Draft Review: The biggest stars and busts of the 2010 NHL Draft

Ah, the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, sometimes remembered as the “Taylor or Tyler” draft. The Edmonton Oilers had the first overall pick for the first time in team history and were tasked with selecting either Windsor Spitfires winger power forward Taylor Hall or nifty Plymouth Whalers playmaker Tyler Seguin. The Oilers chose Hall and the rest is history. 

With over seven years now to reflect on the 2010 Entry Draft enough time has passed for us to give an honest assessment of the work done by scouts and GMs. Let’s rank the 10 biggest stars and the 10 biggest busts to come out of the surprisingly deep draft.

Up first, the stars:

10. John Klingberg - Dallas Stars (131 overall)
9. Jeff Skinner - Carolina Hurricanes (7 overall)
8. Justin Faulk - Carolina Hurricanes (37 overall)
7. Cam Fowler - Anaheim Ducks (12 overall)
6. Mikael Granlund - Minnesota Wild (9 overall)
5. Taylor Hall - Edmonton Oilers (1 overall)
4. Ryan Johansen - Columbus Blue Jackets (4 overall)
3. Evgeny Kuznetsov - Washington Capitals (26 overall)
2. Vladimir Tarasenko - St. Louis Blues (16 overall)
1. Tyler Seguin - Boston Bruins (2 overall)

That’s a pretty strong group of players. You’ll notice also, with the most obvious examples of Seguin and Hall, that not every player remains with the team he was selected by. On the other hand, players like Kuznetsov and Klingberg have reward their team’s patience by panning out better than the team could have hoped for.

Now, the 10 biggest busts of the 2010 NHL Draft:

10. Emerson Etem - Anaheim Ducks (29 overall)
9. Mark Visentin - Arizona Coyotes (27 overall)
8. Jared Tinordi - Montreal Canadiens (22 overall)
7. Beau Bennett - Pittsburgh Penguins (20 overall)
6. Brandon Gormley - Arizona Coyotes (13 overall)
5. Jack Campbell - Dallas Stars (11 overall)
4. Dylan McIlrath - New York Rangers (10 overall)
3. Alex Burmistrov - Winnipeg Jets (8 overall)
2. Brett Connolly - Tampa Bay Lightning (6 overall)
1. Erik Gudbranson - Florida Panthers (3 overall)

Ouch. Some of those names and draft positions are just painful to read. Could you imagine passing on Johansen or Tarasenko to select Gudbranson or Connolly? Ouch. Or how about Minnesota grabbing Granlund just one spot behind Burmistrov? Talk about luck.

No matter how you look at it there are winners and losers to every draft. In the case of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft however, you have to really feel for some of the teams given how the choices they’ve made have turned out.