Looking at the "Official Bust" thread, it made me wonder how many times was a terrible selection made right before an amazing selection(s)? This isn't really fantasy relevant, but it's always fun to look back and think how different a team would have been if they just selected player X instead of player Y. It was quite difficult to label any busts in 2009 and 2010 as most of them have not yet made their respective NHL clubs yet, so I chose to stop at 2008.

Click HERE for part 1 of the series (2000-2004)


2005

Round 2, Pick 32: Tyler Plante: No NHL GP Atlanta
Round 2, Pick 33: James Neal: 234GP, 137 Points Dallas

Round 2, Pick 43: Mike Blunden: 51GP, 4 Points Chicago
Round 2, Pick 44: Paul Stastny: 348GP, 321 Points Colorado

Round 2, Pick 50: Dany Roussin: No NHL GP Los Angeles
Round 2, Pick 51: Mason Raymond: 273GP, 136 Points Vancouver

Round 2, Pick 61: Michael Gergen: No NHL GP Pittsburgh
Round 3, Pick 62: Kristopher Letang: 299GP, 129 Points Pittsburgh

Round 3, Pick 71: Richard Clune: 14GP, 2 Points Dallas
Round 3, Pick 72: Jonathan Quick: 180GP, 96 Wins Los Angeles

Round 3, Pick 78: Teemu Laakso: 8GP, 0 Points Nashville
Round 3, Pick 79: Cody Franson: 141GP, 50 Points Nashville

Round 4, Pick 104: Matt Duffy: No NHL GP Florida
Round 4, Pick 105: Keith Yandle: 283GP, 144 Points Phoenix

Round 7, Pick 229: Phillipe Paquet: No NHL GP Montreal
Round 7, Pick 230: Patric Hornqvist: 187GP, 106 Points Nashville


2006

Round 1, Pick 21: Bob Sanguinetti: 5GP, 0 Points New York R
Round 1, Pick 22: Claude Giroux: 208GP, 150 Points Philadelphia

Round 1, Pick 24: Dennis Persson: No NHL GP Buffalo
Round 1, Pick 25: Patrik Berglund: 228GP, 125 Points St. Louis

Round 2, Pick 43: Riley Holzapfel: No NHL GP Atlanta
Round 2, Pick 44: Nikolai Kulemin: 233GP, 124 Points Toronto

Round 2, Pick 49: Ben Maxwell: 32GP, 2 Points Montreal
Round 2, Pick 50: Milan Lucic: 278GP, 151 Points Boston

Round 2, Pick 53: Mathieu Carle: 3GP, 0 Points Montreal
Round 2, Pick 54: Artem Anisimov: 165GP, 72 Points New York R

Round 2, Pick 62: Dick Axelsson: No NHL GP Detroit
Round 2, Pick 63: Jamie McBain: 90GP, 40 Points Carolina

Round 3, Pick 68: Eric Gryba: No NHL GP Ottawa
Round 3, Pick 69: Steve Mason: 173GP, 77 Wins Columbus

Round 3, Pick 70: Robin Figren: No NHL GP New York I
Round 3, Pick 71: Brad Marchand: 97GP, 42 Points Boston
Round 3, Pick 72: Cal Clutterbuck: 230GP, 73 Points Minnesota

Round 4, Pick 98: James DeLory: No NHL GP San Jose
Round 4, Pick 99: James Reimer: 37GP, 20 Wins Toronto


2007

Round 1, Pick 25: Patrick White: No NHL GP Vancouver
Round 1, Pick 26: David Perron: 235GP, 131 Points St. Louis

Round 2, Pick 41: Kevin Marshall: No NHL GP Philadelphia
Round 2, Pick 42: Eric Tangradi: 16GP, 3 Points Anaheim
Round 2, Pick 43: P.K. Subban: 79GP, 40 Points Montreal

Round 2, Pick 60: Ruslan Bashkirov: No NHL GP Ottawa
Round 2, Pick 61: Wayne Simmonds: 240GP, 93 Points Los Angeles

Round 5, Pick 128: Austin Smith: No NHL GP Dallas
Round 5, Pick 129: Jamie Benn: 151GP, 97 Points Dallas


2008

Round 1, Pick 21: Anton Gustafsson: No NHL GP Washington
Round 1, Pick 22: Jordan Eberle: 69GP, 43 Points Edmonton

Round 1, Pick 25: Greg Nemisz: 6GP, 1 Point Calgary
Round 1, Pick 26: Tyler Ennis: 92GP, 58 Points Buffalo
Round 1, Pick 27: John Carlson: 104GP, 43 Points Washington

Round 2, Pick 50: Cameron Gaunce: 11GP, 1 Point Colorado
Round 2, Pick 51: Derek Stepan: 82GP, 45 Points New York R

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XBOX 360 Gamertag: praba911

IMO, its waaaaaaaaay too early to write off the 2008 draftees (Nemisz, Gustafsson, and Gaunce)


Good stuff regardless. It's always nice seeing where GM's f'd up and even more nice to see that Toronto hasn't had a team pick a gem immediately after their selection haha

some observations:

with back to back picks...

Pittsburgh chose Michael Gergen with the pick before Kris Letang
Nashville chose Teemu Laakso with the pick before Cody Franson
Dallas chose Austin Smith with the pick before Jamie Benn

Washington could have had jordan eberle...he could have given Semin half of his "heart" and the caps would be playing the Bruins right now...

Philadelphia with P.K. Subban...imagine that powerplay

Montreal could have had Milan Lucic over Ben Maxwell...man that would be wierd seeing Lucic in a habs sweater haha

This one made me cringe...the Rangers could have had Claude Giroux instead of Sanguinetti

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XBOX 360 Gamertag: praba911

yea I didnt really want to include 2008 to be honest, but then i was already excluding 2009 and 2010 so i decided to just add them in. I wouldnt call them busts per say, but at this point its clear that any of those teams would easily pick the guys below them. Just imagine washington with eberle!!

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XBOX 360 Gamertag: praba911