Advertisement
Sports Now

A look at the Ducks’ best and worst first-round draft picks

By Helene Elliott
Sports ColumnistFollow
Share

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

The Ducks’ best first-round picks:

1993: Paul Kariya, LW, No. 4 overall -- He scored 50 goals and 108 points in 1995-96 and 101 points in 1998-99. He gave the franchise respectability, but left as a free agent in 2003 after seven 20-plus-goal seasons in nine with Anaheim.

2003: Ryan Getzlaf, C, No. 19 overall -- Getzlaf has become a franchise center and was a key figure in the Ducks’ 2007 Stanley Cup run. He won gold with Team Canada at the Vancouver Olympics. In keeping with Getzlaf’s long professional pairing with right wing Corey Perry, we’ll make Perry part of this entry. He was drafted nine spots after Getzlaf, and the Ducks won big with both. Perry has been prolific and is the kind of abrasive player coaches love to have and hate to face.

Advertisement

2005: Bobby Ryan, RW, No. 2 overall -- He had 31 goals in 2008-09 and 35 goals last season with a career-high 64 points. Played on the runner-up U.S. team at the Vancouver Olympics. He has a great scoring knack, a great personality and strong fan appeal.

The Ducks’ worst first-round picks:

1995: Chad Kilger, C, No. 4 overall -- He was a big kid -- 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds -- but was too slow to have much impact. He had five goals in 45 games in 1995-96 and was traded to Winnipeg in the Teemu Selanne trade.

2001: Alexei Smirnov, LW, No. 12 overall -- He played 52 games over two seasons and had three goals and six points. After a few seasons in the minor leagues, he eventually went home to Russia.

2001: Stanislav Chistov, RW, No. 5 overall -- He didn’t have great numbers in his native Russia and didn’t have great numbers in the NHL. He scored 12 goals in 79 games in 2002-03 but never came close to that again.

Ducks last 10 first-round picks:

2009: Peter Holland, C, No. 15; Kyle Palmieri, C, No. 26
2008: Jake Gardiner, D, No. 17
2007: Logan McMillan, C, No. 19
2006: Mark Mitera, D, No. 19
2005: Bobby Ryan, RW, No. 2
2004: Ladislav Smid, D, No. 9
2003: Ryan Getzlaf, C, No. 19; Corey Perry, RW, No. 28
2002: Joffrey Lupul, RW, No. 7
2001: Stanislav Chistov, RW, No. 5
2000: Alexei Smirnov, LW, No. 12

-- Helene Elliott

Sports Now
Helene Elliott

Helene Elliott was with the Los Angeles Times’ Sports department from 1989 to 2024, first as a staff writer and then, starting in 2006, as a columnist. She became the first female journalist to be honored with a plaque in the Hall of Fame of a major professional sport as the 2005 winner of the Hockey Hall of Fame’s Elmer Ferguson Award, awarded to writers “who have brought honor to journalism and to hockey.” A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., and graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, she has covered 18 Olympics.

Advertisement