1994 Entry Draft

[Habnadien]

I'm trying to figure out how the Quebec Nordiques could take Wade Belak 12th overall. The amazing part is they also grabbed Chris Drury and Milan Hejduk in the same draft. Was he a bust, or did the Nordiques need a phyiscal defenceman so bad that they didn't care that he could barely skate? It's kind of funny that Calgary took Chris Dingman in the first round that year too. They couldn't have been that hard up for enforcers.

[Hab01]

Quebec didn't care because they were moving anyway.

[Portuguese_Hockey_Rules]

Players who are busts try to keep their careers afloat by becomng enforcers. For example, Tie Domi was drafted 28th overall by the Leafs and Andrei Nazarov was drafted 10th overall by theSharks.

[Unregistered]

hab01 of course they cared it was the same organization just different city.

if you look at 1984 draft it was not that great anyways so belak was not a bad choice. after belak only a few good players besides drury and hejduk.

jose theodore 44th patrik elias 51st and dan alfredsson 133rd.

[Habnadien]

That's a valid point that it was a weak draft because it really was. However, how could they believe that this was a better defensive prospect than say Rhett Warrener, Mathieu Dandenault, Sheldon Souray, or the last pick and the steal of the century - Kim Johnsson. It just doesn't make sense. Does it?

[Portuguese_Hockey_Rules]

I'm pretty sure that Belak came into the league as a forward, because he scored his first career goal on a line with Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg. I don't get it either though, as he had only eight goals and thirty-five points in his junior career.

[Habnadien]

Yes, it's possible that he could've played forward when he broke in, even though he is listed as a defenceman on the draft list. I know that he plays forward for the Leafs now. Perhaps that was one of the reasons they drafted him was because of his versitility. Maybe they needed somebody to protect their stars, but even so, this is the type of player you draft in the last couple rounds. I think Drury and Hejduk were the best two forward picks (with all due respect to Ryan Smyth) and to have Quebec get them after making a huge blunder like this is incredibly lucky.

[Unregistered]

no but u just have to look at this guy who was selected first overall in 1968 and never played a game. Rick Panguitti i think it was.

[Portuguese_Hockey_Rules]

Back in 1968 teams were only allowed to draft players they "sponsored", which is why the draft was pretty much useless.