When it comes to the NHL Draft, players seem to go in all sorts of directions. You could have the sure thing in a prospect, like Nathan MacKinnon was when the Colorado Avalanche took him first overall in 2013. You could also end up selecting a player that you can put the “bust” label on, or sometimes someone gets taken with a high draft pick that just does alright, but doesn’t perform at the level you’d hope.
The Avalanche have made some pretty darn good selections in the draft, including the aforementioned MacKinnon, as well as Gabriel Landeskog and Cale Makar. Then, in the later rounds, they have taken several players who went on to have long careers, but primarily for other teams.
That last point is an indication that the team possibly failed to see a player’s future success, while giving up on them prematurely.
Marek Svatos
Marek Svatos was selected in the seventh round (227 overall) by the Colorado Avalanche in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft. He spent the 2001-02 season with the Kootenay Ice of the WHL, where he had previously spent one season prior to being drafted.
While there, Svatos recorded 61 goals and 57 assists in two seasons (92 games played).
Svatos played the 2002-03 season, as well as the 2004-05 season, with the Hershey Bears and was in for 102 games, putting up 27 goals and 32 assists.
In between those two stints with the Bears, Svatos was called up by the Avalanche in 2003-04, putting up two goals. However, his first time in an NHL lineup lasted just two games.
From 2005-06 through 2009-10 was when Svatos say the majority of his action with Colorado, and his days with the Hershey Bears was officially over with. He played in 312 games and put up 94 goals and 68 assists in that five years. He put up double-digit goals in four of his six seasons with the Colorado Avalanche, which, to me, is not too shabby for a seventh-round pick.
Svatos tragically passed away on November 5, 2016, at the age of 34. The cause of death was from a drug overdose.