Top 5 Worst Drafts in Avalanche History

With the 2016 NHL Entry Draft just under a month away, BSN Avalanche is kicking off it’s 2016 Draft Coverage with a look at some piece of Avalanche draft history every day this week. Today we start with the Top 5 Worst Drafts in Colorado Avalanche History

5. 2001

Peter Budaj (2nd), Danny Bois (3rd), Colt Kind (4th), Fratisk Skladany (5th), Cody McCormick (5th), Mikko Viitanen (5th), Pierre-Luc Edmond (5th), Scott Horvath (6th), Charlie Stephens (6th), and Marek Svatos (7th)

Fresh off their 2nd Stanley Cup victory the Avalanche put together a veritable “Who’s who” of “Who’s that?” on draft day. While Peter Budaj and Cody McCormick both had somewhat lengthy stays in the NHL as a backup goalie and a 4th line checker respectively, Marek Svatos is probably the biggest Avalanche success to come out of the 2001 draft. Svatos would open his NHL career with 32 goals and 50 points in 62 games as a rookie, but could never find much consistency at the NHL level thanks to a slew of knee injuries which permanently hampered the spped which made him so dangerous. Marek Svatos finished his NHL career with 172 points in 344 games.

The 2001 draft makes the top 5 list because, despite making 10 selections in the draft, the Avalanche failed to draft a single impact player for the franchise. Poor drafting like this at the turn of the century would eventually force the Avs into a rebuild when their aging Stanley Cup roster retired.

4. 2004

Wojtek Wolski (1st), Victor Oreskovich (2nd), Denis Parshin (3rd), Richard Demen-Willaume (5th), Derek Peltier (6th), Ian Keserich (7th), Brandon Yip (8th), J.D. Corbin (8th), Steve McClellen (9th)

The Avalanche picked up Wojtek Wolski in the first round and Brandon Yip in the 8th, but only got 14 NHL games played out of their other 7 selections from 2004. Brandon Yip and Wojtek Wolski both had strong starts to their Avalanche careers, but flamed out of the NHL quickly. After stops in 4 more NHL cities, Wolski left for the KHL in 2013 and Yip left for the DEL in 2014 after failing to latch on with two other NHL franchises. The Avalanche still technically own Denis Parshin’s rights, but the KHL winger doesn’t have NHL talent and has never come overseas for Avalanche training camp, so his lasting place in the organization is one of name only.

3. 2010

Joey Hishon (1st), Calvin Pickard (2nd), Michael Bournival (3rd), Stephen Silas (4th), Sami Aittokallio (4th), Troy Rutkowski (5th), Luke Walker (5th), Luke Moffatt (7th)

The 2010 draft will always be a difficult one to evaluate for the Avalanche. Colorado swung for the fences with an off-the-board pick in the first round, selecting Joey Hishon 17th overall. The pendulum swung quickly for the Avalanche, as the pick went from being mocked on draft day to lauded one year later when Hishon exploded for 37 goals and 87 points in 50 OHL games, plus an additional 24 points in 22 playoffs games for the Owen Sound Attack. Deep in the playoffs Hishon was the victim of a vicious, predatory hit from Brayden McNabb. Hishon would only play 9 AHL games over the next two years while recovering from a concussion before finally returning to professional hockey full time in 2013, but he was never the same.

It’s unfair to fault a team for an injured pick because career altering injuries are so unpredictable, but without the successful development of Joey Hishon, the 2010 draft stands out as one of the Avs’ larger failures. Calvin Pickard has become a suitable NHL backup and still has starter potential, but the Avalanche got just 2 games and 38 saves out of Sami Aittokallio before he headed to Europe. If Aittokallio doesn’t come back before his rights expire this fall, the Avalanche will pull just one player, a backup goalie, out of the 2010 NHL draft.

2. 2008

Cameron Gaunce (2nd), Peter Delmas (2nd), Kelsey Tessier (4th), Mark Olver (5th), Joel Chouinard (6th), Jonas Holos (6th), Nathan Condon (7th)

Only Gaunce, Olver, and Holos made appearances for the Avalanche, combining for 133 NHL games played and just 11 goals. The Avalanche didn’t have a first round pick in 2008, but their two 2nd round selections get much uglier when you consider some of the other players drafted at the end of 2008’s 2nd round. The Avalanceh passed on Derek Stepan, Travis Hamonic, Marco Scandella, and Jimmy Hayes in order to pick Cameron Gaunce. While Peter Delmas never played in the NHL, the next two goalies drafted in 2008 (Michael Hutchinson and Brayden Holtby)had significantly more success.

1. 2012

Mitchell Heard (2nd), Troy Bourke (3rd), Michael Clarke (5th), Joseph Blandisi (6th), and Colin Smith (7th)

The 2012 draft yielded a whopping 1 game of NHL action from the 2012 draft before shipping Colin Smith out in the Shawn Matthias trade.  In the 6th round, the Avalanche fell victim more to bad luck than bad drafting: thanks to an undiagnosed illness the Avalanche cut ties with Joseph Blandisi before he took a sudden step forward which would earn him an NHL job in New Jersey. But the biggest gaffe of the 2012 Entry Draft, was the Avalanche’s selection of Mitchell Heard.

The Avalanche used their first pick in the draft, 41st overall, to an over ager who barely managed a point per game in the OHL. Heard’s numbers would drop significantly in his final OHL season and he scored just 10 goals in the AHL before finding his way to the ECHL and out of an Avalanche contract. In picking Heard, the Avalanche missed out on NHLers Jake McCabe, Chris Tierney, Jordan Martinook, and Damon Severson in the second round.

Honorable Mention: 2014

Conner Bleackley (1st), Kyle Wood (3rd), Nick Magyar (4th), Alexis Pepin (4th), Anton Lindholm (5th), Maximillian Pajpach (6th), Julien Nantel (7th)

Because it was only two years ago, and plenty of NHL teams have yet to produce a player from the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, we’ll call this one “too soon to say,” but early on, the 2014 looks like it could be the worst in Avalanche history.

In the first round the Avalanche passed on more explosive talents like Jared McCann and David Pastrnak in order to draft Conner Bleackley for his leadership and two-way game. In the aftermath, Bleackley’s scoring decreased every season, he was stripped of his captaincy in Red Deer, and was not signed to an ELC by either the Avalanche or the Arizona Coyotes when he was later traded.

After not getting a single game of professional hockey out of the 23rd overall pick, the Avalanche lost four more of their draftees Wood (traded), Magyar (unsigned), Pepin (unsigned) and Pajpach (unsigned) within two years. The fate of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft then rests on defenseman Anton Lindholm and forward Julien Nantel. Both players have been signed to Entry Level Contracts but neither projects as a difference maker at the NHL level. If neither busts through that ceiling and becomes a strong NHL player, the 2014 draft might wind up as one of the worst in Avs’ history.