Leafs worst 1st round pick

[Kin]

So I guess he doesn't really qualify because he had a NHL career but maybe some thought to it being getting Thornton with the #3 pick in what was one of the 5 best NHL drafts of all time?

Yeah, but the Ballard factor is in there for that one - that's the infamous Belleville Bulls draft, when the rumour is the scouting department didn't have the budget to scout too far outside the GTA.

True. But at least in that case Stellick hadn't just gotten the job.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

So I guess he doesn't really qualify because he had a NHL career but maybe some thought to it being getting Thornton with the #3 pick in what was one of the 5 best NHL drafts of all time?

Is it really considered this? I was looking at that draft list when this thread came up and wasn't really all that impressed with it. I mean it defined the Red Wings for a generation sure, but aside from that it doesn't really stand out that much.

 

[Kin]

So I guess he doesn't really qualify because he had a NHL career but maybe some thought to it being getting Thornton with the #3 pick in what was one of the 5 best NHL drafts of all time?

Is it really considered this? I was looking at that draft list when this thread came up and wasn't really all that impressed with it. I mean it defined the Red Wings for a generation sure, but aside from that it doesn't really stand out that much.

Yeah, actually, I wrote that only really remembering the Red Wings. It's still got Sundin, Bure, Guerin, Kolzig and some other pretty solid players but I'm probably guilty of hyperbole there.

 

[Coco-puffs]

Pearson or Convery I suppose. I'm inclined to lean towards Convery if only because it's post-Ballard and the team was at least in theory being run by competent professionals.

I thought about Convery as well, but when you look at the draft, they only really missed out on Gonchar, Jason Smith or Martin Straka.  It wasn't an overly strong draft, so it depends on how that factors in to the whole biggest miss equation.

Yeah, but with '88 you're talking about Stellick making the pick with 6 weeks on the job and with the crazy old man probably yelling something about no europeans. It's a lousy pick but understandable given the circumstances.

I agree, easy to understand why it happened that way.  Still, its the worst 1st round mistake for the Leafs. 

(This comment below is not directed at you Nik, just a general point of view)

The benefit of hindsight makes it easy to look at each draft and say "we missed on x, y, and z".  From my perspective, you should only look at the 10-15 picks after the Leafs position to see who was in the same ballpark around that draft slot.  If 20 teams pass on a guy who doesn't go until the 3rd round, hard to say the Leafs screwed the pooch that badly.

So, looking back at all the bad picks the Leafs made and who was good that was taken within the next dozen or so picks:

1988 Pearson (Gelinas, Roenick, Brind'amour, Selanne)
1992 Convery (Gonchar, Straka, Smith....  Krivokrasov (450 NHL Games), Nazarov (571 NHL Games) were ok)
1995 Ware (Biron, Sykora... Gauthier (554 NHL Games), Brown (437 NHL games), Morozov (450 games, 219 pts), plus Boucher and Denis were ok goalies)
2011 Biggs/Percy (Danault, Namestnikov, Rakell, Jenner)

1999 Cereda is a bit of a special case, as he ended up having a heart condition.  Martin Havlat went two spots later though

As bad as Biggs/Percy selections were, what was even worse about it was some of the selections made with picks the Leafs had at some point on draft day... Rakell, Gibson, and Josh Manson.  Other players taken with picks the Leafs had at some point prior to the draft but were traded away:  Brandon Saad and Dougie Hamilton. Just bad asset management by the Leafs- Probably the worst draft day for the Leafs in franchise history.  Leivo and Sparks are all that remain. 

Worst pick, I'd lean towards Pearson because of the quality that came with the next 4 picks. When picking 6th, you don't want to come out of it with Pearson when Roenick, Brind'amour, and Selanne go shortly afterward.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

While looking at these mistakes can be pretty depressing, let's never forget that all of this led us to Auston Matthews.

 

[Zee]

I remember Luca Cereda, he blazed the trail for Nico Hischier

 

[bustaheims]

True. But at least in that case Stellick hadn't just gotten the job.

That's also true, but it wasn't like he was being provided with the full breadth of information he should have had. He was also basically a completely unqualified puppet for Ballard.

 

[rdowdall]

We probably don't have time to review which of the drafts was the worst of all time.

 

[rdowdall]

So I guess he doesn't really qualify because he had a NHL career but maybe some thought to it being getting Thornton with the #3 pick in what was one of the 5 best NHL drafts of all time?

Yeah, but the Ballard factor is in there for that one - that's the infamous Belleville Bulls draft, when the rumour is the scouting department didn't have the budget to scout too far outside the GTA.

Yep, I think I missed Rob Pearson on the list as well.

And the 3rd guy from that 1st round, Steve Bancroft (6 NHL games played, 5 of them coming when he was 30 years old).

I went back and added those two in.  I had forgotten that Rob Pearson was a 1st rounder.  The dude who played on Lindros's wing.

 

[ZBBM]

A very minor point, but I think it's worth distinguishing "biggest bust" from "biggest miss." They aren't the same.  A player can't control where he's drafted relative to other players; the GM is to blame (or to credit) for that.  To me, a bust would be someone who didn't play at all, or very little, in the league.  By that definition you just look at the goose egg stats for Biggs et al.

 

[dappleganger]

Ernie Moser, the original bust.

He had a 91 point season with the Flint Generals but never managed to crack an NHL roster.

 

[Kin]

True. But at least in that case Stellick hadn't just gotten the job.

That's also true, but it wasn't like he was being provided with the full breadth of information he should have had. He was also basically a completely unqualified puppet for Ballard.

Yeah. And I'm pretty willing to believe that Ballard's craziness got exponentially worse towards the end there.

In conclusion I really hope they're poking Ballard with the rustiest of pitchforks tonight.

 

[Kaberle15]

For me is almost a tie: Luca Cereda and Tyler Biggs.
the tie breaker is that Biggs proved to be a bust, while Luca's injury forced him out of his dream.

 

[Highlander]

Luca had heart problems of some sort, he is still a legend in Switzerland.

 

[freer]

Tyler biggs for me over the last 20 years.

 

[OldTimeHockey]

What are we considering a bust? Convery had injury issues, multiple surgeries and concussion problems that definitely weren't diagnosed properly. Is this a bust or just bad luck?

 

[Frank E]

I've never heard of Steve Bancroft.

 

[cabber24]

Marner because he wasn't McDavid. We had the best odds going into the last ping pong ball.

Tyler Seguin because we finished second last and didn't have a first rounder for the next 2 season. Babcock's reference to rebuilding pain was nothing compared to finishing second last with no draft picks.

As for guys we actually drafted I don't how you to determine who's worst if neither make it.

 

[hockeyfan1]

The Maple Leafs' first-round picks: five worst choices

1.  Tyler Biggs          First-round 22nd overall 2011 Entry Draft year
2.  Jeff Ware            First-round 15th overall 1995 Entry Draft year
3.  Steve Bancroft    First-round 21st overall 1989 Entry Draft year
4. Justin Pogge      *Third-round 90th overall 2004 Entry Draft year
5.  Luca Cereda      First-round  24th overall 1999 Entry Draft year

Read all about it here:
https://theleafsnation.com/2015/06/21/the-leafs-top-5-draft-busts/