Washington Capitals: Top 10 Draft Busts Of All-Time
Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
The Washington Capitals are proof that the NHL Draft is largely a crap shoot. Sometimes, you nail a pick. Sometimes, it just works out alright. Sometimes, you draft a bust. The Washington Capitals are no different from any other team.
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First of all, let’s set some qualifications for who are the biggest draft busts in Washington Capitals history.
- The player must have been chosen in the first round. In order to be a real bust in the NHL, in my opinion, you have to have been drafted in the first round.
- The rest of the players drafted after the bust matters a lot. If the Washington Capitals could have drafted a much better player, that means that the player drafted was a bigger bust.
- Expectations matter as well. A first overall pick who plays in no games is obviously a much bigger bust than a 30th overall pick who plays in none.
While the Washington Capitals have done well as of late in the first round, in their 40 year history, they sure have had some huge busts. Let’s remember those busts and hope that the Washington Capitals do not allow history to repeat itself!
Next: Number Ten: Jeff Greenlaw
Washington Capitals Draft Busts: Jeff Greenlaw
The Washington Capitals held the 19th overall pick in the 1986 NHL draft. With that pick, they selected left wing Jeff Greenlaw. He only played in 57 NHL games, 53 of them with the Caps. He only scored three career goals and had eight career points to go along with 106 penalty minutes. Clearly a bust.
The 1986 NHL Draft wasn’t that great after the 19th overall pick (there were only 21 picks per round back then), but the Capitals could have feasibly drafted any of these players who went on to have much more successful NHL careers than Greenlaw.
- Defenseman Kerry Huffman, drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers with the 20th pick. He had 145 points in 401 games with 37 goals.
- Left wing Adam Graves, drafted by the Detroit Red Wings with the 22nd pick. That was the first pick of the second round. Graves went on to have a solid 16 season NHL career, playing for the Detroit Red Wings, New York Rangers, the Edmonton Oilers and San Jose Sharks. He had 616 points in 1,152 NHL games with 329 goals. Would have certainly helped the Washington Capitals win a few more games in the 1990’s.
- The (old!) Winnipeg Jets selected defenseman Teppo Numminen with the 29th overall pick. Numminen would have fit right in with the Washington Capitals. 6’2″ tall, he scored 637 points in 1372 NHL games during an impressive 20 season NHL career.
Next: Number Nine: Joe Finley
Washington Capitals Draft Busts: Joe Finley
With the 27th overall pick of the 2005 NHL Draft, the Washington Capitals drafted defenseman Joe Finley. Finley, like most of the Caps draft picks in 2005, was a complete bust. He would play in just 21 NHL games, scoring just one point (an assist). What makes it even more painful is that the Capitals could have drafted one of several very productive players.
They could have drafted, ironically, Matt Niskanen. He was drafted with the 28th overall pick by the Dallas Stars. In 573 NHL games, he has 198 points with a plus/minus of +46. He would have been nice for the Capitals to have back around 2009-2010 or 2010-2011.
They could have also drafted forward Steve Downie, who was drafted with the 29th overall pick by the Philadelphia Flyers. He might be an enemy of the Capitals, but in 408 games he has 190 points.
They could have also drafted defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic of the San Jose Sharks instead. Vlasic was drafted by the Sharks with the 35th overall pick. Vlasic is often regarded as one of the better defensemen in the NHL. In 670 NHL games, he has 187 points.
Next: Number Eight: Trevor Halverson and Pat Peake
Washington Capitals Draft Busts: Trevor Halverson and Pat Peake
The 1991 NHL Draft is widely regarded as one of the best, if not the best, NHL drafts of all-time. It saw such great players as Eric Lindros, Scott Niedermayer, Peter Forsberg, Brian Rolston, Alex Kovalev and Glen Murray get drafted. Each of them are widely regarded as an all-time great. The Washington Capitals completely missed out on all the fun by drafting two huge busts with the 14th and 21st overall picks.
Pat Peake was drafted by the Capitals with the 14th overall pick. The forward only played in 134 NHL games and had only 69 points.
The Capitals could have drafted Kovalev instead. Kovalev played in 1316 NHL games in his long NHL career. In those 1,316 NHL games, he had 1,o29 points while scoring 430 goals. Kovalev and Bondra could have formed one heck of a duo. Maybe he could have helped the late 90’s Capitals over the hump?
With the 21st overall pick, the Capitals drafted forward Trevor Halverson. He wound up only playing in 17 NHL games with only four points. The sad part? The Caps probably should have drafted Ray Whitney, who is another forward who obviously could have helped push the Caps over the hump in the late 90’s.
Next: Number Seven: Alex Forsyth
Washington Capitals Draft Busts: Alex Forsyth
Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
One of the two member of this lists drafted in an Amateur Draft, the Caps drafted Alex Forsyth in the first round of the 1975 NHL Amateur Draft with the 18th pick. The Caps could have been better a lot sooner had they drafted a better player than Forsyth. He only played in one NHL game.
You know what’s funny? The Capitals probably should have drafted one of two players who would eventually be members of the Capitals. Dennis Maruk was drafted by the California Golden Seals with the 21st overall pick. He would later play for the Capitals and to this day, he’s the single season points record holder. Doug Jarvis was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs with the 24th overall pick. He would later join the Caps and is the only Caps player ever to win a Selke Trophy.
Next: Number Six: Alexandre Volchkov
Washington Capitals Draft Busts: Alexandre Volchkov
In the 1996 NHL Draft, the Caps had the fourth overall pick. With that pick, they picked center Alexandre Volchkov, a Russian Forward. Volchkov would wind up playing in just three NHL games while scoring zero points. He was another player who just didn’t pan out for the Caps.
The Caps would have been much better off had they drafted forward Derek Morris, who was drafted 13th overall by the Calgary Flames. In 1,107 NHL games, he had 424 points and 92 goals. They also could have drafted Dainius Zubrus, who ironically wound up playing for the Caps from 2000 to 2007. He is still currently playing and he has 584 points in 1,243 games.
Next: Number Five: Greg Joly
Washington Capitals Draft Busts: Greg Joly
The other member of this list to be drafted in an amateur draft, defenseman Greg Joly was drafted with the first overall pick of the 1974 NHL Amateur Draft. He only played 98 games for the Caps and 365 games overall. He had just 33 points in those 98 games. He was drafted mainly because he was NHL ready and the Caps needed NHL ready defensemen.
Regardless of whether the Caps needed NHL ready defensemen, Joly still has to be considered a bust because the Caps could have gotten much better players. They could have drafted forward Wilf Paiement, who was drafted with the second overall pick by the now defunct Kansas City Scouts. Paiement had 814 points in 946 games.
They also could have drafted forward Clark Gillies, who had 697 points in 958 games. Also, forward Pierre Larouche had 822 points in 812 games.
Next: Number Four: Brad Church and Miika Elomo
Brad Church And Miika Elomo
The 1995 NHL Draft saw the Caps have two first round picks. They whiffed on both of them, which is disappointing because they could have had much better players.
Forward Brad Church was selected with the 17th overall pick. He only played in two NHL games, not accumulating any points, penalty minutes or goals for or allowed. Immediately after him, with the 18th overall pick, the New Jersey Devils selected forward Petr Sykora. In 1,017 NHL games he had 721 points. He had a successful 15 year career that saw him win three Stanley Cups. He won two with the Devils and one with the Penguins.
With the 23rd overall pick, the Caps selected forward Miika Elomo. Like Church, he only played in two NHL games. Unlike Church, at least he managed to get a point in the NHL (an assist). They could have drafted forward Aleksey Morozov (drafted by the Penguins with the 24th pick). He had 219 points in 451 NHL games.
Next: Number Three: Sasha Pokulok
Sasha Pokulok
Usually, I pair busts from the same draft together. However, 2005 NHL Draft bust Sasha Pokulok deserves his own slide because he was that big of a bust.
Pokulok, a defenseman, was selected with the 14th overall pick of the 2005 NHL Draft. He wound up playing in a total of zero NHL games. What’s sad is that the Caps had a plethora of options to draft, viewing that pick with hindsight. If they wanted a defenseman, they could have drafted Niskanen. However, they probably should have drafted either goaltender Tuukka Rask (imagine a tandem of Rask and Braden Holtby) or forward T.J. Oshie. Considering that Mr. Oshie is currently a potential trade target for the Washington Capitals, he probably would have been a wise pick.
Next: Number Two: Alexander Kharlamov
Alexander Kharlamov
In the first round of the 1994 NHL Draft, the Washington Capitals had the 15th overall pick. With that pick, they selected forward Alexander Kharlamov from Russia. He spent two seasons with the Portland Pirates, totaling 56 points in 121 games in the AHL. After that, he left for Russia and never came back.
The Caps could have drafted forward Patrik Elias, who was drafted towards the end of the second round with the 51st overall pick. They also could have gotten goaltender Jose Theodore (drafted by the Canadiens with the 44th overall pick) back when he was actually, you know, good.
Next: Number One: Anton Gustafsson (no, not that one)
Anton Gustafsson
Anton Gustafsson is without a doubt the biggest bust in Washington Capitals history. He was drafted with the 21st overall pick of the 2008 NHL Draft. To this day, his selection haunts the Capitals because of who the Washington Capitals could have drafted instead of him.
Drafted immediately after Gustafsson with the 22nd overall pick? Forward Jordan Eberle of the Edmonton Oilers. Considering that the Caps are currently looking for a top six forward and Eberle is certainly a top six forward, it’s hard to not be upset with the Caps decision to draft Gustafsson instead of Eberle.