#4 – 2004: Al Montoya and Lauri Korpikoski
2004 was an especially poor draft year for the New York Rangers. They had not one, but two picks in the first round that amounted to nothing.
With the sixth overall pick, the Rangers selected goalie Al Montoya. He was traded to the Phoenix Coyotes in 2008 due to the emergence of Henrik Lundqvist and never made it to the NHL with the Rangers. However, the trade is bad because they took one of the worst goalies available in that round.
The Rangers passed on Devan Dubnyk, currently leading the league in GAA, and All-Star goalie Cory Schneider. It’s hard to say that choosing a goalie was the first mistake here, because who knew Henrik Lundqvist would become the goalie he would. But if this draft were to be re-done, the Rangers would certainly go with Dubnyk or Schneider.
Ten picks later, the Rangers selected Lauri Korpikoski. He managed only 14 points through 68 games with the team in 2008. He was traded to the Coyotes after that season.
Travis Zajac went with the next pick, and he has had a much better career than Korpikoski. Zajac has over 400 career points and has played in over 700 NHL games. Also drafted later in that round was defenseman Mike Green. Green was a two-time Norris Trophy Finalist and has over 400 points in just under 700 NHL games.
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