1.
Neil Brady – 3rd overall in 1986 NHL Draft
When it comes to blowing a pick, missing hard on a player taken 3rd overall can set a franchise back years. The Devils were able to destroy the draft in the next few years, so they got lucky, but picking Neil Brady 3rd overall was the biggest mistake the Devils ever made at the NHL Draft. Taking anyone that high who doesn’t play 100 games is a travesty for a franchise.
Brady wasn’t like Foster that he was a relatively unknown. He was a scoring machine for the Medicine Hat Tigers, hitting 80+ points two seasons in a row. His numbers struggled in his last season in Juniors, and the Devils brought him to Utica in 1988. The Devils thought he’d eventually find his scoring touch again, but it just never happened. He only played 29 games in New Jersey before the Ottawa Senators took him in the expansion draft.
The Senators gave him a legitimate shot to be an everyday starter, but he scored just seven goals in his first season there. That was basically the end of his career, as he only had a cup of coffee with the Dallas Stars.
Brady was a player with an edge that was too easily distracted from being the great player he was destined to become. Vincent Damphousse, Brian Leetch, and current Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald all played more than 1,000 games in that 1st round. Imagine the Devils defense while adding Brian Leetch? Do the Rangers still wait for their first Stanley Cup since ’41? If only we could dream.
The Devils had a chance to change the course of their history, but they ended up with a dud. It is what it is, and the Devils have some great draft picks in the past to help us sleep at night, but these were not good.