Colorado Avalanche Top 5 Draft Busts in Franchise History
By Ryan Ritchie
Colorado Avalanche Top 5 Countdown: Biggest Busts in Franchise History (1995-Present)
Colorado Avalanche are the next team in a series dedicated to the top five draft busts in franchise history. Over the next while, we plan to explore all 30 teams (in alphabetical order) big misses on the draft floor since their inception.
For those expansion teams from the early and late 1990s into 2000, their franchise draft history is obviously skewed in comparison to older teams. Even with a limited sample size to choose from, each and every franchise has been victimized by the imperfect art of selecting 18-year-old prospects.
Apologies to those longtime Quebec Nordiques fans who continue to support the team in the Mile High City, but today’s countdown will feature strictly Avalanche players (1995-present).
Since we’re dealing with a brief 21-year window (several of which contain prospects with futures yet to be determined), the honorable mentions will be brief.
Honorable Mentions:
Peter Ratchuk – 25th overall in 1996
Picks after Ratchuk: Cory Sarich (BUF) – 27th overall, Matt Cullen (ANA) – 35th overall, Colin White (NJ) – 49th overall
Kevin Grimes – 26th overall in 1997
Picks after Grimes: Ben Clymer (BOS) – 27th overall, Kristian Huselius (CLB) – 47th overall, Henrik Tallinder (BUF) – 48th overall
*Scott Parker and Ramzi Abid – 20th and 28th overall in 1998
Picks after Parker: Simon Gagne (PHI) – 22nd overall, Mike Van Ryn (NJ) – 26th overall, Scott Gomez (NJ) – 27th overall
Picks after Abid: Jonathan Cheechoo (SJ) – 29th overall, John Erskine (DAL) – 39th overall, Ossi Vaananen (ARZ) – 43rd overall, Mike Fisher (OTT) – 44th overall, Mike Ribeiro (MTL) – 45th overall
Jonas Johansson – 28th overall in 2002
Picks after Johansson: Jim Slater (ATL) – 30th overall, Jarret Stoll (EDM) – 36th overall, Trevor Daley (DAL) – 43rd overall, Matt Greene (EDM) – 44th overall
**Duncan Siemens – 11th overall in 2011
Picks after Siemens: Sven Baertschi (CGY) – 13th overall, J.T. Miller (NYR) – 15th overall, Nathan Beaulieu (MTL) – 17th overall, Oscar Klefbom (EDM) – 18th overall, Connor Murphy (ARZ) – 20th overall, Vladislav Namestnikov (TB) – 27th overall, Rickard Rakell (ANA) – 30th overall
* Missing on Parker and Abid can be forgiven due to the fact that Colorado selected Alex Tanguay 12th overall, Martin Skoula 17th overall, and Robyn Regehr 19th overall in 1998.
** The jury is still out on 22-year-old Duncan Siemens with defenders known for taking extra time to develop. GM Joe Sakic told media he hopes Siemens can settle into a top seven spot in 2016-17.
Colorado Avalanche Top 5 Draft Busts
5. Mikhail Kuleshov – 25th overall in 1999
More from Colorado Avalanche
- 3 reasons the Avalanche won’t win the Stanley Cup in 2024
- Colorado Avalanche sign free agent Tomas Tatar to one year deal
- The most important player to watch this season for the Avalanche
- Joonas Donskoi announces retirement from the NHL
- The EA Sports NHL 24 cover athlete has finally been revealed
The Avs can be somewhat forgiven for missing at the end of the 1st round in 1999. More than half of those picks failed to materialize.
Kuleshov joined AHL Hershey late in 2001 and spent the following three seasons with Colorado’s AHL affiliate.
He saw a three game stint with the big club in 2003-04 before returning to Russia the next season.
Picks after Kuleshov: Martin Havlat (OTT) – 26th overall, Alex Auld (FLA) – 40th overall, Mike Commodore (NJ) – 42nd overall, Jordan Leopold (ANA) – 44th overall, Adam Hall (NSH) – 52nd overall
4. Ryan Stoa – 34th overall in 2005
More from Puck Prose
- Detroit Red Wings 2023 Rookie Camp Has Plenty of Ups and Downs
- This Columbus Blue Jackets rookie doesn’t want to be forgotten
- 2 trades the Boston Bruins must make to secure the Stanley Cup
- 3 reasons the Avalanche won’t win the Stanley Cup in 2024
- This is a big year for Alex Turcotte and the Los Angeles Kings
You might wonder how a 2nd round pick ranks fourth in our countdown.
2005 was a talent heavy draft; in fact the Avs made out like bandits with their second pick of Paul Stastny at 44th overall.
Without a 1st round pick in arguably the deepest draft in history, Colorado made a vital error missing on their first pick of Ryan Stoa at 34th overall.
After spending the majority of five pro seasons in the AHL, with only 40 games of NHL experience over that span, Stoa has spent the last two seasons in the KHL.
Picks after Stoa: Marc-Edouard Vlasic (SJ) – 35th overall, Ondrej Pavelec (ATL) – 41st overall, Justin Abdelkader (DET) – 42nd overall, Mason Raymond (VAN) – 51st overall, Adam McQuaid (CLB) – 55th overall
3. Conner Bleackley – 23rd overall in 2014
It’s not often you can call a pick a bust after only two years, but so is the case when you fail to sign a prospect and let them re-enter the draft.
Worst of all, GM Joe Sakic traded away their second round compensation away to acquire rental forward Mikkel Boedker. This one should leave a sour taste in fans mouths.
Picks after Bleackley: Jared McCann (VAN) – 24th overall, David Pastrnak (BOS) – 25th overall, Nikita Scherbak (MTL) – 26th overall, Nikolay Goldobin (SJ) – 27th overall, Adrian Kempe (LA) – 29th overall, John Quenneville (NJ) – 30th overall
2. Joey Hishon – 17th overall in 2010
There’s still a small glimmer of hope that Hishon can re-write the script on his early career.
He finally got his first taste of NHL action in 2015-16 posting two points in 13 games.
Hishon will be 25-years-old in October, so the window of opportunity is quickly closing for this talented undersized forward.
Picks after Hishon: Austin Watson (NSH) – 18th overall, Nick Bjugstad (FLA) – 19th overall, Riley Sheahan (DET) – 21st overall, Kevin Hayes (CHI) – 24th overall, Evgeny Kuznetsov (WSH) – 26th overall, Charlie Coyle (SJ) – 28th overall, Brock Nelson (NYI) – 30th overall
Next: 10 NHL Careers Cut Short
1. Vaclav Nedorost – 14th overall in 2000
Give the Avs credit, they’ve done well with their higher selections over their brief 21-year history.
Coming in at number one is Czech forward Vaclav Nedorost. He was a highly touted European prospect that never managed to pan out. He split time between Colorado and AHL Hershey during his first two years of pro hockey before being traded to Florida in the summer of 2003.
He spent one more year in North America between Florida and AHL San Antonio, then returned to his native Czech Republic in 2004-05. Nedorost played in the Czech Mens League until 2009-10, and has since spent the last six years in the KHL.
Picks after Nedorost: Brooks Orpik (PIT) – 18th overall, Anton Volchenkov (OTT) – 21st overall, Brad Boyes (TOR) – 24th overall, Steve Ott (DAL) – 25th overall, Justin Williams (PHI) – 28th overall, Niklas Kronwall (DET) – 29th overall