On This Day: Blackhawks Make Huge Draft Mistake
In pretty much every sport, every so often, a team will take a pretty big gamble when it comes to the draft. The Chicago Blackhawks were that team in the 2004 NHL draft, when they shocked everyone by selecting Cam Barker with the 3rd overall pick. This pick came as a pretty big surprise, with Barker not being that high on most teams board. Turns out that was for good reason.
Cam Barker went on to have a pretty lackluster career in which he would go back and forth from the AHL and NHL levels. At the NHL level he accumulated 96 total points with 75 assists and 21 goals. More than a lot of NHL players can say, but certainly nothing very memorable.
Just to name a few of players the Blackhawks missed out because of this selection: Andrew Ladd (yes, he ended up here for a little, but still), Blake Wheeler, Travis Zajac, Cory Schneider, Mike Green. Probably a few more that could be thrown in but you see the point, this was a complete swing and miss from the Blackhawks on this pick.
Just a quick comparison to those players career stats vs Barkers
Cam Barker: 21G, 75A, 96P
Andrew Ladd: 256G, 294A, 550P
Blake Wheeler: 296G, 571A, 867P
Travis Zajac: 203G, 349A 552P
Cory Schneider: Can't compare his stats because he was a goalie, but definitely would have been ore valuable than Barker.
Mike Green: 150G, 351A, 501P
As you can see, this is without a doubt, one of the most forgettable draft picks in Chicago Blackhawks history. Hopefully we won't see any repeats of that with some of the most important drafts in franchise history to happen in the coming years.
