued by early career injuries (including a serious eye injury) turned out to be a marginal minor league talent and has never gotten close to playing in the NHL.
no idea when he got injured, so i'm not sure if he was a guy who didn't pan out 'cos he couldn't hack it, or a guy who got hurt so he didn't pan out. any memories? i don't think i've heard his name five times since he was drafted.
I'm surprised to see only 1 passing reference to Bryan Fogarty here. He was considered by some to be one of the greatest pure hockey talents ever (not saying I agree, but it has been said). A very sad story for sure, but I think definitely one of the biggest 'busts' in recent memory.
DJ Man stole my thunder. I wanted to add Gene Carr's name to the discussion.
St. Louis chose Gene Carr fourth overall in the 1971 Entry Draft. Apparently, Emile Francis had hoped that Carr would still be available when the New York Rangers chose at the tenth spot. With Carr gone, Francis had to make do with Steve Vickers.
Just 15 games into the season - 1971-72 - Francis sent Jack Egers, Andre Dupont and Mike Murphy to St. Louis for Gene Carr, Jim Lorentz and Wayne Connelly. Obviously, Francis saw something in Gene - perhaps hoping he'd be the star his father (Red) was - and was determined to bring him to New York. Gene's big year with the Blueshirts was 1972-73, when he scored 9 goals and had 10 assists. His career year was 1977-78, when (with Los Angeles and then Pittsburgh) he scored 19 golas and added 37 assists.
The famous quote from Rangers broadcaster Bill Chadwick: "Gene Carr couldn't puck the puck in the ocean if he was standing on the pier..."
The gentleman who talked about Brian Fogarty is right on.He had incredible skill and was strong as an ox.Sadly he had mental problems that caused behavior issues.He was 10 out of 10 sadly we could not see the best of him.But what could have been
The famous quote from Rangers broadcaster Bill Chadwick: "Gene Carr couldn't puck the puck in the ocean if he was standing on the pier..."
Bill "Big Whistle" Chadwick huh? Did you know that he actually truly was blind in one eye? Sure gave credence to the oft heard refrain "what, are you blind ref?!!!... Yepp. I am actually. Next". Took a puck in the orbital socket literally within seconds of stepping onto the ice when trying out for the US National Team I believe in the 30's. Eventually took up Refereeing, lengthy career in the NHL, innovated the use of hand signals in telegraphing to the crowd what the call was for... retired to the Rangers broadcast booth thereafter. New Yorker born & raised I believe, and a member of the HHOF.
1)Top 5 pick
2)Played under 50 games
3)Career not ended by injury
4)Scored under .1 a game
(Three years later), I think this is reasonable.
By draft since 1990, we'd be looking mostly at the following 1990 - Scott Scissons - 6th overall, 2 games (0 goals, 0 points) 1991 - Alek Stojanov - 7th overall, 107 games (2 goals, 7 points) 1992 - Ryan Sittler - 7th overall, 0 games (0 goals, 0 points) 1993 - Most argue Daigle because of the hype. Roy MacGregor mentioned in his book "Road Games" that Ottawa's scouts actually wanted Pronger, but marketability carried the day. 1994 - Jason Bonsignore - 4th overall, 79 games (3 goals, 16 points) 1995 - Terry Ryan and Teemu Riihijarvi. Ryan only played in 8 games (0 goals, 0 points), and Riihijarvi none. I'd argue that Riihijarvi, taken 12th overall, was a much bigger bust for one reason. NO ONE expected him to be taken in the first round. It was an attempt by San Jose to outsmart everyone, and they missed out on several actual NHL players taken shortly afterward. 1996 - Alexandre Volchkov - 4th overall, 3 games (0 goals, 0 points) 1997 - Daniel Tkaczuk - 6th overall, 19 games (4 goals, 11 points) 1998 - Jeff Heerema - 11th overall, 32 games (4 goals, 6 points) 1999 - Pavel Brendl and Brian Finley. For all of Nashville's drafting and development of goalies, they're 0/2 in the first round...Finley in 99 and Chet Pickard down the road. 2000 - Lars Jonsson - 7th overall, 8 games (0 goals, 2 points) 2001 - Igor Knyazev - 15th overall, 0 games (0 goals, 0 points) 2002 - Petr Taticek - 9th overall, 3 games (0 goals, 0 points) 2003 - Hugh Jessiman - 12th overall, 2 games (0 goals, 0 points) 2004 - Alex Picard - 8th overall, 67 games (0 goals, 2 points). Although later picks Thelen, Tukonen, and Schwarz amounted to nothing, I'll give this to Picard. Doug MacLean traded back from 4 to 8, then picked "the guy who scored more goals than anyone else in this draft class this year". Picard is one of the most uncoordinated skaters I've ever seen, and the guy who was supposed to be able to score goals never managed a single one in the NHL.
With all of these in mind, my personal nods from 1990-2004 are Volchkov and Riihijarvi. In Volchkov's case, there were known issues as far as work ethic and dealing with teammates. In Riihijarvi's case, it was entirely a matter of taking a massive reach on someone who would have been there at least a full round later, then getting absolutely nothing for it. If you're going to go way off the board, at least make sure it works out (like Derek Morris).
This may be a subject for another thread, but does Daigle succeed if he is drafted in 1983 instead of 1993? Instead of playing in the dead puck era, lets say he is drafted by Toronto or Detroit in the high flying 80's. Are his skills better suited to that era or is his failure more due to his lack of desire? The reason I am speculating is that Wickenheiser's downfall was his skating although he experienced some success one year in Montreal and one year in St. Louis. Frankly, he was just over-hyped and misjudged as a player that could slide into Montreal's pro skating system. I just wonder how many players careers were snuffed out in the dead puck era because of high expectations and the inability to utilize their offensive gifts.
