The 2005 NHL Draft was a catastrophe for the NY Islanders

The NHL Draft is never easy to predict despite the amount of scouting that goes on for months before the first overall pick is on the clock.

There are always a handful of high draft picks that don’t pan out, but each team typically finds at least one player who becomes a serviceable member of the organization at some point in their career.

This wasn't the case for The NY Islanders in 2005, which may go down as one of the worst drafts any team has ever had.

The worst of the bunch

In what was his final draft as GM of the Islanders, Mike Millbury failed to select a single player who found any success in the NHL.

His first pick at no. 15 overall, Ryan O’Marra, was ranked the 14th best North American skater by ESPN.com in 2005.

O’Marra was traded to the Edmonton Oilers two years later as part of the deal that brought Ryan Smyth to the Islanders at the 2007 trade deadline - failing to play a single game for the Isles. He played in 33 career NHL games between the Oilers and and Ducks, before bouncing around Europe. 

Sadly for the Islanders, O’Marra was the most productive of all the Islanders draft picks in 2005. 

Dustin Kohn, selected in the second round by Millbury, spent the most time with the Islanders, playing four seasons with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers and 22 games with the Islanders in 09-10, recording four assists. In 2011 Kohn left the organization, continuing his career in Sweden.

Millbury made five more picks that draft, Shea Guthrie (76), Masi Marjamäki (144), Tyrell Mason (180), Nick Tuzzolino (196), and Luciano Aquino (210), with Marjamäki the only one to make an NHL appearance, playing in one game with the Islanders in 2005-06.

It’s safe to say this draft provided nearly nothing for the Islanders. O’Marra became its most valuable asset, used only as a trade chip, even though Smyth spent less than half a season with the organization. In many ways, the 2005 NHL Draft was symbolic of Millbury’s tenure on Long Island.