One Pick Away [Part 1: 2000-2004]

[JagrBomb]

Looking at the "Official Bust" thread, it made me wonder how many times was a terrible selection made right before an amazing selection(s)? This isn't really fantasy relevant, but it's always fun to look back and think how different a team would have been if they just selected player X instead of player Y.

2000

Round 1, Pick 23: Nathan Smith: 26GP, 0 Points Vancouver
Round 1, Pick 24: Brad Boyes: 493GP, 349 Points Toronto
Round 1, Pick 25: Steve Ott: 492GP, 181 Points Dallas


Round 4, Pick 117: Olli Malmivaara: 2GP, 0 Points Chicago
Round 4, Pick 118: Lubomir Visnovsky: 703GP, 423 Points Los Angeles

Round 7, Pick 204: Chris Berti: No NHL GP Boston
Round 7, Pick 205: Henrik Lundqvist: 406GP, 213 Wins New York R

2001

Round 1, Pick 14: Igor Knyazev: No NHL GP Carolina
Round 1, Pick 15: R.J. Umberger: 474GP, 274 Points Vancouver

Round 2, Pick 31: Matthew Spiller: 68GP, 2 Points Phoenix
Round 2, Pick 32: Derek Roy: 469GP, 383 Points Buffalo

Round 2, Pick 48: Tuomas Pihlman: 15GP, 2 Points New Jersey
Round 2, Pick 49: Mike Cammalleri: 496GP, 384 Points Los Angeles

Round 3, Pick 70: Yared Hagos: No NHL GP Dallas
Round 3, Pick 71: Tomas Plekanec: 470GP, 311 Points Montreal

Round 4, Pick 105: Vladimir Korsunov: No NHL GP Anaheim
Round 4, Pick 106: Christian Ehrhoff: 500GP, 226 Points San Jose

Round 5, Pick 150: Bernd Bruckler: No NHL GP Philadelphia
Round 5, Pick 151: Kevin Bieksa: 347GP, 147 Points Vancouver

Round 6, Pick 174: Alexander Golovin: No NHL GP Chicago
Round 6, Pick 175: Ryane Clowe: 319GP, 215 Points San Jose
Round 6, Pick 176: Marek Zidlicky: 507GP, 284 Points New York R

Round 6, Pick 191: Zbynek Novak: No NHL GP Washington
Round 6, Pick 192: Jussi Jokinen: 457GP, 289 Points Dallas
Round 6, Pick 193: Brooks Laich: 475GP, 237 Points Ottawa

2002

Round 2, Pick 35: Ondrej Nemec: No NHL GP Pittsburgh
Round 2, Pick 36: Jarret Stoll: 515GP, 296 Points Edmonton

Round 2, Pick 53: Barry Tallackson: 20GP, 2 Points New Jersey
Round 2, Pick 54: Duncan Keith: 486GP, 242 Points Chicago

Round 2, Pick 56: Vladislav Yevseyev: No NHL GP Boston
Round 2, Pick 57: Matthew Stajan: 548GP, 270 Points Toronto
Round 2, Pick 58: Jiri Hudler: 328GP, 164 Points Detroit

2003

Round 1, Pick 12: Hugh Jessiman: 2GP, 0 Points New York R
Round 1, Pick 13: Dustin Brown: 513GP, 305 Points Los Angeles
Round 1, Pick 14: Brent Seabrook: 474GP, 192 Points Chicago

Round 2, Pick 32: Ryan Stone: 35GP, 7 Points Pittsburgh
Round 2, Pick 33: Loui Eriksson: 371GP, 257 Points Dallas

Round 2, Pick 44: Konstantin Pushkarev: 17GP, 5 Points Los Angeles
Round 2, Pick 45: Patrice Bergeron: 456GP, 337 Points Boston

Round 2, Pick 48: Dmitri Chernykh: No NHL GP New York I
Round 2, Pick 49: Shea Weber: 402GP, 214 Points Nashville

Round 7, Pick 204: Linus Videll: No Nhl GP Colorado
Round 7, Pick 205: Joe Pavelski: 349GP, 244 Points San Jose

Round 7, Pick 244: Mike Sullivan: No NHL GP Los Angeles
Round 7, Pick 245: Dustin Byfuglien: 341GP, 162 Points Chicago

Round 7, Pick 270: Kevin Harvey: No NHL GP Calgary
Round 7, Pick 271: Jaroslav Halak: 158GP, 98 Wins Montreal

2004


Round 1, Pick 12: A.J. Thelen: No NHL GP Minnesota
Round 1, Pick 13: Drew Stafford: 317GP, 196 Points Buffalo

Round 2, Pick 59: Kyle Wharton: No NHL GP Columbus
Round 2, Pick 60: Brandon Dubinsky: 316GP, 179 Points New York R
Round 2, Pick 61: Alex Goligoski: 200GP, 105 Points Pittsburgh

Round 2, Pick 62: Mikhail Yunkov: No NHL GP Washington
Round 2, Pick 63: David Krejci: 298GP, 214 Points Boston

Round 3, Pick 96: Andrei Plekhanov: No Nhl gp Columbus
Round 3, Pick 97: Johan Franzen: 395GP, 219 Points Detroit

Round 5, Pick 133: Petr Pohl: No NHL GP Columbus
Round 5, Pick 134: Kris Versteeg: 250GP, 147 Points Boston

Round 5, Pick 149: Gino Pisellini: No NHL GP Philadelphia
Round 5, Pick 150: Mikhail Grabovski: 245GP, 150 Points Montreal

Round 8, Pick 257: Gennady Stolyarov: No NHL GP Detroit
Round 8, Pick 258: Pekka Rinne: 177GP, 94 Wins Nashville

Round 9, Pick 261: Will Engasser: No NHL GP Phoenix
Round 9, Pick 262: Mark Streit: 361GP, 214 Points Montreal

[dyzfunctioned]

Cool writeup praba

[GMGates]

very cool!

Fantasy wise, as a twist, it would be fun to see some deep established dynasty leagues look back at their Inaugural and Prospect drafts to notice results like these.

Keep it up, Praba!

[dyzfunctioned]

very cool!

Fantasy wise, as a twist, it would be fun to see some deep established dynasty leagues look back at their Inaugural and Prospect drafts to notice results like these.

Keep it up, Praba!

That's what I thought it was at first. Future UHL article perhaps?

[dyzfunctioned]

Actually I already have one - in the DTDL, took Schroeder the pick before Skinner. Ouch.

[BlackGold]

Got to run so I can't look it up myself, but this popped into my head as I was reading that list..

How many of those busts were European? how many of those Europeans were Russians?

[Dean Youngblood]

Good stuff Praba.

How good would the Red Wings be if they would have selected Pekka Rinne?

Hindsight is a beauty.

[Shake]

Praba great stuff!!

[JagrBomb]

thanks guys for the comments.

how much different would it be if columbus had dubinsky/goligoski + franzen + versteeg instead of Kyle Wharton, Petr Phol and Andrei Plekhanov?

Hindsight indeed is a thing of beauty haha. I'll tackle 2005-2009 in part 2. I'm not sure if 2010 will have anything insightful since most of the guys arent in the NHL.

[bondon]

Great work praba! I bet some of these GM's look back on these moments and it just pains them so much.

Another funny one that I noticed once: (2004)
Round 2, Pick 34 - Johan Fransson - Dallas - Lulea HF [SEL]
Round 3, Pick 97 - Johan Franzen - Detroit - Linkoping HC [SEL]

Fransson was a D and Franzen was a RW obviously...and they were 63 picks away from each other but I still find it hilarious lol.

[JagrBomb]

i cant even picture shea weber on the islanders, or duncan keith on the devils. every team should just find out who the guy below them is gonna draft, and draft that player.

[Fast Tony DeNiro]

i cant even picture shea weber on the islanders, or duncan keith on the devils. every team should just find out who the guy below them is gonna draft, and draft that player.

The Pens totally should have taken Scott Scissons instead of Jaromir Jagr. I like this draft strategy I wonder how long until it catches on haha.