Pittsburgh Penguins: Top 5 Draft Misses of the Last 10 Years
Jun 26, 2015; Sunrise, FL, USA; NHL commissioner Gary Bettman addresses the crowd before the first round of the 2015 NHL Draft at BB&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Winning in the NHL can come in many different ways, from the fire wagon Edmonton Oilers of the 1980’s, to the close to the vest trap of Lou Lamoriello’s New Jersey Devils, and a hybrid in between. The recent string of Stanley Cup winners has had one thing in common, strong cost-controlled talent picked up through the draft.
This was evidenced this spring by the Chicago Blackhawks’ electric duo of Brandon Saad (More on him in a minute) and Teuvo Teravainen, or the strong bottom-six that the Los Angeles Kings displayed over their multiple Stanley Cup winning seasons with Jordan Nolan, Tyler Toffoli and Dwight King.
Drafting has been not been a recent strong point for the Pittsburgh Penguins. While many high round picks and possible impact players have been dealt away, nothing has come back to sting the Pens just yet. Unless of course you consider the lack of depth and impact prospects, which is a glaring organizational weakness.
Of course, the draft is far from an exact science. But, there are some obvious misses that the front office has made over the past ten years that may have reversed this trend. Identifying a special player is part luck, part skill, and part diligence. Identifying a bust can be done by anyone, Alexander Daigle and Patrik Stefan can attest to that. Looking just at the first and second round over the past ten years these five picks stick out as the biggest draft misses by the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Feb 1, 2014; Glendale, AZ, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins defensemen
Robert Bortuzzo(41) and forward
Jussi Jokinen(36) collide with Phoenix Coyotes defensemen
Keith Yandle(3) in the first period at Jobing.com Arena. The Coyotes won 3-1. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Stewart-USA TODAY Sports
2005 Second Round
The 2005 NHL draft saw the Pittsburgh Penguins win the Sidney Crosby lottery. If the Ping Pong Balls came up another way the Penguins may currently be in Portland, Ontario, or Kansas City. Alas, a savior was found. The Penguins also nabbed future star Kris Letang with pick 62 in this draft.
One pick before selecting Letang the Penguins chose Michael Gergen at number 61, the last pick in the second round . Gergen, an undersized defenseman, was committed to the University of Minnesota Duluth and would never be tendered a contract by the Pens. He is currently a washout who was last seen languishing in the ECHL with the Bakersfield Condors.
In selecting Gergen, the Penguins passed on future All-Star’s Jonathon Quick and Keith Yandle, who were selected 72nd and 105th respectively. Of course, the Pens were pretty much set on Marc-Andre Fleury as their future goaltender, but Yandle was clearly a big miss. Also, the Penguins sure could have used 6 foot 5 inch Cody Franson who went at pick 79 to the Nashville Predators.
The Penguins did later correct this error, to an extent. The Pittsburgh Penguins shipped out James Neal in the summer of 2014 in exchange for Patric Hornqvist. The same Patric Hornqvist who was selected with the last overall pick of the 2005 NHL draft by the Predators, and is slated to skate in the Penguins top six for the second consecutive year.
Jan 10, 2014; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Pittsburgh Penguins forward
Evgeni Malkin(71) and Edmonton Oilers defenseman
Jeff Petry(2) battle in front of the Edmonton Oilers net during the second period at Rexall Place. Mandatory Credit: Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports
2006 Second Round
The 2006 NHL draft saw the Pittsburgh Penguins again picking in the top 2. Erik Johnson was the number one ranked North American Skater going into the draft and Blues stayed canon with his selection. The Penguins then selected Jordan Staal with the number 2 overall pick.
The Staal pick is criticized by some nearly ten years later due to the fact that the Penguins passed on Jonathan Toews, Phil Kessel (small world eh?), and Claude Giroux who would all also go in the first round, but without Staal would the Penguins have won the 2009 Stanley Cup? Did the Pens whiff by selecting Staal?
No, our miss again in 2006 is a second round defenseman, this time high school product Carl Sneep. Sneep would spend some time in the Penguins organization, even appearing in one game after a four year career at Boston College. But Sneep also spent time in the ECHL and hasn’t been back to the show since, in fact he is listed as retired in the NHL records. Sneep was traded to the Dallas Stars for a conditional 7th round pick in 2013 and since he never appeared in the NHL with the Stars this pick never changed hands.
Instead of selecting Sneep, who would wash out in the minors, the Penguins could have selected defenseman Jeff Petry who many were clamoring for at the trade deadline. Petry was selected thirteen picks after Sneep by the Edmonton Oilers. Also, at pick 50 the Boston Bruins selected a 6 foot 4 inch power forward from Vancouver who would have looked great riding shotgun for Sid and Geno over the last 9 years, Milan Lucic.
Jan 22, 2014; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Montreal Canadiens left wing
Max Pacioretty(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?
Mar 16, 2014; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Philadelphia Flyers right wing
Wayne Simmonds(right) shoots against Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury (29) during the first period at the CONSOL Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
2007 Second Round
The 2007 NHL draft was loaded, this can be evidenced by the fact that no fewer than nine to ten players selected have gone on to become legitimate NHL stars. The Penguins carried multiple picks during the draft and while they obtained multiple players that would spend time on their NHL roster no impact players were obtained.
In the second round of the 2007 draft the Pittsburgh Penguins selected 6 foot 5 inch two way center Keven Veilleux. While more of a scorer in Junior hockey, Veilleux transitioned to more of a power forward with the Wilkes Barre Penguins. Knee injuries forced him to miss a large portion of games between 2010 and 2013 and he was involved in an ugly incident while a member of the Wheeling Nailers in 2013 in which he allegedly used a racial slur to describe Scooter Vaughan. Veilleux has become a nomad after he was non-tendered and has yet to play an NHL Game.
The Pittsburgh Penguins error in choosing Veilleux is magnified in the fact that they missed on who some believe is the preeminent power forward in the NHL today, Wayne Simmonds. Simmonds, who went ten picks after Veilleux has blossomed into a bonafide net front presence racking up goals, points, and penalty minutes like a modern day Rick Tocchet.
Not to add insult in injury, it should also be noted that the Penguins, as well as the entire NHL, whiffed mightily yet again in this same draft. With the eighth pick of the fifth round in 2007 the Dallas Stars using a draft pick from Boston via Columbus selected Jamie Benn. The same Jamie Benn who would go on to win the 2014-15 Art Ross trophy and a 2014 Olympic Gold Medal playing alongside Penguins captain Sidney Crosby.
It should also be noted that in the 5th round of the 2007 NHL draft the Penguins selected Jake Muzzin. Muzzin was drafted 141st overall by the Penguins in 2007, yet he was never offered a contract by Shero. To be fair, Muzzin did have a invasive spinal surgery before his contract control was relinquished; however, failure to at least take a flyer on Muzzin cannot be forgiven.
Jan 21, 2015; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Chicago Blackhawks left wing Brandon Saad (20) skates with the puck as Pittsburgh Penguins center
Brandon Sutter(16) defends during the first period at the CONSOL Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
2011 First Round
So we have reached the end, and this is going to conclude as most everyone assumed it would. The 2011 First Round pick of Joe Morrow over local kid and Stanley Cup champion Brandon Saad is the bane of many Penguins fans existence.
The Penguins had traded away their 2008 first and second round selections, selected defensemen Simon Despres and Phillip Samuellson in rounds one and two in 2009, and traded away their second round pick in 2010. Out of a possible six top-sixty picks the Penguins only had Beau Bennett to show for the three years leading up to the 2011 NHL draft.
It was assumed that the Pittsburgh Penguins would be looking for young cost controlled skill to pair with the new high dollar contracts awarded to Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. This was not the case as General Manager Ray Shero went against the recommendation of his scouts and chose Portland Winterhawks defenseman Joe Morrow with his first round selection.
The theory behind this pick, however flawed, was that the Penguins could develop puck moving defenseman and flip these assets for established NHL wingers whose styles meshed with the team. This never came to fruition as the combined return for these assets (Sneep, Despres, Samuellson and Morrow) included Ben Jovejoy, Rob Klinkhammer, Brendon Morrow, a 3rd round draft pick, and a conditional 7th round draft pick. In essence the Penguins traded two first round and two second round selections for a 6th defenseman, forty games of replacement level play and a 3rd round pick. This is the reason why the Penguins have a current glaring depth issue in their developmental ranks.
Next: Tyler Biggs an Underrated Part of the Phil Kessel Exchange