Penguins 2nd Rd Draft Picks

[Bowser]

Mentioned this the other day elsewhere, second round draft picks by the Penguins are where players go to “die”.

I’m going to start from 1987 since that’s the first year I started watching hockey and list the Penguins 2nd round pick and the player immediately taken after them.

1987 – Rick Tabaracci (26) vs Mark Fitzpatrick
1988 – Mark Major (25) vs Murray Duval
1989 – Paul Laus (37) vs Mike Parson
1990 – (none)
1991 – Rusty Fitzgerald (38) vs Mike Pomichter
1992 – Marc Hussey (43) vs Keli Corpse
1993 – Domenic Pittis (52 – last pick in rd) vs Patrick Charbonneau
1994 – Richard Park (50) vs Patrik Elias
1995 – none
1996 – Pavel Skrbek (28) vs Dan LaCouture
1997 – Brian Gaffaney (44) vs Maxim Balmochnykh
1998 – Alexander Zevakhin (54) vs Ryan Barnes
1999 – Matt Murley (51) vs Adam Hall / Jeremy Van Hoof (57) vs Matt Carkner
2000 – Shane Endicott (52) vs Alexander Tatarinov
2001 – Noah Welch (54) vs Jason Pominville
2002 – Ondrej Nemec (35) vs Jarret Stoll
2003 – Ryan Stone (32) vs Loui Eriksson
2004 – Johannes Salmonsson (31) vs Dave Bolland / Alex Goligoski (61) vs Mikhail Yunkov
2005 – Michael Gergen (61 – last pick in rd), Letang 1st pick in 3rd rd (62)
2006 – Carl Sneep (32) vs Igor Makarov
2007 – Keven Veilleux (51) vs Oscar Moller
2008 – none
2009 – Philip Samuelsson (61 – last pick in rd) vs Anders Nilsson
2010 – none
2011 – Scott Harrington (54) vs Ryan Sproul
2012 – Theodor Blueger (52) vs Brian Hart

During the lean years, sure would have been nice to have drafted Jason Pominville (’01), Jarret Stoll (’02) and Loui Eriksson (’03).

[KG]

1994 Richard Park over Patrick Elias is a tough one to swallow too!

[Bowser]

I wanted Eriksson in '03, was pretty ticked when they selected Stone, a center with hands of stone and cement in his skates. And to be honest, really wanted Moller in '07 and he's at least gotten some NHL action, which I doubt Veilleux ever sniffs again.

[bhaw]

As an aside, I had no idea Carkner has been around so long.

[columbia]

Wheels of Stone is a truly terrible skater.

[helmespc]

Mollar was first round in 07.... but Jamie Benn was later....

[Bowser]

helmespc - Why do you think first round?

Moller - 2nd round
http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdis ... ?pid=96676

Benn - 5th round
http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdis ... pid=102290

[Mr. Colby]

Yikes... not one of those guys is any good. Hopefully we get something from Harrington or Bleuger

[JeffDFD]

Yikes... not one of those guys is any good. Hopefully we get something from Harrington or Bleuger

Goligoski was a great pick for us. Wonder how Dallas feels about that trade now that Neal put up 40 and Niskanen has settled into the top pair role with Letang (for 2 games so far).

[JoseCuervo]

nothing like looking at old drafts-

[Mr. Colby]

For some reason I keep thinking goligoski was 3rd round

[Mango Salsa]

Noah Welch was traded for Gary Roberts. Do I need to go on?

[relantel]

Yikes... not one of those guys is any good. Hopefully we get something from Harrington or Bleuger

Goligoski was a great pick for us. Wonder how Dallas feels about that trade now that Neal put up 40 and Niskanen has settled into the top pair role with Letang (for 2 games so far).

Would be interesting to see Bowser's list juxaposed to trades. Skrbek, for example, was traded for Boughner. On the other hand, Park was traded for Oksiuta, who played all of 7 games for the Pens.

Also, kind of strange that in a couple of cases the next player ended up playing for the pens - LaCouture, Hall...

also, in the case of Gergen, Letang and consecutive Pens picks, probably worth mentioning that the player drafted after Letang never made the NHL.

[Three Stars]

Also, kind of strange that in a couple of cases the next player ended up playing for the pens - LaCouture, Hall...

You have to imagine that "just missed" players don't truly drop off a team's radar. Someone with lots of time on their hands should look through draft histories to see about players just above and below a draft slot who end up on the team in question.

[Big Easy Pens Fan]

I'm sure glad Letang wasn't picked in the 2nd round.

BEPF

[Mango Salsa]

Since I have nothing better to do...

Richard Park - traded to Anaheim Mighty Ducks for Roman Oksiuta
Pavel Skrbek - traded for Bob Boughner
Brian Gaffaney - 1 season in WBS - no mention of him after 2003-04
Alexander Zhevakin - 3 seasons in WBS then went back to Mother Russia
Matt Murley - signed as a free-agent with the Colorado Avalanche
Shane Endicott - Pens bought out his contract and was released
Noah Welch - Traded for Gary Roberts
Ondrej Nemec - 7 games in WBS. Now playing in KHL
Ryan Stone - traded by Pittsburgh along with Dany Sabourin and a 4th round pick to the Edmonton Oilers for Mathieu Garon, who then signed with Columbus as a UFA. Edmonton selected Toni Rajala with the pick.
Johannes Salmonsson - still playing in the Swedish Elite League. Never came to North America except for a short stint in the WHL

[JS©]

For some reason I keep thinking goligoski was 3rd round

Wasn't even the Penguins original 2nd rounder. Ended up getting the pick used on Goligoski in the Hedberg to Vancouver trade.

[Nizzy]

There was nothing wrong with the Welch pick at the time.

[JS©]

Since I have nothing better to do...

Richard Park - traded to Anaheim Mighty Ducks for Roman Oksiuta
Pavel Skrbek - traded for Bob Boughner
Brian Gaffaney - 1 season in WBS - no mention of him after 2003-04
Alexander Zhevakin - 3 seasons in WBS then went back to Mother Russia
Matt Murley - signed as a free-agent with the Colorado Avalanche
Shane Endicott - Pens bought out his contract and was released
Noah Welch - Traded for Gary Roberts
Ondrej Nemec - 7 games in WBS. Now playing in KHL
Ryan Stone - traded by Pittsburgh along with Dany Sabourin and a 4th round pick to the Edmonton Oilers for Mathieu Garon, who then signed with Columbus as a UFA. Edmonton selected Toni Rajala with the pick.
Johannes Salmonsson - still playing in the Swedish Elite League. Never came to North America except for a short stint in the WHL

He ended up having a terrible run at his first camp after graduating and quit hockey in 2001.

Gaffaney joined the Penguins in training camp several months later, but spent most of the time recovering from various injuries. He chipped three teeth in the first week of camp; two of those were a result of colliding into the back of the helmet of teammate Martin Sonnenberg and a third chipped tooth was a result of an errant high stick from a teammate. Several days later, he was involved in a fight with tough guy Steve Parsons during an intrasquad game, which resulted in Gaffaney bleeding and requiring several stitches. Gaffaney also missed parts of camp due to back spasms. Gaffaney ended up requesting his release from Penguins' camp on September 20, 2001, saying that he wanted to go into a new direction with his life.

When asked about his departure, General Manager Craig Patrick said that he "thinks his (Gaffaney) departure is permanent" and that "it's a tough profession...that not everybody is suited for it." Despite Gaffaney's belief that he was going to make the Penguins team, it was Patrick's belief that Gaffaney was heading back to Wilkes-Barre or perhaps even the team's ECHL affiliate in Wheeling.

[Digitalgypsy66]

Note the date for Gaffaney's request for release - 9 days after 9/11. Wonder if that factored into his decision.

[helmespc]

helmespc - Why do you think first round?

Moller - 2nd round
http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdis ... ?pid=96676

Benn - 5th round
http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdis ... pid=102290

We'll I'll be! I coulda sworn he went just after Espo....

[JS©]

Note the date for Gaffaney's request for release - 9 days after 9/11. Wonder if that factored into his decision.

There's another article that mentions that he wasn't used in scrimmages and that he was more than likely being sent to Wheeling after camp. Another article said that he was quitting hockey and was looking to start his own business.

I don't know, maybe the rough week and the possibility of starting in Wheeling was enough to push him out of hockey, although he did come back for a partial season with Peoria a few years later. Maybe there was something that had to do with 9/11. Even googling his name doesn't bring up much, so we'll probably never know.

[relantel]

not second round, but in this vein (and not wanting to start a new thread), could be interesting to track the draft picks that got called up to the big club during a season, but did not dress before going back down, and never made it back to the NHL. An example of this was Ryan Lannon, who was called up on 1-7-08 with Ryan Stone, and reassigned on 1-20-08. His only appearance on any NHL stat sheet are the scratches section for those several games in that window. Didn't actually play, but was assigned a regular season jersey (#54, later worn by Alexandre Picard).

[Dickie Dunn]

not second round, but in this vein (and not wanting to start a new thread), could be interesting to track the draft picks that got called up to the big club during a season, but did not dress before going back down, and never made it back to the NHL. An example of this was Ryan Lannon, who was called up on 1-7-08 with Ryan Stone, and reassigned on 1-20-08. His only appearance on any NHL stat sheet are the scratches section for those several games in that window. Didn't actually play, but was assigned a regular season jersey (#54, later worn by Alexandre Picard).

Same thing happened to Lannon in Minnesota. Multiple times if I remember correctly.