Columbus Blue Jackets and the 2015 Draft: A History of the #8 Pick
Nov 22, 2014; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Flyers center Sean Couturier (14) battles for position with Columbus Blue Jackets center Artem Anisimov (42) during the first period at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
The Columbus Blue Jackets have the #8 pick in the upcoming NHL Draft. While it’s no #1 pick, the #8 pick has to have a history of solid players…right? It’s getting the 8th best player in the draft. There has to be some contributing NHL players if we go back the past 10 years right….RIGHT? OH GOD….RIGHT?
2005 Draft
San Jose Sharks RW Devin Setoguchi
The Sharks traded up to the 8th pick on a draft day trade with the Atlanta Thrashers (who would go on to become the 2nd Winnipeg Jets) for the 12th pick who would become Marc Staal, 49th pick- Chad Denny and 207th pick- Myles Stoesz. Whoops. Setoguchi was considered a great goal scorer who can shoot down the ice. Unfortunately that’s all he would become.
Setoguchi started his NHL career hot, scoring 2 goals in his first game but the rest of his career has not turned out as well. Call it peaking too early or call it a fluke, his 2nd season, 1st full season, showed lots of promise as he scored 31 goals with 34 assists for a total of 65 points. The rest of his career he would top 40 once (41 in 2010-2011) and now resides in the minors for the Calgary Flames. If you’re interested in more, this is a solid in-depth article on what happened to Setoguchi. Essentially he never evolved his game with poor work ethic and is now closer to talking about how he used to play professional hockey than he is actually playing it. That video pretty much sums it up.
#1 Pick Penguins-Sidney Crosby
CBJ Pick #6 C Gilbert Brule
Notables #2 Ducks-Bobby Ryan #3 Hurricanes-Jack Johnson
#5 Canadiens-Carey Price
2006 Draft
Phoenix Coyotes C Peter Mueller
(Who doesn’t put sound in a highlight video??) Mueller was considered a tough, quick playmaker who was constantly setting up his teammates for great opportunities but one of the cons was a concern over concussion injuries.
Mueller also jumped on the scene putting up 22 goals with 32 assists in his first season, with the following seasons occurring 36 and 37 points. A hard hit would wrap up his 09-10 season early, being sideline by another concussion. It would take a full year to return, but when he did, concussion issues popped back up and he was limited to 32 games. He never returned to form and was most recently not resigned from the Swiss National League A.
#1 Pick Blues- D Erik Johnson
CBJ Pick #6 C Derick Brassard
Notables #2 Penguins-Jordan Staal. #3 Blackhawks-Jonathan Toews.
#4 Capitals-Nicklas Backstrom. #5 Bruins-Phil Kessel. #22 Flyers- Claude Giroux
#23 Capitals-Semyon Varlamov. #28 Senators-Nick Foligno
Next: #8 Pick 2007-2009