The Canadiens are hoping to get a top tier talent at the 9th pick and history suggests they can do just that.
The history of the 9th selection is very hit or miss. For the most part, teams have gotten players who had solid careers. And just like every other spot in the draft order, theirs been some big hits and some really big misses. Unfortunately, the Canadiens missed pretty badly with their only other 9th pick.
For the purposes of this exercise, the draft window used is from 1970 through 2010. The 2010 cutoff exists because I feel 6 years is a long enough period to judge on whether the player has proven to be a good pick.
The Truly Exceptional
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So this article is really supposed to be the Good, the Bad and the Ugly of the 9th pick. However, two players truly stood head and shoulders above everyone else and they were Cam Neely and Brian Leetch. Both players had stellar NHL careers in which they carved paths to the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Neely was taken by Vancouver in 1983 and his career never really took off until after he was traded to Boston in 1986. That trade ended up being one of the worst trades in Canucks history as they dealt Neely and their 1987 1st round pick(Glen Wesley) for Barry Pederson.
Neely finished his career as a three-time 50 goal scorer. Despite early retirement due to knee injuries, Neely was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2005. To top it off, Neely proved to be a massive thorn in the sides of the Canadiens throughout his career.
Brian Leetch played 17 seasons in the NHL as one of it’s premier puck-moving defencemen. Leetch won it all in his career. He began with the Calder Trophy in 1989, followed by two Norris Trophies in 1992 and 1997 and capped off by winning a Conn Smythe and Stanley Cup in 1994.
All told, Leetch was a 5-time 20 goal scorer, eclipsed 100 points in 1992, scored over 1000 points in his career and topped it all off with a Hall of Fame nod in 2009. Leetch ranks 8th on the all-time points list for defenders. He firmly entrenched himself as a premier offensive defender in an era that featured Ray Bourque, Phil Housley, Paul Coffey, Nicklas Lidstrom, Al MacInnis, Larry Murphy and Chris Chelios, all of whom rank with Leetch in the top 10 for points for defenders.
The Good
So, with the Hall of Famers out of the way, we can get down to business. In all likelihood, the Canadiens will not be drafting a Hall of Fame calibre player at the 9th pick. But what can Canadiens fans expect?
Well, some of the most successful players taken at 9th overall have been defencemen. On top of Leetch, fellow defenders James Patrick, Doug Bodger, Ruslan Salei and Dion Phaneuf rank as some of the most successful 9th picks of all time.
Patrick and Bodger both had long and fruitful careers. Patrick saw time in 21 NHL seasons, starting out as a reliable offensive contributor for his first 8 years before turning into a stay-at-home defender through his final 13 seasons. Bodger played more of a two-way game through his 16 years in the NHL, topping 40 points 6 times while playing solid defence.
Among forwards, Rod Brind’Amour ranks as the second best forward ever taken 9th overall. Brind’Amour truly was one of the games best two-way forwards through his 20 year NHL career. Mike Bullard is the only forward taken 9th overall who topped 100 points in a season wwhile also scoring 50 goals. More recently, Logan Couture has proven to be the best forward taken 9th since 2000.
The Bad
Labeling this group of players “The Bad” is probably harsh and likely not fair to these players. Most of these players had solid careers but for whatever reason, failed to live up to the expectations of a top 10 pick.
Todd Harvey was taken by Dallas in 1993 and played 11 seasons in the league. He was a solid energy guy but only topped 10 goals on 4 occasions and topped 30 points just once. Patrick Poulin was taken by the old Hartford Whalers in 1991 and topped 20 goals and 40 points just once, in his rookie year. Poulin was a solid depth forward who actually spent the last 4 and a half seasons as a member of the Canadiens.
More recently, Josh Bailey and Ladislav Smid have carved niches as solid depth players but have not lived up to the high expectations.
The Ugly
When a team misses at 9th overall, they miss badly. Only a single player between 1970 and 2010 failed to play at least 1 NHL game and the Canadiens hold the distinction of drafting that player, Robin Sadler. The Canadiens certainly hoped for better in 1975.
Craig Duncanson, Brett Lindros, Brent Krahn and Petr Taticek all failed to help the Kings, Islanders, Flames and Panthers respectively. None of those players played more than 51 NHL games. In Krahn’s case, he is the only goalie taken at 9th between 1970-2010 and played just a single period in his NHL career.
More recently, Jared Cowen has sputtered badly to find his spot in the NHL and James Sheppard could not live up to the lofty expectations of the Minnesota Wild and never scored more than 5 goals in any NHL season.
Next: Canadiens Sign Top Prospect Martin Reway
Summary
The 9th pick can literally go anywhere going by history. The odds of taking an exceptional player at 9 is low but still possible. In all likelihood, the Canadiens will be selecting a player who will be more of a solid to above average NHL player.
That is probably not what Canadiens fans want to hear but based purely on the history of the pick, that’s what the odds say. Now, this exercise is far from an exact science and is more of a history lesson than anything.
Their are far too many variables that determine the success or failure of any draft pick a nd come draft night, the best we can hope for is for the Canadiens to take the player they deem as the best available.