The 2008 NHL Entry Draft in Ottawa will always be notable as the draft which produced generational player Steven Stamkos. It is also notable for the number of defensemen drafted in the first round (12), including current high-calibre blueliners Drew Doughty, Alex Pietrangelo, Luke Schenn, Tyler Myers, Erik Karlsson, Jake Gardiner, Michael Del Zotto, and John Carlson.

However, it is also notable for being a crapshoot and up-and-down draft. Liberally interspersed between players who developed into NHL stars are many highly-drafted players who didn’t turn out.

Related: 2007 NHL Entry Draft: Five Forgotten Picks

While many players in the 2008 draft met or succeeded expectations, these five, long forgotten by many, certainly did not.

Nikita Filatov: Columbus Blue Jackets, 6th Overall

The name Nikita Filatov might not garner a visceral reaction from most, but the mere mention of the Russian’s name around a Blue Jackets fan will undoubtedly garner a face palm, sigh, groan, or tirade.

Filatov, drafted sixth overall after dominating on U18 and 820 teams in Russia and winning two IIHF U18 Medals, had a number of weapons in his arsenal and was touted by Hockey’s Future as a “talented scoring forward” and an “above average puck handler” with “excellent skating ability,” “a very dangerous wrist shot,” and “very soft hands.”

While Filatov brought all those skills to North America, he also brought a pile of problems that ultimately led to him being considered one of the biggest draft busts in recent memory.

He possessed all the skill but none of the work ethic or drive to become a well-rounded two-way player. While he had enough raw talent to float by at the AHL level, his poor attitude and refusal to refine his play in the defensive zone caused him to clash with head coach Ken Hitchcock. This animosity led the Blue Jackets to deal Filatov back to the KHL’s CKSA Moscow to begin the 2009-10 season. However, the left winger did return for the 2010-11 season after Hitchcock was fired and Scott Arniel took the helm behind the bench.

Compounding Filatov’s on-ice issues were off-ice ones. A young guy who couldn’t handle the purchasing power that came with his profession, he eventually admitted he had problems with gambling and addiction and amounts of debt he couldn’t cover with an AHL paycheque. My whole life was a blur”, Filatov said. “I was young and got a lot of money and (it went away) with ease.”

Filatov started 2010-11 with the Blue Jackets, but struggled, producing seven assists in 23 games and spending the majority of the year in the AHL. After the season, the Blue Jackets sent him to the Ottawa Senators for a third round pick. However, he played just nine games in Canada’s capital the following year, registering one assist. By Christmas, he was back in the KHL.

Since then, he’s played for nine KHL squads, showcasing his inability to stick in any one place for long. His all-time NHL stats: six goals and eight assists in 53 games.

Kyle Beach: Chicago Blackhawks, 11th Overall

With a 6-foot-3, 200 pound frame, the heart of an agitator, and “a nose for the net” as Hockey’s Future put it, Kyle Beach looked like a potentially impactful, well-rounded player akin to Eric Lindros.

While his discipline was an issue — he’d racked up 222 penalty minutes in addition to his 60 points with the Spokane Chiefs in 2007-08 — the Blackhawks selected the 2006-07 WHL Rookie of the Year with the 11th overall pick.

After being drafted, the Kelowna, B.C. product spent three more seasons in the WHL — one more with the Silvertips and one each with the Lethbridge Hurricanes and Spokane Chiefs. Like Lindros, he suffered injuries that came about as a result of his hard-nosed play style and only played more than 30 games once in those three years.

When he finally turned pro in 2010-11, he became stuck in the Blackhawks’ backlog, spending parts of four seasons with the Rockford IceHogs. However, he continued to suffer injuries — in 2011-12, he was limited to just 19 games after suffering a shoulder injury in a fight.

Beach may have found an NHL roster spot on weaker teams, but in a dynastic Blackhawks organization in the midst of a three-Cup-in-seven-year run, there was simply no room for him among stars such as Jonathan Toews, Patrick Sharp, Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa, and Brandon Saad. He never played an NHL game.