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BasedMinkus · 09-14-2020, 04:52 PM

With the SHL finishing its 56 Entry Draft, there have clearly been a lot of top end talent being selected and added to this great league. However, for every 5 or so great players, you get at least a few busts along the way. This is no different with the extremely valuable 1st overall pick in a draft. In this article I will be taking a look at the 5 biggest 1st overall busts in SHL history. There will be a few things I will be looking at including:

[1] Seasons Played
[2] Point Totals
[3] What they brought to their team
[4] Players taken after them and depth of draft.

With that out of the way, here is my list of the worst Draft Busts in SHL History.

Mariusz Kwik (S22): LA Panthers

Kwik wasn’t the worst of the bunch. He wasn’t good either. Kwik played 11 seasons as a mid tier player for the Panthers, posting just 144 points in over 500 games played. The outside factors are what beef up this pick as being one of the worst. The first overall pick originally belonged to the lowly Minnesota Chiefs who had just come off a putrid 16-32-4 record. The Chiefs traded this pick and a player in exchange for pick 7, a player and pick. Pick 7 turned out to be Chernika Bananov. Bananov played 14 seasons and finished with the best PPG of any player to play 10 or more seasons while being 3rd in points for this draft class. A stark contrast to the #1 pick.

Drayson Williams (S2): Hamilton Steelhawks

With Season 2 stats being unavailable, Drayson Williams stats are also unavailable as this was the only season he played. Drayson was the consensus number one pick for this draft and the Hamilton Steelhawks definitely thought they had found a future franchise player. Unfortunately for the Hawks, Williams was not as advertised. He did not put in the off-season work to get stronger and was lazy and lost on the ice. Hamilton was forced to cut bait early on Williams and he never found a roster spot again. Thankfully for Hamilton, Brandon Holmes was really the only true superstar of the top 5 for that draft which makes this pick not as bad as it could have been.

Connor Blackwell (S38): Edmonton Blizzard

Connor Blackwell lasted 4 seasons in the bigs before calling it a career. In those 4 years he lagged far behind his class putting up a putrid 70 points in 200 games played. All players taken in the top 10 have had much better careers than Blackwell including Bobby Watson who was taken 2nd overall and ranks as the best in class. Thankfully for Edmonton they were able to improve into a top tier contender for the next decade. You have to wonder how much better they could have been had Blackwell been even half of what Bobby Watson was.

LeShaun King (S43): San Francisco Pride

King was part of arguably one of the weakest top 2 player drafts in SHL History. He had a better career than Oliver Kovacs who went second to @JayWhy and the Manhattan Rage and never touched the ice, but in comparison to the rest of the class, it was a big miss. King lasted 5 seasons in the league putting up 72 goals and 140 points in that time. He had some good seasons (35 points in 50 games) but he flamed out quickly and was out of the league before he could hit his prime. King ranks high on this list due to the fact that there is a murderers row of quality in this draft following the 2nd overall pick. Thomason, Tig, Muerto, Manius, Winter and Passamus went from pick 3 to pick 8 and all of these players have been mainstays in the SHL which really illuminates the wiff that King was.

Veli Kaalinpaa (S33): Portland Admirals

Kaalinpaa is the definition of a bust and in my opinion is the worst person on this list. Veli played 5 seasons in the league in which he scored a grand total 4 goals to go along with 48 total points in over 200 games. Veli was not any better on the defensive side fielding a horrendous -41. Portland quickly realized that Veli wasn’t a big league player and cut ties quickly. This pick also ranks low on the list because of Portland’s draft history leading up to this point. In the 5 seasons prior do Veli being drafted: 3 picks were forfeited, a bust goalie was drafted and Max Weber was a great pick…..for the Jets. So the complete ineptitude of the Portland management team, coupled with Veli’s inability to do anything, makes him the worst first overall in SHL history.

Samsung virtual assistant · 09-14-2020, 04:59 PM

Rip King, got run off the site way too early

Keygan · 09-14-2020, 05:15 PM

09-14-2020, 04:52 PMBasedMinkus Wrote:
Connor Blackwell (S38): Edmonton Blizzard

Connor Blackwell lasted 4 seasons in the bigs before calling it a career. In those 4 years he lagged far behind his class putting up a putrid 70 points in 200 games played. All players taken in the top 10 have had much better careers than Blackwell including Bobby Watson who was taken 2nd overall and ranks as the best in class. Thankfully for Edmonton they were able to improve into a top tier contender for the next decade. You have to wonder how much better they could have been had Blackwell been even half of what Bobby Watson was.

You don’t have to wonder, they traded him and ended up with my sorry ass.

***Acsolap*** · 09-14-2020, 05:46 PM

09-14-2020, 04:52 PMBasedMinkus Wrote:
LeShaun King (S43): San Francisco Pride

King ranks high on this list due to the fact that there is a murderers row of quality in this draft following the 2nd overall pick. Thomason, Tig, Muerto, Manius, Winter and Passamus went from pick 3 to pick 8 and all of these players have been mainstays in the SHL which really illuminates the wiff that King was.

Credit to Ml002, King, Wasty, Carpy, Bruins10, Rum_Ham, Turd Ferguson, Ragnar and Enigmatic for the sigs.
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teztify · 09-14-2020, 05:54 PM

JT puttin' in work

Drayson Williams really was an all-time bad pick. It was so easy to be good in the first 10 seasons, too.

SlashACM · 09-14-2020, 05:57 PM

09-14-2020, 05:46 PMAcsolap Wrote:
09-14-2020, 04:52 PMBasedMinkus Wrote:
LeShaun King (S43): San Francisco Pride

King ranks high on this list due to the fact that there is a murderers row of quality in this draft following the 2nd overall pick. Thomason, Tig, Muerto, Manius, Winter and Passamus went from pick 3 to pick 8 and all of these players have been mainstays in the SHL which really illuminates the wiff that King was.

S43 is the draft of the steal

***Ohtaay*** · 09-14-2020, 06:48 PM

Kwik ooof

***WannabeFinn*** · 09-14-2020, 06:53 PM

oh thank god

***Ace*** · 09-14-2020, 07:09 PM

That Blackwell pick worked out pretty well for us, as Keygan has mentioned.

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