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Nashville Predators: Draft Picks You Wish They Could Have Back

By Ryan Veal

ST PAUL, MN - JUNE 25: Head coach Barry Trotz of the Nashville Predators shakes hands with Miikka Salomaki drafted 52nd overall by the Predators during day two of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft at Xcel Energy Center on June 25, 2011 in St Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
ST PAUL, MN - JUNE 25: Head coach Barry Trotz of the Nashville Predators shakes hands with Miikka Salomaki drafted 52nd overall by the Predators during day two of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft at Xcel Energy Center on June 25, 2011 in St Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /
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NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE – MARCH 28: Miikka Salomaki  of the Nashville Predators. (Photo by Frederick Breedon/Getty Images)
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE – MARCH 28: Miikka Salomaki  of the Nashville Predators. (Photo by Frederick Breedon/Getty Images) /

2011- Magnus Hellbrug (Goalie), Miikka Salomaki (Right Wing), Josh Shalla (Left Wing), and Brent Andrews (Left Wing)

Man, this is one draft the Predators sure wish they could do over again. This was by far their worst draft in franchise history. Luckily, there hasn’t been that bad of a draft since.

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Hellburg played a total of four games in his NHL career and has been playing in the KHL since then. The very next pick was John Gibson. The 26-year-old has had a great career.

But the Predators had already seen what Pekka Rinne could do in net, so missing out on goaltenders wasn’t that disastrous at this point.

In the same round, the Predators selected Miikka Salomaki. He still has many more seasons before he retires, but as of right now only has 27 points in 167 games.

Salomaki was a physical grinder of a player that you can appreciate, but he just never really produced to the level you expect from a 2nd-round pick, but he has had a decent career in the AHL with Milwaukee.

Hopefully he can turn his career around with the Toronto Maple Leafs. This mistake hurts the worst, with two right wingers later seeing Nikita Kucherov taken. Ouch.

Kucherov won theArt Ross Trophy, Ted LindsayAward,  and Hart Memorial Trophy last season. He is arguably the best player in the NHL. The 26-year-old still has many more great years ahead of him, but currently he has 547 points in 515 games.

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