JamesNorthern
Active member
This ain't news. Thought I would add a picture to the many discussions of what could have been otherwise for our 2008 draft selection:
2008 NHL ELD - The draft to forget
- Thread starter JamesNorthern
- Start date
And I'm going to come back to this. Zach Boychuk was the 8th ranked North American skater in the final rankings. Gardiner was 23rd, Ennis was 31st, Eberle was 33rd. Take a peek at 16.
https://media.nhl.com/media/app?doc...BG_46rZtPkRz8Mq-F3z9Hq6c0&service=fileservice
Among European skaters, Karlsson was 4th, 1 spot higher than his Frolunda teammate, Anton Gustaffson who was drafted 21st and has never played a game in North America.
https://media.nhl.com/media/app?doc...yelFv6fTSgE0OV1vdU6swd200&service=fileservice
We only had 5 picks in that draft. The only dman was Michal Jordan, who was also the obligatory Plymouth Whalers pick. Mike Murphy and Samuel Morneau rounded out the picks.
https://media.nhl.com/media/app?doc...BG_46rZtPkRz8Mq-F3z9Hq6c0&service=fileservice
Among European skaters, Karlsson was 4th, 1 spot higher than his Frolunda teammate, Anton Gustaffson who was drafted 21st and has never played a game in North America.
https://media.nhl.com/media/app?doc...yelFv6fTSgE0OV1vdU6swd200&service=fileservice
We only had 5 picks in that draft. The only dman was Michal Jordan, who was also the obligatory Plymouth Whalers pick. Mike Murphy and Samuel Morneau rounded out the picks.
Yeah. That just wasn't a good draft pool. Sure one or two guys emerged, but even then look at the entirety of that first round. There's a bunch of meh in there, a bunch of role players, and a pretty heavy helping of guys who look really good at times but aren't really all that great. Boychuk didn't pan out but he was a swing and a miss at a purely offensive minded forward when our organizational depth chart was really thin on that kind of player. And frankly, the guy got close. I don't think the development program failed him so much as he just didn't ever develop to the point of being a productive NHL point producer. It happens.
Elsker
Well-known member
I think the org's target in that 2008 draft was Colten Teubert, drafted by the Kings at #13 right before our #14 slot. JR seemed to spend an inordinate amount of energy chasing after him in later years, if trade rumors are to be believed.
So, BPA mode after the first-round draft target gets sniped, which was certainly Boychuk at that point in the round...at least if you didn't do your own due diligence, that is and rely on the kindness of others. And, yeah, that seemed to happen.
So, BPA mode after the first-round draft target gets sniped, which was certainly Boychuk at that point in the round...at least if you didn't do your own due diligence, that is and rely on the kindness of others. And, yeah, that seemed to happen.
Punzil
Well-known member
Considering 4 out of the 5 draft picks from 2008 actually spent time at the NHL level, I wouldn't call it a complete bust. Compare it to 2009. Now THAT was a forgettable draft, with the top two picks Paradis and Dumoulin being shipped away for Jiri Tlusty abd Jordan Staal respectively. Only Dumoulin and Rissanen have seen any NHL action. EVERY first rounder from 2009 has played at least one NHL game except for Paradis. In fact, the first 10 picks in Round 2 after Paradis have all gotten a cup of coffee in the NHL.
OK, maybe the 2009 draft itself wasn't so forgettable as the Canes' performance in it. A bunch of those guys have played 200-300+ games for their teams at this point. Maybe not All-Stars, but they've been of more service than the likes of Rasmus Rissanen.
OK, maybe the 2009 draft itself wasn't so forgettable as the Canes' performance in it. A bunch of those guys have played 200-300+ games for their teams at this point. Maybe not All-Stars, but they've been of more service than the likes of Rasmus Rissanen.
CarolinaPen
Active member
I think the main point of the 2008 draft was the Canes missed out on a generational talent in Karlsson who went one pick later to Ottawa. Drafting Boychuk instead of Karlsson pretty much accounts for about a decade of missed playoffs. That is what hurts!
JamesNorthern
Active member
yeah there is no way we could have known but dang still stings to think that the ONE real almost generational talent level player that came out of the draft, was selected right after our pickthat came close but never took off.
He only played 7 games for Frolunda Jr. in his draft year. Central Scouting must have seen something somewhere else to rank him that highly. And Ottawa had to have a real European scouting staff, something the Canes didn't have in 2008, to confirm CSS rankings.
JamesNorthern
Active member
Ugh, he's another one from that draft.
So the 2008 draft seems to have been largely a bust, with a few exceptions coming out of the 1st and 2nd round. I mean, how often does that happen?
Stamkos, Doughty and Pietrangelo went 1, 2 and 4. But 9 years later and there are 4 1st rounders who never played in the league and 5 more that played 53 games or less. Some other successes? Derek Stepan in the 2nd round. Jori Lehtera and Adam Henrique in the 3rd, Braden Holtby in the 4th, Cam Atkinson in the 6th (!), Jason Demers in the 7th. According to hockeydb.com, 50.2% of those drafted played at least 1 game in the NHL. The 2007 draft had 45.5%, 2009 had 54.3%. From the 2009 draft, the immortal Phillipe Pardis is the only 1st rounder who hasn't played in the league.
JamesNorthern
Active member
So to summarize, in 2008 we, along with a better part of the league didn't get much luck with the high end talent that was on tap.
Conversely, in the following year, the Canes were the only ones with absolutely no luck with the 1st round selection.
Bingo!
SlapShots
Well-known member
Years ago I read an article that put the Hurricanes in the top 20 percent of NHL teams with successful draft records. As I recall, the bar for "successful" was 100 NHL games played. This did not include the Hartford years. This would have included the likes of Vasicek, Cole, Tanabe (who is in law school in Minnesota), Svoboda, Wallin, Bayda, etc. But when you look at selections like Danny Richmond, Nate Hagemo, and Jesse Lane, you realize what happened. This team could not draft and could not develop. RF has improved things, but what a waste.
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Elsker
Well-known member
Quite a few of those 100+ game "NHL'ers" we drafted were pretty much only NHL'ers because the Canes, a NHL team, employed them.
And once we did so, they were highly likely to hit that 100-game mark with us because, well -> see lack of talent.
Although, to their credit, we have actually been harvesting legit NHL'ers at a pretty good clip the last few drafts.
And once we did so, they were highly likely to hit that 100-game mark with us because, well -> see lack of talent.
Although, to their credit, we have actually been harvesting legit NHL'ers at a pretty good clip the last few drafts.