Leafs History: Leafs Top 10 Worst First Draft Picks Of The 1990's

The Leafs, as many of you loyal Buds fans know, have not won a Stanley Cup in nearly 43 years...and counting.

They've had some stellar teams since 1967, but haven't quite had the talent to make it to the Stanley Cup finals.

Gone are the days of Darryl Sittler, Lanny MacDonald, and Borje Salming in the 1970's. How about the days of an early Wendel Clark, Rick Vaive and Russ Courtnall of the 1980's?

Lastly, gone are the days of Dougie Gilmour, Mats Sundin, and Dave Andreychuk of the early and late 1990's.

As you can tell, over the years the Leafs have had the top line talent to compete in for a championship, but when it all comes down to it, success is built from the draft.

The New Jersey Devils, Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Blackhawks and Philadelphia Flyers are great examples today of teams that draft well and are always in position to contend for championships.

10. 1998 Nik Antropov Taken 10th Overall

Dave Sandford/Getty Images

27 Sep 2001: Nik Antropov #11 of the Toronto Maple Leafs watches the action during the game against the Buffalo Sabres at the Air Canda Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Maple Leafs defeated the Sabres 3-1.Mandatory Credit: Dave Sandford /Allsport

NHL Totals 603 GP 156 G 215 A 371 P 527 PIM

When Nik Antropov was taken 10th overall, the selection sent shock waves throughout Leafs Nation. Why would the Leafs dare to draft a Kazakh? How would this 6'6 man's game translate to the NHL?

Essentially, as bad as this sounds, Nik Antropov is the best of the worst. He's the class of the 1990's when it comes to drafting and not missing out on much after him. 

Players still Available:

Alex Tanguay

Simon Gagne 

Scott Gomez

Andrei Markov

Pavel Datsyuk (who was selected 171st overall if you can believe it)

9. 1993 Kenny Jonsson Taken 12th Overall

Mitchell Layton/Getty Images

WASHINGTON - OCTOBER 9: Kenny Jonsson #29 of the New York Islanders looks on during the game against the Washington Capitals at the MCI Center on October 9, 2003 in Washington D.C. (Photo By Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)

NHL Totals 686 GP 63 G 204 A 267 P 298 PIM

Kenny Jonsson's NHL career was decimated by concussions. While he wasn't the toughest defender out there, he still managed to play a good two-way game.

A fairly good offensive defenseman, Jonsson is better known for his disputes with former Leafs Captain and Team Sweden teammate Mats Sundin.

Players Still Available

Todd Bertuzzi

Saku Koivu

Eric Daze (another injury-prone player)

Miroslav Satan

Pavol Demitra

8. 1992 Brandon Convery Taken 8th Overall

Brandon Convery

NHL Totals 72 GP 9 G 19 A 28 P 36 PIM

Convery never really had a chance to make it with the Leafs. He had a stellar junior career and even his career with the St. John's Maple Leafs was a very respectable, verging on star level with the Baby Buds on the Rock.

Convery's size for the NHL at that time was not conducive to really making a mark in the NHL.

I still believe if the 1992 draft was done in 2010, Convery could have been a force in the NHL.

Players Still Available

Sergei Gonchar

Jason Smith

Martin Straka

Mike Peca

Mattias Norstrom

Kirk Maltby

Craig Rivet

Robert Svehla

Jere Lehtinen

Adrian Aucoin

Nikolai Khabibulin

Anson Carter

7. 1997 Traded Pick to NYI, 4th Overall

Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

CHICAGO - MAY 09: Roberto Luongo #1 of the Vancouver Canucks makes a glove save against the Chicago Blackhawks in Game Five of the Western Conference Semifinals during the 2010 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at United Center on May 9, 2010 in Chicago, Illinois.

New York Islanders trade Wendel Clark and Mathieu Schneider to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for Kenny Jonsson and Toronto's 1997 1st round pick (4th overall - Roberto Luongo).

Now how did this move work out? Wendel Clark was nearing the end of his career and Mathieu Schnieder temporarily improved the defense, however the Leafs at the time were not close to anything (since they managed to trade the 4th overall selection), so trading for two older players when you're nearly out of it makes no sense to me.

Even though no player was selected, this trade will go down as the second worst (in hindsight) made by the Leafs.

Players There To Take If Pick Was Available

Roberto Luongo (taken with the fourth selection)

Marian Hossa

Brendan Morrow

Kristian Huselius

Maxim Afinogenov

Brian Campbell

Not a very strong draft class after the first round or so.

6. 1999 Luca Cereda Taken 24th Overall

Dave Sandford/Getty Images

STOCKHOLM - SEPTEMBER 14: Luca Cereda #36 of the Toronto Maple Leafs headshot at the Globe Arena on September 13, 2003 in Stockholm, Sweden. (Photo By Dave Sandford/Getty Images/NHLI)

No NHL Stats

Luca Cereda very easily could be a top 3 worst draft pick, but due to heart issues, he would never play an NHL game.

At 6'2 and over 205 pounds, Cereda had all the potential in the world to be a serviceable player, but in the end, his heart got the best of him.

Also, he was taken 24th overall, it wasn't as if the Leafs wasted a lottery pick on him.

Players Still Available

Martin Havlat

Ryan Miller

Henrik Zetterberg (taken 210th overall)

5. 1996 Marek Posmyk Taken 36th Overall

Ian Tomlinson/Getty Images

15 Sep 1999: Marek Posmyk #45 of the Toranto Maple Leafs looks on during the game against the Calgary Flames at the Canadian Airlines Saddledome in Calgary, Canada. The Flames defeated the Maple Leafs 4-2. Mandatory Credit: Ian Tomlinson /Allsport

19 GP 1 G 2 A 3 P 20 PIM

Another of a long list of terrible picks by the Leafs of the 1990's. Posmyk would play only a handful of games with the Tampa Bay Lightning and has not been seen on an NHL rink since.

At 6'5" 220 pounds, he was yet another big defenseman the Leafs attempted to draft and failed miserably at.

As I'm researching all these picks, it depresses me even more at how badly this team drafted.

Players Still Available

Zdeno Chara

Tomas Kaberle (luckily taken by the Leafs)

Pavel Kubina

Colin White

Tom Poti

Aaron Asham

Mark Parrish

Toni Lydman

Michal Roszival

Sami Pahlsson

4. 1995 Jeff Ware Taken 15th Overall

Jeff Ware

21 GP 0 G 1 A 1 P 12 PIM

Ware was another terrible pick by the Leafs. At the age of 33, Ware has not played pro hockey since a stint with the Syracuse Crunch in 2001-02. At 6'4 220" pounds, Ware was an intimidating presence coming out of junior, but his game never would translate to pro hockey.

Players Still Available

Petr Sykora

Marc Savard

Miikka Kiprusoff

Filip Kuba

Jochen Hecht

Michal Handzus

Chris Mason

Stephane Robidas

3. 1994 Eric Fichaud Taken 16th Overall

Elsa/Getty Images

21 Oct 1997: Goaltender Eric Fichaud of the New York Islanders makes a save during a game against the Los Angeles Kings at the Great Western Forum in Inglewood, California. The Kings won the game 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Elsa Hasch /Allsport

Eric's goaltending was up and down, and at 5'11" 170 lbs, he would be one of the smallest goalies in the NHL.

Fichaud would never be able to stick with any NHL team for an extended period of time.

Fichaud in hindsight, was not a terrible first round pick because to be honest, the rest of the first round wasn't much better.

But still, the list of players still left in the next rounds could blow your mind.

Players Still Available

Jose Theodore

Patrik Elias

Fredrik Modin

Sheldon Souray

Chris Drury

Milan Hejduk

Marty Turco

Daniel Alfredsson

Tim Thomas

Evgeni Nabokov

Tomas Vokoun

Steve Sullivan

Tomas Holmstrom

Wayne Primeau (just for giggles, taken right after Fichaud)

2. 1990 Drake Berehowsky Taken 10th Overall

Dave Sandford/Getty Images

TORONTO - MARCH 4: Brian Leetch #2 of the Toronto Maple Leafs shares a laugh with teammate Drake Berehowsky #55 during warm up prior to the Leaf's game against the New York Islanders at Air Canada Centre on March 4, 2004 in Toronto, Ontario. It is Leetch

NHL Totals 549 GP 37 G 112 A 149 P 848 PIM

Drake Berehowsky was another one of those questionable picks in a long line of bad picks by the Leafs.

He was a terrible defenseman, but still managed to play 550 games in the NHL. How he did, I still don't have a clue.

Players Still Available

Keith Tkachuk

Martin Brodeur

Bryan Smolinski

Dough Weight

Geoff Sanderson

Slava Kozlov

Mikael Renberg

Alexei Zhamnov

Sergei Zubov

Craig Conroy

Robert Lang

Peter Bondra

Sergei Nemchinov

1. 1991 Traded First Round Pick To NJ For Tom Kurvers

Mike Powell/Getty Images

23 Jan 1995: Tim Kurvers of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks skates down the ice during a game against the Edmonton Oilers at Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, California. The Ducks won the game 5-4 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Mike Powell /Allsport

This trade will easily go down as the worst deal in Leafs history. Kurvers actually had a decent campaign with the Leafs scoring 52 points that season, but in retrospect, he was still not worth a first-round pick, especially after the Leafs finished 28-48-6 the previous season.

He recorded 66 points the season previous to that with the Devils, but in reality, the Leafs were not one offensive defenseman away from contention; they were at least 3-4 players away. 

When Kurvers hit the scene, the Leafs finished with a respectable .500 record finishing 38-38-6.

Players Who Were Available at Third Overall

Scott Niedermayer

Peter Forsberg

Brian Rolston

Alex Kovalev

Markus Naslund

Glen Murray

Martin Rucinsky

Ray Whitney

Zigmund Palffy

Steve Staios

Sandis Ozolinsh

Jozef Stumpel

Michael Nylander

Alexei Zhitnik

Brian Savage

Honorable Mention: Landon Wilson Taken 19th Overall In 1993 Entry Draft

Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

PHILADELPHIA - NOVEMBER 24: Landon Wilson #22 of the Dallas Stars skates against the Phildelphia Flyers on November 24, 2008 at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

NHL Totals 375 GP 53 G 66 A 119 P 352 PIM

I couldn't really put him in this list per se, since he wasn't a first choice by the Leafs, but he was a second first-round draft pick along with Grant Marshall who was drafted in 1992 (Convery draft).

Wilson ended up with the worst of the two careers, so he garners the honorable mention here.