Four Colorado Avalanche late-round draft picks made good with the team and in the NHL in general, giving us hope for current late-rounders.
The Colorado Avalanche have done well with their early-round draft picks, especially in recent years. Sure, there was the Conner Bleackley debacle, which I will never understand. But they’ve certainly made up for it in the likes of Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, Gabriel Landeskog, and, yes, Matt Duchene.
Plus there was that whole Alex Tanguay Cup-winning goal guy, but I digress.
First rounders, even first-overall players, are never a sure thing. Once you get to the late rounds, it’s a crap shoot.
That said, in watching the draft coverage this year, the NHL Network spoke with Luc Robitaille. He told a funny story about being relegated to the upper heights of the arena because he was scouted to get drafted low, if at all. (He apparently ate a lot of hot dogs that day.)
Luc Robitaille was drafted 171st overall (ninth round) in 1984. He went on to put up a Hall of Fame career that included eight All Star appearances, the Calder Trophy for rookie of the year, a Stanley Cup, and having his jersey retired by the Kings. (He’s also the highest scoring left wing in NHL history — and did I mention he’s a Hall of Famer?) The Kings, for whom he’s president, also erected a statue of their player-hero outside Staples Center.
He’s presided over two Stanley Cup championship teams as president, too. Not bad for a ninth-rounder.
Anyway, that got me to thinking about a common adage — how high you’re drafted is all about what you did beforehand. The real meat of the deal comes afterward. So, I looked at the Colorado Avalanche’s draft history to discover some of the most successful late-round draft picks.
Spoiler alert: They’re not Hall of Famers, but they still made lasting impressions on the Colorado Avalanche.