Worst Picks In NHL Draft History
This past weekend, the NHL held the 2011 first year player entry draft. The draft signals the half way point, between the end of the Stanley Cup Finals, and the free agency period of the summer. Since the draft was first created in the late 1960s, many amazing players have helped their new teams win the Stanley Cup. On the other hand, several high round draft picks have failed to make a mark for their teams. Here is a look at four of the worst draft picks in NHL history.
Hugh Jessiman RD 1 Pick 12 New York Rangers 2003 – In one of the most stacked draft classes this decade, Hugh Jessiman is remembered for the wrong reasons. Jessiman a stand out in college hockey was expected to help the Rangers right away. Instead, Jessiman is the only player of the first 30 draft picks to not have a successful career in the NHL. In fact, Jessiman didn’t debut in the NHL, until this past season, when the Florida Panthers called him up on emergency duty for a game. Jessiman is now a career minor league player and a draft bust.
Mikail Yakubov and Pavel Vorobiev RD 1 Picks 10 and 11 Chicago Blackhawks 2000 – A year after Brian Burke’s Vancouver Canucks pulled off the biggest draft takeover ever, by drafting the Sedin brothers second and third overall, the Chicago Blackhawks tried to do the same thing by drafting Russian stars Mikail Yakubov and Pavel Vorobiev. While the Sedin brothers are still playing for the Canucks 12 years later, the Yakubov and Vorobiev experiment for the Blackhawks did not pan out at all. Combined, the duo only played 80 games before heading back to Russia.
Patrick Stefan RD 1 Pick 1 Atlanta Thrashers 1999 – When it comes to talking about draft day busts, nobody does it worse than the Atlanta Thrashers, now known as the Winnipeg Jets. In 1999, the Thrashers were suckered in by Brian Burke, and took Patrick Stefan with the first overall pick in what is considered one of the deepest drafts in NHL history. Stefan would play 455 games in the NHL and put up 188 points during that span. The first overall pick is normally reserved for franchise players, such as the Thrashers other top draft choice in 2001 Ilya Kovalchuk.
