Before the Atlanta Thrashers took Patrik Stefan with the first-overall draft pick in 1999, there was a controversy surrounding the Czech forward's health – and in this feature story from THN's exclusive archive, then-associate-editor Bob McKenzie spotlighted the controversy.
For many reasons, the Atlanta Thrashers were not a successful NHL franchise – and in this feature story from THN’s July. 1, 1999 edition (Vol. 52, Issue 39), then-associate editor Bob McKenzie wrote about Atlanta’s roller-coaster experience with No. 1-overall draft pick Patrik Stefan.
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After the Thrashers took Stefan first overall in the 1999 entry draft, there were questions about his medical reports and pre-draft interviews with certain teams. And some NHL executives made it clear they weren’t pleased with the way the process turned out.
“This league, for its own health, has to get this thing in order,” said then-Chicago Blackhawks' GM Bob Murray. “What went on this week was pure and unadulterated bulls***. We can't let this happen again.”
“There were a lot of things that bothered me about this draft,” added then-Tampa-Bay-Lightning head of hockey operations Rick Dudley. “I was very, very disappointed with the whole thing.”
Stefan’s agent, Ritch Winter, denied there was any wrongdoing.
“No one was treated unfairly,” Winter told McKenzie. “No one got information other teams didn't get or couldn't get.”
Stefan did not turn out to be the player the Thrashers had hoped they were getting, as he lasted just six seasons with Atlanta and was out of the NHL after his seventh season. The Thrashers took a gamble on him despite worries about his health, and that gamble simply did not work out. But at the time the pick was made, Thrashers GM Don Waddell sounded confident he was getting a star.
“We know this kid, we know this player inside out,” Waddell said of Stefan, who went on to have a career as a player agent. “I spent so much time watching him and being with him I feel like his stepfather. Whatever risks are there because of the concussions, it's our belief they're well worth it because of his potential.”
HEADGAMES DON’T SWAY THRASHERS
By Bob McKenzie
July 1, 1999
There were no public pronouncements from Patrik Stefan, no talk about which teams he would or wouldn't play for and no threat of not donning the sweater of the team that drafted him.
But after the expansion Atlanta Thrashers made a deal to choose the big Czech center No. 1 overall in the 1999 NHL entry draft, there were many who felt the Long Beach Ice Dog center and his agent Rich Winter manipulated the process nonetheless by withholding medical reports and not attending interviews with some teams.
“This league, for its own health, has to get this thing in order,” Chicago Blackhawks' GM Bob Murray said. “What went on this week was pure and unadulterated bulls—. We can't let this happen again.”
Murray was not alone in his unhappiness.
Rick Dudley, Tampa Bay Lightning's new head of hockey operations, had significant interest in taking Stefan No. 1 overall and had the top pick to do so.
But Dudley's attempts to get a firm handle on Stefan's health – he sustained two concussions last season – were rebuffed. The theory was the lack of cooperation was intentional because Stefan was more interested in playing for Atlanta than Tampa or anyone else.
“There were a lot of things that bothered me about this draft and that's one of them,” Dudley told THN. “I was very, very disappointed with the whole thing.”
New York Islanders' GM Mike Milbury, who had some interest in parlaying his three first round picks into a player like Stefan, was less diplomatic.
“I think what (Winter) did was despicable,” Milbury fumed. “That is scurrilous behavior. It is despicable.
“He wanted to position his player with Atlanta from the beginning and he put the rest of us at a disadvantage.”
Stefan wasn't the only player accused of playing draft games. The Swedish Sedin twins-Daniel and Henrik-and their agent, Mike Barnett, undoubtedly influenced the outcome of the draft because of subtle threats of what might happen if they weren't drafted by the same team.
The Vancouver Canucks were able to make a deal with the Chicago Blackhawks, and then Tampa Bay and Atlanta, to secure the twins with the second and third overall picks.
“Everybody knows what's going on,” said Philadelphia Flyers' GM Bob Clarke said. “It is not right. Here are 18-year-olds who don't feel the rules suit them. I don't think it is right to hold a gun to a team's head.”
Technically, though, no rules were breached. Entry draft prospects are not obliged to submit to any league or team interviews or testing or supply medical reports as a condition of being drafted. The players, prior to being drafted, are not subject to the terms and conditions of the collective bargaining agreement and do not fall under the auspices of the NHL Players' Association.
Winter doesn't deny Stefan had a preference of which NHL team to play for-clearly, it was Atlanta – but said no preferential treatment was given.
“No one was treated unfairly,” Winter said. “No one got information other teams didn't get or couldn't get.”
Winter said Atlanta GM Don Waddell's International League background (Stefan played there last season) and thorough research (the Thrashers watched Stefan at a power-skating school the week before the draft in Kelowna, B.C.) were the underlying factors.
As for the notion Stefan should have been more forthcoming with medical records, Winter passionately defended the player's rights.
“This is America,” Winter said. “Patrick owns his medical records and isn't obliged to give them to anyone before the draft. My only obligation is to my client and 1 had to do two things. One, explain the medical reports to him. Two, after doing that, explain to him the possible repercussions if we made those reports available to the NHL teams. After doing that, I asked him what he wanted to do. He told me not to release the medical reports. It's as simple as that.”
Which means one of two things.
One, the medical reports gave Stefan a clean bill of health, which would likely have meant a team other than Atlanta choosing him in the draft. Or two, the medical reports said Stefan wasn't 100 per cent, which would have negatively impacted his draft status and future earning power.
Either way, it wasn't what he wanted. so he took the route of no disclosure.
“I find it ironic that the only way to have any leverage in this (entry draft) process is to have had a head injury or be a twin,” Winter said.
Waddell said he shares the frustration of his colleagues – though he vehemently denies being provided with any inside information from Stefan or Winter-but isn't sure there's any way around it.
“If someone doesn't want to give you information or meet with you, how do you force them to do it?” Waddell said.
“Everyone has an angle in this game, everyone is working an angle. That's just the way it is. I don't know if you can change that.”
In the meantime, though, the Thrasher GM is simply thrilled to have Stefan, a player he feels is worth the risk.
“We know this kid, we know this player inside out,” Waddell said. “I spent so much time watching him and being with him I feel like his stepfather.
“Whatever risks are there because of the concussions, it's our belief they're well worth it because of his potential.”
Certainly, the elements for stardom are there.
He's big (6-foot-l 1/2, 205 pounds), strong and the most physically mature prospect available in the draft. His skating is deemed as solid—it's the one area with room for considerable improvement and his skill is above average. He's been a point producer at every level he's ever played-he had 11 goals and 35 points in his injury-shortened 33-game season in the HL.
And though he's not about to provide any medical reports, he's convinced he is well on the road to recovery and expects to be playing for the Thrashers in their inaugural season.
'I am so excited,” Stefan said. “I am so happy to be No. 1.
“They talk about the concussions, my health. But I feel very, very well. Everything is behind me right now. I just want to think about my future.”
Stefan and Winter were encouraged he was able to attend vigorous power-skating sessions the week before the draft without experiencing any of the symptoms of post-concussion syndrome.
But Winter did sound a cautionary note which, if it came to pass, would be the Thrashers' worst nightmare.
“The way concussions are,” he said, “I don't think you can say there's such a thing as a completely clean bill of health for anyone who has had one or two of them. Patrik looks good, he feels good, we all think he'll be OK, but we'll see.”
Pending the negotiation of a contract, Stefan is already being penciled in as a Thrasher starter for this fall. Like last year's No. 1 pick Vincent Lecavalier (Tampa Bay), the Thrashers believe the best place for Stefan is in the NHL.
“His development in the IHL is over,” Waddell said.
“He belongs in the NHL now. He's going to play for us, whether it's six or seven minutes a game or something more than that we'll see, but we're going to be patient.
“This is such a special player. He has the opportunity to be an elite player for a long time.”
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