Ranking the 5 Biggest Draft Fails in Pittsburgh Penguins History

Perhaps no team in the NHL has benefited as much from the annual NHL Entry Draft as have the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Having acquired current stars Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Marc-Andre Fleury as well as past greats Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr through the draft, the Pens have been remarkably successful at assessing talent (not to mention lucky to be in the position to draft that talent).

However, drafting is not an exact science, and while the Pens have had their share of success, they've also had their share of failures.

With less than a week to go before the first selection is made at the 2013 NHL Entry Draft in Newark, N.J., let's take a look at the five biggest draft busts in Pittsburgh Penguins history.

5. Chris Joseph

Selected with the fifth overall pick in the 1987 NHL Entry Draft, Chris Joseph was projected as a franchise defenseman whose size and skill could make him a fixture on the Penguins' blue line for years to come.

Unfortunately, that proved not to be the case.  Despite averaging nearly a point per game during his final two seasons playing for the Seattle Thunderbirds of the WHL, Joseph struggled at the NHL level after arriving in Pittsburgh.  

Perhaps sensing that he had overestimated Joseph's potential, Pens GM Craig Patrick traded him after just 17 games to the Edmonton Oilers in the deal that brought Hall of Fame defenseman Paul Coffey to Pittsburgh. Coffey would twice top the 100-point plateau and helped lead the Pens to their first Stanley Cup in 1991.

While Joseph would develop into a solid if unspectacular defenseman and go on to play 14 seasons in the NHL, he would never become the player the Pens thought that he would be when they drafted him with the fifth overall pick. 

To add insult to injury, in drafting Chris Joseph, Craig Patrick bypassed Luke Richardson and Bryan Marchment, two physical defensemen whom he would pursue for the rest of his tenure as Penguins GM without success.

4. Robert Dome

Perhaps envisioning him as another incarnation of fellow Czechoslovakian forward Jaromir Jagr, the Penguins drafted Robert Dome of the Las Vegas Thunder of the IHL with the 17th overall pick in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft.

After missing out on other highly touted wingers such as Marian Hossa and Sergei Samsonov, who were taken earlier in the first round, the Pens seemed intrigued by Dome's size and skill and selected him instead of another power forward prospect named Brenden Morrow.

As a European-trained player who had joined the IHL in order to get acclimated to the North American style of hockey, Dome was seemingly a well-rounded player and was expected to mesh well with a Pens team that included fellow countrymen Jaromir Jagr, Martin Straka, Robert Lang and Jiri Slegr.

At 6'1" and 210 pounds, Dome seemingly had the physical attributes scouts felt would translate into success at the NHL level. However, that success would never materialize. 

Despite showing flashes after first arriving in Pittsburgh, Dome would contribute just seven goals and seven assists in 52 games with the Pens and was released after just four years.

3. Angelo Esposito

Having selected highly touted centers Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby and Jordan Staal in the first round of each of the previous three drafts, the Penguins faced a dilemma at the 2007 NHL Entry Draft.

Should they draft to address a need, or should they simply take the best player available regardless of need? 

In just his second year on the job, Pens GM Ray Shero opted to do the latter and selected the talented but enigmatic center Angelo Esposito from the Quebec Remparts of the QMJHL with the 20th overall pick.

Although he had been touted as a possible first overall selection and had drawn comparisons to former Remparts great Guy Lafleur, Esposito's stock had fallen along with his point production during his tenure with the Remparts. 

Although Esposito's offensive production continued to decline after being drafted, Shero was able to salvage something from the selection and traded his NHL rights to the Atlanta Thrashers along with Colby Armstrong, Erik Christensen and a 2008 first-round draft pick in a trade-deadline deal for Marián Hossa and Pascal Dupuis.

Having been traded to the Dallas Stars in 2011 and then to the Florida Panthers in 2012, Esposito has been a part of four different NHL organizations but has yet to play in a single NHL game.

2. Konstantin Koltsov

While the Penguins have been fortunate enough to draft some of the most highly touted prospects in NHL history such as Sidney Crosby and Mario Lemieux, one of the most acclaimed prospects in franchise history is one that few fans remember.

Nicknamed the "Russian Rocket II" because of his great speed and stick-handling and for his playing style that was reminiscent of Russian great Pavel Bure, Konstantin Koltsov was too good to pass up.  

For a team looking to rebuild like the Pens, Koltsov's upside outweighed his limited production with the Severstal Cherepovets of the Russian Super League, and they selected him with the 20th overall pick in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft.

As a team stocked with Russian-trained talent in players such as Alexei Kovalev, Alexei Morozov, German Titov and Darius Kasparaitis, the Pens seemed like a good fit for a developing talent such as Koltsov, and the early returns on their investment were promising.

In his first full season of North American hockey, Koltsov was nearly a point-per-game player with the Pens' minor league affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. The following season, Koltsov became a regular with the Pens, but while he showed flashes of skill, he struggled to adapt to the North American style of play and the smaller ice surface.

During the NHL's 2004 work stoppage, Koltsov returned to Russia and seemed to find a level of comfort that he never had in the NHL.  After once again struggling to find his game in 2005, Koltsov was released by the Pens, having recorded just 12 goals and 26 assists in 144 games.

Koltsov returned to Russia to join the newly formed KHL and has never returned to NHL.

1. Craig Hillier

Looking to replace an aging Tom Barrasso in net and acquire their next franchise goaltender, the Penguins selected Craig Hillier of the Ottawa 67's of the OHL with the 23rd overall pick in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft.

As only the fourth goaltender selected in the first round in franchise history, expectations were high for Hillier and the early returns in the investment were positive. After two more impressive seasons with Ottawa in the OHL, Hillier turned pro in 1998 and joined the Pens in training camp.

After a strong showing during the preseason, which included a promising performance in a 3-2 defeat to the reigning Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings, Hillier was sent to the minors and named the starting goaltender of the Pens' minor league affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch, in order to continue his development. 

Unfortunately, that development never occurred, and Hillier languished in the AHL, ECHL, UHL and CHL for the next six seasons but would never play an NHL game. 

In drafting Hillier, Penguins GM Craig Patrick passed on another goaltending prospect, future Penguin Mathieu Garon, who was a part of the Penguins 2009 Stanley Cup-winning team, as well as a highly regarded defensive prospect named Zdeno Chara.