The 11 Biggest Busts In The History Of The NHL Draft

A number of teams have used the NHL Draft to secure the talents of a player who ended up playing an instrumental role in reversing the fortunes of the franchise. Unfortunately, there have been more than a few cases where a guy who was expected to do exactly that ended up being a massive bust.

Mario Lemieux, Alexander Ovechkin, and Connor McDavid are just some of the NHL players who’ve more than lived up to expectations after being selected with the first overall pick in the NHL Draft.

However, there are some other guys who’ve gone at the top (or near it) who never came close to living up to the hype and are largely remembered for being the biggest busts in the history of the league.

Nail Yakupov (First Overall, 2012)

The Oilers were down bad at the start of the 2010s to the point where they earned the first overall pick in the draft three years in a row beginning in 2010 (a streak that led to the NHL tweaking the odds to reduce the chances of a similar one).

They did pretty well by scooping up Taylor Hall and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, but they firmly missed the mark by pulling the trigger on Nail Yakupov in 2012.

The Russian forward had shown some promise in the OHL but also had plenty of flaws that were exposed once he made the leap to the big time.

Yakupov only spent four years in the NHL (four in Edmonton ahead of two one-and-done stints with the Blues and Avalanche) and never had more than 33 points in a season before heading back to the KHL.

Alexandre Daigle (First Overall, 1993)

Chris Pronger was probably the most notable player who was selected in the 1992 NHL Draft, an event where he went to the Whalers with the second overall pick after another notable bust in the form of Alexandre Daigle.

The center was touted to the point where the NHL introduced the lottery after investigating the Senators over tanking accusations, and Ottawa was cleared while earning the right to secure his talents.

He peaked at 51 points during his four years with the team that drafted him and spent time with the Flyers, Rangers, and Lightning at the end of the 1990s before announcing his retirement after seven seasons while citing his lack of passion for hockey.

He mounted a comeback that saw him play for the Penguins and Wild but played his final NHL game in 2004 before hanging up his skates for good six years later.

Patrik Stefan (First Overall, 1999)

The Atlanta Thrashers got the first overall pick ahead of their first season in 1999 were hoping Patrik Stefan was going to play a key role in helping the franchise get off the ground.

That did not end up being the case, as the Czech center never came close to being a superstar. He averaged less than 30 points during his six seasons in Atlanta, peaking at 40 during his second-to-last campaign with the franchise that drafted him before capping off his disappointing NHL career with the Stars—a stint where he had just five goals and six assists in 41 games.

Rick DiPietro (First Overall, 2000)

A goaltender has only been selected with the first pick in the NHL Draft on three occasions, and Rick DiPietro became the second member of that club when the Islanders scooped him up in 2000.

It was a big gamble that did not end up paying off. DiPetro was a serviceable goaltender who got off to a rough start after making his NHL debut in 2001, and while he was eventually able to get on the right track, he was nowhere close to elite.

That didn’t stop the Islanders from giving him a 15-year contract worth $67.5 million in 2006, but his career was soon derailed by a string of injuries that began to rear their ugly head the following year.

DiPietro played his final NHL game in 2013 before being waived, and his contract became an albatross that requires his former franchise to pay him $1.5 million a year until 2029.

Gord Kluzak (First Overall, 1982)

There’s only so much NHL teams can do when it comes to detecting which players might end up being susceptible to injuries; the Islanders obviously didn’t have a crystal ball that allowed them to see the fate that awaited DiPietro.

However, there were some red flags swirling around Gord Kluzak after he tore multiple ligaments in his knee while playing in the WHL during the 1981-82 season and missed a sizeable chunk of time.

That didn’t dissuade the Bruins from using the first pick to get the defenseman, who did get off to a promising start before injuring the same knee at the start of the season in 1984.

The joint that was ultimately at the center of 11 surgeries ended up being his downfall, and he was one shy of 300 career games when he abruptly retired shortly after the season kicked off in 1990.

Brian Lawton (First Overall, 1983)

It may not be fair to bestow the “bust” label on someone because they failed to rise to the heights of players who ended up being drafted after them, but I still think Brian Lawton is worth mentioning.

The Minnesota North Stars selected the center with the top pick in 1983, and he ended up having a nine-year career where he played in 483 games with six different teams while racking up 112 goals and 154 assists.

He did not end up in the Hall of Fame, but the same cannot be said for four other guys who were selected in the top ten that year: Steve Yzerman, Cam Neely, Pat LaFontaine, and Tom Barrasso.

Daniel Dore (5th Overall, 1988)

All of the guys we’ve mentioned so far were selected first overall, but I’d like to turn my attention to some others who went near the top and made the teams who selected them regret wasting a pick on them.

That includes Daniel Dore, the winger who played just 17 games for the Quebec Nordiques after they got him with the fifth pick in the draft in 1988.

If you don’t recognize the jersey he’s wearing in that picture, it’s because the photo was taken when he was a member of the professional roller hockey league he played in for three seasons after leaving the NHL behind.

Pavel Brendl (Fourth Overall, 1999)

As was the case with Lawton, this is another scenario where there’s some additional context that should probably be taken into consideration.

The Rangers selected Pavel Brendl with the fourth overall pick in 1999, but he only played eight games for New York before being traded in a three-player deal that also included a draft pick.

The trade in question was the result of the Flyers agreeing to take a gamble on Brendl in the hopes they’d be able to offset the loss of Eric Lindros, who ended up becoming a Blueshirt.

It did not pay off, as Brendl had just 12 points in 42 games with Philadelphia. His NHL career came to an end with the Hurricanes, and he ended up playing a grand total of 78 games.

Claude Gauthier (First Overall, 1964)

I’m going to cap things off with some more players who went first overall when the NHL Draft was in its relatively infancy (it was first held in 1963), and as you’ll soon see, there was a bit of a learning curve during those early days.

You may have noticed I’m using a generic logo for the photo as opposed to an actual picture of Claude Gauthier, which stems from the fact that he not only failed to appear in a single game for the Red Wings but never played in an NHL game period.

Andre Veilleux (First Overall, 1965)

The Rangers had another swing and a miss at the top of the draft the following year, as Québécois winger Andre Veilleux also never ended up lacing up his skates for an NHL game.

Rick Pagnutti (First Overall. 1967)

Rick Pagnutti completes the trio of guys who were picked in the first round of the NHL Draft but never made it to the league, although he did have a lengthy AHL career along with brief stints in some other lesser hockey associations.