“Change of Scenery” players that stayed and reached their potential?

[rec28]

Thinking about the Jesse Puljujärvi situation in Edmonton…

Various local and national media have reported that both sides seem ready to move on, with many observers suggesting that a “change of scenery” is necessary for Jesse to reach his potential. The results of Jesse’s upcoming arbitration proceedings may complicate things - a lot - such that he may be stuck in Edmonton (or Edmonton may be stuck with him, depending on how you look at it).

Players reach this “needs a change of scenery” point in their careers all the time. Sometimes they move on and flourish in a new environment, and sometimes they move on but stay more or less the same player with the same problems, just on a new team.

I’m wondering if there are solid examples of players that have reached this point, but who, for whatever reason, stayed and then went on to flourish and excel with their original team - the one that everyone was so sure the player needed to get away from. Are there examples of teams/players who managed to dramatically turn things around and find success?

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[Perfect_Drug]

Most players with JP's tools and skillset flourish around 25. Rarely are they with the team that drafted them.

Broke out on other teams:
Blake Wheeler
Olli Jokkinen
John Leclair
Todd Bertuzzi
Jarome Iginla


Johann Franzen broke out at like 29 with the wings.



Puljujaarvi could be a Wheeler/Jokkinen type. I don't wanna trade him. Jokkinen barely even looked like an NHLer until he broke out at 25.

Maybe Holland sees some Franzen in him and keeps him.


The ingredient missing from their games is assertiveness on ice. If JP ever figures that out, I could see him being a dominant force in this league. Be a shame to watch him do that for another team.

 

[cudi]

Nick Paul went up and down like a yoyo and through waivers like a hundred times. Sens fans eventually kind of gave up on him at one point.

 

[Siludin]

This player ended up becoming the captain of his team and scored over 100 points.
League/GP/G/A/P

 

[yeaher]

Nathan MacKinnon. Won the Calder. Went to shit along with his team, and then woke up the second they traded Duchene.

 

[MS]

Jake Debrusk looked finished in Boston, submitted a trade request … and then scored 18 goals in the last 34 games of last season.

Markus Naslund was going nowhere in Vancouver and actually traded to Anaheim in the fall of 1997 … only to have the Canucks back out of the deal at the last minute because some other players got hurt and the team needed warm bodies.

 

[NotAVacuumSalesman]

Chris Kreider.

Maybe someone could correct me on this, but I'm only suggest Kreider, since I've seen his name come up numerous times on the trade bait board every other season for a change of scenery. Yet, he stayed with the NYR and finished his 10th season with them.

He's never hit over 30 goals in his life until he scored 52 last season. His highest career in goals before last season was 28 goals on 2 ocassions.

 

[Oddbob]

Chris Kreider.

Maybe someone could correct me on this, but I'm only suggest Kreider, since I've seen his name come up numerous times on the trade bait board every other season for a change of scenery. Yet, he stayed with the NYR and finished his 10th season with them.

He's never hit over 30 goals in his life until he scored 52 last season. His highest career in goals before last season was 28 goals on 2 ocassions.

Kreider seems like a one off situation scoring this many goals to me. Good player still, but I think last season is going to be an anomaly for a number of players.

 

[Chainshot]

Jake Debrusk looked finished in Boston, submitted a trade request … and then scored 18 goals in the last 34 games of last season.

Markus Naslund was going nowhere in Vancouver and actually traded to Anaheim in the fall of 1997 … only to have the Canucks back out of the deal at the last minute because some other players got hurt and the team needed warm bodies.

Hell, Naslund had been on waivers while he was a Pen.

 

[JoeMc]

I remember people wanting to trade the Sedins after their first few seasons.

 

[Roof Daddy]

Maybe not a perfect example, but Nik Zherdev fits the criteria I’d say. Good year in 05-06; bad year 06-07 and tons of trade rumours and eventual meeting with Howson and Hitch; bounces back and has good 07-08 season (61 pts, second on team and 60th league wide).

Only thing that kind of hinders the example is CBJ traded him the next year, but at least they got his value bumped back up by sticking with him.

If this is how the Puljujarvi situation plays out, I’d be content.

 

[Viqsi]

We had four young defensemen and always figured one or two weren't going to work out, and as time wore on, most folks were pretty sure they knew at least one of them who was the sure-fire Odd Man Out. Yes, John Moore, Kris Russell, and Tim Erixon were probably reliable, but after not just progressing but actually REgressing, it was clear David Savard absolutely had to go.

Of course, the story ultimately didn't end that way.

 

[NotAVacuumSalesman]

Kreider seems like a one off situation scoring this many goals to me. Good player still, but I think last season is going to be an anomaly for a number of players.

I shouldn't have brought up that point and that's a completely different topic, but Kreider still fits the OP's description of a player that had trade rumors surrounding his career, yet managed to stick with his drafted team and found success.

 

[RyderRocks73]

Sean Couturier

 

[snag]

Most players with JP's tools and skillset flourish around 25. Rarely are they with the team that drafted them.

Broke out on other teams:
Blake Wheeler
Olli Jokkinen
John Leclair
Todd Bertuzzi
Jarome Iginla


Johann Franzen broke out at like 29 with the wings.



Puljujaarvi could be a Wheeler/Jokkinen type. I don't wanna trade him. Jokkinen barely even looked like an NHLer until he broke out at 25.

Maybe Holland sees some Franzen in him and keeps him.


The ingredient missing from their games is assertiveness on ice. If JP ever figures that out, I could see him being a dominant force in this league. Be a shame to watch him do that for another team.

I am not sure I follow the logic in including Iggy here.

 

[Nsjohnson]

You know, Seguin went to the Stars and then put up a few great seasons.

 

[Seanaconda]

Draisaitl? Idk if anyone really wanted him gone but he was sent back to the whl and then when he came back he started dominating and hasn't looked back

 

[thestonedkoala]

Joel Eriksson Ek offensively looked like he could use a new team but then broke out last year.

 

[MakeTheGoalsLarger]

I’m wondering if there are solid examples of players that have reached this point, but who, for whatever reason, stayed and then went on to flourish and excel with their original team

Guy Lafleur definitely

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

Dmitri Orlov requested a trade at one point because Oates and McPhee kept dicking him around and now he’s Washington’s best defenseman.

 

[DaveG]

Hell, Naslund had been on waivers while he was a Pen.

I was about to say, the guy even put up numbers as a Pen the year they traded him to Vancouver to begin with. Something just clicked in the late 90s/early 2000s for the guy but the potential was always there.


Whalers/Canes had some hotshot center prospect named Jeff O'Neill that just wasn't working out as the franchise center that he was expected to turn into. Heading into the 98-99 season it was getting to the point that it was expected the team was going to trade him since they had just signed Ron Francis as well and Keith Primeau was their star down the middle. They ended up keeping him and made the playoffs but he was in a mostly #3 center role. Then came the Primeau holdout and trade to Philly for Rod Brind'Amour, O'Neill is moved to the wing and ends up putting up 42, 31, and 30 the next seasons when 42 would have been his career high for POINTS prior to moving to the wing.

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

I was about to say, the guy even put up numbers as a Pen the year they traded him to Vancouver to begin with. Something just clicked in the late 90s/early 2000s for the guy but the potential was always there.


Whalers/Canes had some hotshot center prospect named Jeff O'Neill that just wasn't working out as the franchise center that he was expected to turn into. Heading into the 98-99 season it was getting to the point that it was expected the team was going to trade him since they had just signed Ron Francis as well and Keith Primeau was their star down the middle. They ended up keeping him and made the playoffs but he was in a mostly #3 center role. Then came the Primeau holdout and trade to Philly for Rod Brind'Amour, O'Neill is moved to the wing and ends up putting up 42, 31, and 30 the next seasons when 42 would have been his career high for POINTS prior to moving to the wing.

I think we’ve talked about this before but we used to be season ticket holders to the Whalers and I got Jeff O’Neill’s autograph on an old Whalers Starter jacket, which I still have. Geoff Sanderson still the GOAT for 10 year old me.

 

[HanSolo]

I don't think this really counts exactly for OP's example but Teemu Selanne was a superstar for years in Anaheim. He was traded to San Jose where he played just okay for a second liner and then joined Kariya to play with Sakic and Forsberg and it just didn't work out and he ultimately suffered a pretty significant injury that kept him out of the playoffs. He rehabbed his injury, came back to Anaheim and put up back to back 90 point seasons in the Burke era along with a few more 80 point years including 80 points at 40 years old, plus obviously a cup win.

So not quite stayed and flourished but more like came back and showed he could really flourish in Anaheim.

 

[KaraLupin]

Jake Debrusk stayed and maxed out his potential all in one year.

 

[Lays]

Chris Kreider was very close to being traded at the 2019 draft for the 16th overall pick (Avs) who then apparently turned the deal down because Newhook dropped to them. Then again at the 2020 trade deadline, Kreider trade talks went down to the wire until NYR locked him up to a 7 year extension. This season he scored 52 goals, 62 total including playoffs