Prospect Info: Most surprising picks?

[Unsustainable]

Instead of the disappointment thread, what picks that was under the radar at the time are now unbelievable we drafted them.

Seb Aho: 2nd round pick, small finish player, not many had him ranked for that slot. Ends up being who he is.

Jaccob Slavin: 120th pick, ends up being our #1, and quite possibly the greatest defenseman we have drafted.

Brett Pesce: 66th pick, solid as can be.

Erik Cole, 4th rounder

Click to read more...

 

[A Star is Burns]

The Secret Weapon

 

[A Star is Burns]

I'll also throw out there Big Joe Vasicek. He came out of absolutely nowhere to earn a spot his rookie season. And he was a good solid role player for quite some time.

 

[GIN ANTONIC]

Of the ones not already mentioned I'll put in these.

Shane Willis - 4th round - 1997
Brian Dumoulin - 2nd round - 2009
Justin Faulk - 2nd round - 2010
Frederik Andersen - 7th round - 2010
Warren Foegele - 3rd round - 2014
Lucas Wallmark - 4th round - 2014

I didn't include Rask and McGinn because as 2nd round picks they have had OK careers. Rask was pacing to be a great pick but he's obviously fallen off recently. Had to put Andersen in there eventhough he's a jerk, just not our jerk now.

 

[WreckingCrew]

Yea, Seabass, Slavin, & Pesce are the obvious locks EVERYONE should choose (and if you don't, shame on you).

Andersen obviously WOULD have been here as well if he hadn't chosen to go back into the draft (he's a jerk, so shouldn't he automatically be ours?)

Wallin also made a pretty good career for himself as a 4th rounder

I think a case could be made for Foegele & Wallmark (3rd & 4th round 2014)...neither is a blow the doors off guy but both are going to have pretty solid NHL careers I think.

Then of our guys picked more recently who might hopefully qualify in a few years:
Makiniemi - he was good in Liiga, can he make it in NA? (4th rounder)
Geekie - dude has show flashes in his time in Charlotte and 4th line callup this year...if he sticks in the NHL even as a 3rd/4th liner not bad for a 3rd rounder
Sellgren - something about him just looked smooth and effortless during his brief time in NA...we'll see next year if that was a fluke (6th rounder)
Cotton - the man, the myth, the legend, let's go Jason!!

 

[DaveG]

Weren't drafted but Chad LaRose and Derek Ryan. I would have both as some of the better udfa signings, good 3rd line players even if nothing better than that.

Too early to tell but looking good:

Nic Roy
David Cotton
Morgan Geekie
Jesper Sellgren
Jamieson Rees (not sure he counts though as a lot of people liked him as a possible first)
Anttoni Honka
Patrik Puistola

 

[poobags]

Craig Adams. Adams was selected in the 9th round, 223rd overall, in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft by the Hartford Whalers where he gained the distinction of being their last ever draft pick.

2 Cups and an Italian League championship during the 04-05 lockout. 14 years in the NHL.

Edit: oh yeah in my own post it says he wasn't drafted as a Cane, close enough

 

[MrazeksVengeance]

I'll also throw out there Big Joe Vasicek. He came out of absolutely nowhere to earn a spot his rookie season. And he was a good solid role player for quite some time.

May he rest in peace...

 

[AD Skinner]

The Secret Weapon

Wallin had a heck of a career and was the only player besides Brind'Amour to be around for all 3 deep runs of the 2000s. In addition to his game winning playoff goals for the canes he had one playoff goal for the sharks in his two years with them, also a game winner

 

[poobags]

Wallin had a heck of a career and was the only player besides Brind'Amour to be around for all 3 deep runs of the 2000s. In addition to his game winning playoff goals for the canes he had one playoff goal for the sharks in his two years with them, also a game winner

The final shot fired by the Secret Weapon was when we got a 2nd round pick from the Sharks for him. That 2nd rounder in 2010 was used on Mark Alt. We've come first circle across threads.

 

[HisIceness]

I didn't think Slavin/Pesce would be what they have turned into.

Foegele has become a pleasant surprise.

The front office was excited as hell to get Faulk but I wasn't sold until I saw him in the Frozen Four.

 

[DaveG]

I didn't think Slavin/Pesce would be what they have turned into.

Foegele has become a pleasant surprise.

The front office was excited as hell to get Faulk but I wasn't sold until I saw him in the Frozen Four.

Pesce I was a believer in since day 1 (pity the threads are gone now) since he was the anchor on the UNH defense as a freshman, but Slavin really had to grow on me. I didn't think he was much until he beat out Pesce for the one open WJC spot which made me re-evaluate things. Of course he was in the middle of lighting it up for Colorado College at the time which helped. First time I can remember seeing a guy at the WJC only putting up 2 points and going "yeah this guy's going to be something special".

 

[HisIceness]

So I went back to read what I had to say about the Pesce pick

Prospect Info: - Carolina Hurricanes select D Brett Pesce at #66

Quoting @Anton Dubinchuk

"Me either (didn't know who he was)" Needless to say someone did their homework on the guy.

You definitely were on board Dave.

 

[cptjeff]

Me: "I don't care if the offensive game develops much. If he can translate a sound and smart defensive game..."

Pesce:

 

[Navin R Slavin]

May he rest in peace...

Always had a soft spot in my heart for big Joe.

 

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

Aho really should've been a late first rounder that year. I wasn't that active of a poster at the time, however, I had him ranked at #27, one spot behind where I had Carlo and one spot ahead of where I had Bittner (lol, that was a bust on my part, but again, he was another super-risky high ceiling/low floor guy at the time, albeit for very different reasons than Aho, so you win and lose some). His production in Finland against full-grown men in a big-time Liiga club at his age was too much for me to not have him there even with the size questions and his (at the time) very low floor, and I was thrilled when he fell to us at #35, though not to the extent that I am now, obviously. Of course, in a hindsight draft, he and Rantanen would easily be in the top 5 with the likes of McJesus, Eichel, and Marner, but with the info that we had at the time, someone should've taken a shot on him in the late 1st.

 

[poobags]

Aho really should've been a late first rounder that year. I wasn't that active of a poster at the time, however, I had him ranked at #27, one spot behind where I had Carlo and one spot ahead of where I had Bittner (lol, that was a bust on my part, but again, he was another super-risky high ceiling/low floor guy at the time, albeit for very different reasons than Aho, so you win and lose some). His production in Finland against full-grown men in a big-time Liiga club at his age was too much for me to not have him there even with the size questions and his (at the time) very low floor, and I was thrilled when he fell to us at #35, though not to the extent that I am now, obviously. Of course, in a hindsight draft, he and Rantanen would easily be in the top 5 with the likes of McJesus, Eichel, and Marner, but with the info that we had at the time, someone should've taken a shot on him in the late 1st.

Wasn't there someone picking right after us who commented that they were gunning to take Aho? My memory says New Jersey.

 

[DaveG]

Wasn't there someone picking right after us who commented that they were gunning to take Aho? My memory says New Jersey.

Yep, it was the devils. They were ticked, had to call their timeout, and traded down.

Of course they ended up with Blackwood so they didn't do too bad

 

[Nikishin Go Boom]

I would say:
1. Aho
2. Slavin
3. Cole
4. Pesce
5. Wallin
6. Vasicek

cole might be higher if it weren’t for the 2 bit Orpik.