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Part 1: Penguins Draft Reviews - 1997 |
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Some of the other bloggers have taken a look at their team's past drafts and many of you have requested I do the same for the Pittsburgh Penguins. I will fill in non-game days and downtime in the schedule over the next couple months with reviews of the Pittsburgh Penguins drafts. I have gone back 10 years, starting with 1997 and will finish up with Ray Shero's sections from 2007. I hope you all enjoy!
The 1997 NHL draft was held right here in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at what was then called the Civic Arena. The Penguins held the 17th overall selection and patiently awaited their turn at the podium. Craig Patrick and company watched as many future NHLers were plucked from the talent pool. Players such as Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Olli Jokinen, Roberto Luongo, Eric Brewer, Paul Mara, Nick Boynton, Sergei Samsonov, and Marian Hossa were selected in the top 16. What direction would the Penguins go? Let's jump right to their selections on that summer day...
First Round - Number 17 Overall - RW Robert Dome - Las Vegas Thunder (IHL)
Dome shocked some by leaving his native Slovakia to compete against professionals in the International Hockey League. Craig Patrick seemed to think he had another Jaromir Jagr on his hands, as Dome wowed many with his offensive ability in the I. Unfortunately, he was nowhere close to being the next Jagr.
Dome played only 53 NHL games, scoring 14 points ( 7G 7A) and notching 12 PIMS. His last gasp in the NHL took place in 2002-03 when he appeared in one game for the Calgary Flames.
He has had some success in Europe, but the Dome was the definition of a first round bust. Unfortunately, the type of pick the Penguins made more often than not in the late mid to late 90's.
Notable NHL players taken after the Penguins selection in the '97 first round: Scott Hannon, and Brendan Morrow.
Grade: F
Round 2 - Number 44 Overall - C Brian Gaffaney - North Iowa Huskies (USHL)
Gaffaney never seemed to take the next step and played in 0 NHL games. In fact, he played in only 2 AHL and 9 ECHL games. This was a typical 2nd round Penguins draft pick...a round in which they historically have picked busts.
Gaffaney was a decent player in the USHL and in college at St. Cloud State, but never showed the ability to compete against top flight competition. His career statistics as a professional, 1 AHL assist. He has had no success at any level above college to speak of.
Notable NHL players taken after the Penguins selection in the '97 second round: Kristian Huselius, Henrik Tallinder and Roman Lyashenko.
Grade: F
Round 3 - Number 71 overall - D Josef Melichar - Ceske Budejovice HC (Czech)
Melichar possessed great size and mobility and though he was criticized heavily by Penguin fans over his career, he will go down as a successful 3rd round selection. In fact, he was one of the best Penguin picks on this day.
Melichar was never able to develop into the physical force that the team had hoped because of recurring shoulder injuries, but did go on to play 310 NHL games. Melichar posted 40 points (7G 33A), 263 PIMS and would probably still be a Pittsburgh Penguin if not for the emergence of more talented players from the Penguins pipeline. Players such as Ryan Whitney, Kris Letang, Brooks Orpik and Rob Scuderi.
Melichar did garner some interest from NHL teams after not being renewed by the Pittsburgh Penguins, but opted to head overseas to continue his career.
Melichar is currently playing in Elitserien, a pro hockey league in Sweden, for Linköpings HC.
Notable NHL players selected after the Penguins selection in the '97 third round: Ville Nieminen
Grade: B
Round 4 - Number 97 Overall - C Alexander Mathieu - Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL)
Mathieu was a great skater, but didn't have much of a finishing touch. He never got close to making it to the NHL, but spent parts of three seasons with the Wilkes Barre-Scranton Penguins. He posted 45 points (16G 29A) and 66 PIM, but was never an impact player.
Mathieu bounced around for 10 years playing with Lexington in the ECHL, Memphis and Quad City in the UHL and Quebec of the LNAH.
His last professional hockey game was played during the '06-'07 season.
Most of the notable NHL talent in this round was selected prior to the Penguins selection in the fourth round, with the 9 players who came after Mathieu combining for only 19 NHL games.
Grade: C - because the Penguins did get 169 games of AHL service from the selection
Round 5 - Number 124 Overall - D Harlan Pratt - Prince Albert Raiders (WHL)
Pratt never even got close to the National Hockey League, but has been bouncing around professional hockey since being selected by the Penguins.
He has spent time in the WHL, ECHL, IHL, AHL, FNL, Italian League, Austria and the Danish Elite League. He has been most effective in Europe where he has been a pretty decent two way defenseman.
Unfortunately, the Penguins never got anything out of this pick and his only notable NHL statistic was having his rights traded by the Carolina Hurricanes to the Tampa Bay Lightning for Kaspars Astashenko.
Pratt is currently playing for the Augsburg Panthers in the DEL, where he has posted 40 pts (17G 23A) and 36 PIMs.
Notable NHL players selected after the Penguins selection in the '97 5th round: Kyle Calder
Grade: D - based on the fact that he has managed to stay under contract somewhere for over 10 years. He must be doing something right, though it was of no benefit to the Penguins.
Round 6 - Number 152 Overall - LW Petr Havelka - Sparta Praha (Czech)
This was another pick that can be traced back to Craig Patrick's love affair with European players. He started leaning heavily towards Europe, especially the Czech Republic, after taking a chance and hitting a home run with Jaromir Jagr.
Havelka, a left handed shot, opted to stay in the Czech Republic, where he played until the '05-'06 season. His best statistical season came in '02-'03 when the forward posted 16 points (10G 6A) in 47 games.
This player was Penguins/NHL property in name only and his rights were eventually lost.
Horrible pick, in that they received no North American contribution from this player.
Notable NHL players selected after the Penguins '97 6th round pick: Brian Campbell, and David Aebischer
Grade: F
Round 7 - Number 179 Overall - D Mark Moore - Harvard University (NCAA)
Moore was a defensive defenceman who never made the National Hockey League.
The defenseman did play close to 100 games in the ECHL, as he played 93 games with Wheeling, Augusta and Charlotte. He did break into the Wilkes Barre-Scranton line-up for 11 games during the 2000-01 season.
Overall, not a great pick, but any 7th rounder who gives you games in the system is not a complete bust.
There were no notable NHL players selected after the Penguins pick in the '97 7th round, but the round did produce Ladislav Nagy and Todd Fedoruk.
Grade: D
Round 8 - Number 208 Overall - D Andrew Ference - Portland Winter Hawks (WHL)
The Penguins may not have had much success during the first 7 rounds on this day, but they made their best selection of 1997 in the 8th round in the form of Andrew Ference.
Ference loves to hit, has terrific hockey sense, is a great skater and can log a lot of ice time for your hockey team. He never developed into the offensive star many scouts had hoped he would, but he has become a very nice NHL player who can contribute in both ends of the rink.
To the this point he has logged 464 NHL games and has posted 115 points (22G 93A) and 442 PIMs. He has also appeared in 51 NHL playoff games with the Penguins and Calgary Flames posting 17 points (3G 14A) and 53 PIMs.
With this selection, the Penguins made one of the best 8th round selections of the day...only the first pick of the round , Antti Laaksonen selected by Boston, has appeared in more NHL games with 483.
Grade: A
Round 9 - Number 234 Overall - D Eric Lind - Avon Old Farms H.S. (Conn.)
Lind was not an NHL player. He never even came close to getting a look in Pittsburgh and has spent the last 10 years bouncing around the minor leagues.
He has spent a lot of time in the ECHL, but has also spent time in the EIHL, CHL and UHL. Lind actually played two games for the Elmira Jackals this season but according to the hockeydb.com is no longer on the team's active roster.
As a 9th rounder who has remained in pro hockey for 10 years, the pick can be graded above an F, but the Penguins got no tangible benefit from the selection.
Notable NHL players selected after the Penguins '97 9th rounder: Brett Mclean
Grade: D
The Penguins 1997 NHL draft did produce two NHL players and a decent bit of ECHL talent, but ECHL talent is not what the NHL draft is used for. That fact makes this draft a failure for the Penguins. They missed out on some good NHL players in many rounds...this was sort of a typical Penguins draft during the mid to late 1990's.
Final draft grade: D+
Look for part 2 in this series soon...
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