Florida Panthers Top 5 Countdown: Biggest Busts in Franchise History
Florida Panthers 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.
The Panthers have fared well on the draft floor over their 20-plus years of existence. With only four misses in the top 15 since their inception, Florida has one of the better track records at the NHL Draft.
Honorable Mentions:
Marcus Nilson – 20th overall in 1996
Mike Brown – 20th overall in 1997
Kyle Rossiter – 30th overall in 1998
Lukas Krajicek – 24th overall in 2001
Anthony Stewart – 25th overall in 2003
Florida Panthers Top 5 Draft Busts
5. Kenndal McArdle – 20th overall in 2005
McArdle played a grand total of 42 NHL games (three points) over his career. He spent the majority of his time in the minors (AHL/ECHL) before leaving North America in 2013-14 to play in Sweden.
Picks after McArdle: Tuukka Rask (TOR) – 21st overall, T.J. Oshie (STL) – 24th overall, Andrew Cogliano (EDM) – 25th overall, Matt Niskanen (DAL) – 28th overall, James Neal (DAL) – 33rd overall, Marc-Edouard Vlasic (SJ) – 35th overall, Ondrej Pavelec (ATL) – 41st overall
4. Keaton Ellerby – 10th overall in 2007
After paying his AHL dues, Ellerby struggled to stay in the Panthers lineup for a couple of seasons before he was dealt to Los Angeles as a rental in February 2013 for a 5th round draft pick.
He spent the next two years with Winnipeg before taking his talents overseas in 2015-16 (KHL/Swiss-A).
Ellerby totaled 27 points in 212 career regular season games over his NHL career.
Picks after Ellerby: Brandon Sutter (CAR) – 11th overall, Ryan McDonagh (NYR) – 12th overall, Kevin Shattenkirk (COL) – 14th overall, Max Pacioretty (MTL) – 22nd overall, Mikael Backlund (CGY) – 24th overall, David Perron (STL) – 26th overall
3. Petr Taticek – 9th overall in 2002
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Florida had two top 10 picks in 2002. The miss on Petr Taticek can be somewhat overlooked when you consider their top selection of Jay Bouwmeester.
A highly touted Czech prospect who made the jump to North America during his draft year (2001-02), Taticek posted 63 points in 60 games for OHL Sault Ste. Marie. He showed promise during his early pro years in the AHL, but unfortunately his game failed to translate to the NHL level.
He was traded to Pittsburgh in March 2009 and spent time with AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Hershey before taking his talents to Switzerland in 2006-07. He spent the next eight years in the Swiss-A league, and has since been playing in the DEL (Germany) the last two seasons.
Taticek only appeared in three NHL games over his short career.
Picks after Taticek: Eric Nystrom (CGY) – 10th overall, Chris Higgins (MTL) – 14th overall, Alexander Steen (TOR) – 24th overall, Cam Ward (CAR) – 25th overall
2. Denis Shvidki – 12th overall in 1999
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Shvidki seemed like a can’t miss prospect after dominating the OHL with the Barrie Colts. He even had spurts of success at the AHL and NHL level before opting to stay in Europe post-lockout.
Worst of all, Denis had a career-high 54 points for AHL San Antonio in 2003-04 and showed signs of being ready for the top level of competition.
Shvidki ended up staying in Russia through the 2008-09 season, then signed in Finland for a year before wrapping up his career with two years in Germany (DEL).
Denis Shvidki totaled 76 career regular season games, posting 11 goals, 14 assists (25 points).
Picks after Shvidki: Barret Jackman (STL) – 17th overall, Nick Boynton (BOS) – 21st overall, Martin Havlat (OTT) – 26th overall
Next: Las Vegas Expansion Mock Draft
1. Rostislav Olesz – 7th overall in 2004
Olesz showed immediate promise with Florida after posting 21 points in 59 games as a rookie. He followed that up with 30 points in 75 games in 2006-07. Unfortunately, he would never surpass that total again over the next five years with the Panthers.
Olesz was eventually dealt to Chicago where he spent the next couple of years. After splitting time between New Jersey/AHL Albany in 2013-14, he eventually finished the year with Bern of the Swiss-A league. Olesz has since spent the past two seasons in Europe (Czech/Swiss-A).
Rostislav Olesz posted 57 goals, 77 assists (134 points) in 365 career NHL games.
Picks after Olesz: Ladislav Smid (ANA) – 9th overall, Drew Stafford (BUF) – 13th overall, Devan Dubnyk (EDM) – 14th overall, Lauri Korpikoski (NYR) – 19th overall, Travis Zajac (NJ) – 20th overall, Cory Schneider (VAN) – 26th overall, Mike Green (WSH) – 29th overall