Pittsburgh Penguins: Top 5 Draft Misses of the Last 10 Years

Jan 22, 2014; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Montreal Canadiens left wing

(67) skates with the puck as Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury (29) guards the net during the third period at the CONSOL Energy Center. Pittsburgh won 5-1. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

2007 First Round

The 2007 NHL draft represented the first time the Pittsburgh Penguins would be picking outside of the top five since the lockout. Having less of a shot at a player who would make an immediate impact gave the Pittsburgh Penguins the opportunity to take more of a reach. The Penguins chose to select Angelo Esposito with the 20th pick of the First Round. Esposito had drawn rave reviews as a younger player but had fallen precipitously down draft boards over the beginning of 2007.

Esposito, while frequently compared to Guy Lafleur during his youth, never caught traction in his final QMJHL season and was falling out of favor with scouting circles through the 2007-2008 NHL season. Esposito would later be packaged in the Marian Hossa and Pascal Dupuis deal and would indirectly help the Penguins to the Stanley Cup finals in 2008 where they would lose to the Detroit Red Wings in 6 games. However, Esposito would never play an NHL game. The one time child Phenom was regulated to one game in the ECHL in the 2014-15 season due to deteriorating knee’s and a lack of top end skill.

Two Picks later Guy Lafluer’s old team the Montreal Canadiens picked Connecticut native and current Hab’s alternate captain Max Pacioretty. Twenty-one picks after that the Hab’s made another selection, Norris Trophy Award winning first team NHL all-star PK Subban. There were rumblings that the Canadians were high on Esposito and may have been willing to make deals around some of their draft picks. What could have been?