Angelo Esposito

[Loki]

I saw his name in the Chicago Wolves vs OKC Barons box score, and I was wondering, what happened to Angelo Esposito?

Has a player ever started off as strong as he did and fall so far? 98pts in his Q rookie season, and then worse and worse each year.

Anybody know the story on him? Is he still Penguins property?

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=89534

Click to read more...

 

[PasDaSquini]

He is no longer Pens property. he has not been apart of the Pen organization for quite some while. He was dealt to Atlanta in the deal that brought Marian Hossa to the Pens. It looks that Angelo Esposito is destined to become a NHL fringe player, a player that is called up from the AHL to fill in. He has definately fell from grace.

 

[hototogisu]

He was traded to the Thrashers as part of the Hossa deal which is why he plays for the Wolves. His stock fell off for sure, but he's also had a couple of serious knee injuries which hasn't helped any. I wouldn't say the book is closed on him by any means, but it's not looking so good.

 

[Loki]

I saw his games played were very low the last 2 seasons. Didn't know about the injuries.

 

[headsigh]

Unfortunately he suffered from a bad case of exploding knees. Just now he's been starting to play fully healthy but you'll never know if he'll reach the sort of ceiling originally predicted of him. Just another guy derailed by bad luck, hopefully he can still make it.

 

[Issacar]

Injuries put aside. Angelo Esposito's stock increased alot with his stellar rookie season that had alot more to do with Alexander Radulov bullying the Q's around then anything else. Once Radu was drafted by the Preds, Esposito was supposed to be the cornerstone of the Remparts and never lived up to the expectations, so much so that the Canadiens even drafted Ryan McDonagh over Montréal bornt Esposito. They also went against the popular voice that was razzing all over future bust Angelo.

 

[DungeonK]

Back-to-back season-ending knee surgeries during your two most important developmental years will tend to hurt your chances of fulfilling whatever potential there was.

 

[Vagrant]

The knee injuries are a very convenient excuse for a player that simply had the scouts fooled by what they were looking at. Nobody thought Radulov was the straw that stirred the drink for the Remparts, but upon his absence it was discovered that Esposito was not the game breaking talent that he looked like playing with Radulov. Bottom line. He was never 100 points in the Q good, he was a passenger with Radulov dominating the league.

 

[oil slick]

Injuries put aside.

Exactly. The guy was a marginal prospect before the knee surgeries IMO. No matter what team a guy is on, if an offensive player is not killing it in the CHL as an 18 or 19 year old, he's not a very good prospect. 69 points in 56 games and 42 points in 35 games is just crappy production. Same thing with Kabanov this year.

 

[KristoLeblanc*]

Exactly. The guy was a marginal prospect before the knee surgeries IMO. No matter what team a guy is on, if an offensive player is not killing it in the CHL as an 18 or 19 year old, he's not a very good prospect. 69 points in 56 games and 42 points in 35 games is just crappy production. Same thing with Kabanov this year.

Really not a fan of Esposito.

But what you just said abour points production is dumb. 69pts in 56games and 42pts in 35 games is crappy?

Mike Richards, in his last junior year at 19 years old, produced 58pts in 43 games. No big difference between that and 69pts in 56 games. There are hundred of exemple than slightly above PPG last junior year player becoming very good NHLer. Esposito isn't one of them and won't be imo, but that looking at CHL 18 and 19 years numbers, when its well above a PPG, calling that crappy production, is dumb.

The CHL isn't like it was in the 80's-90's. When 19 years old future NHLer were putting 70 goals and 150pts on the board.

 

[ponder]

The knee injuries are a very convenient excuse for a player that simply had the scouts fooled by what they were looking at. Nobody thought Radulov was the straw that stirred the drink for the Remparts, but upon his absence it was discovered that Esposito was not the game breaking talent that he looked like playing with Radulov. Bottom line. He was never 100 points in the Q good, he was a passenger with Radulov dominating the league.

Indeed, he put up huge rookie numbers in the Q, but it was on a crazy high scoring team, getting a tonne of points off of Radulov's domination. Other than this one year there was never too much of a reason to believe that he was a high end prospect.

 

[KristoLeblanc*]

Indeed, he put up huge rookie numbers in the Q, but it was on a crazy high scoring team, getting a tonne of points off of Radulov's domination. Other than this one year there was never too much of a reason to believe that he was a high end prospect.

The key of your post; Crazy high scoring team.

Radulov had 150+pts.
Esposito 98pts
Melanson 86pts
Sersen 79pts
Vlasic 73pts
Aubin 53pts in 32 games.

When the playoffs arrived, Esposito wasn't the same than in regular season, his stock dropped a lot in these playoffsé

He went from being the 2nd best scorer of his team in the season to 10th in the playoffs without missing ANY game.

Raduluv 55pts in 23 games
Melanson 40pts in 23 games
Vlasic 29pts in 23 games
Aubin 27pts in 23 games
Sersen 21pts in 23 games
Courcelles 15pts in 23 games
Smotherman 15pts in 23 games
Lacroix 12pts in 23 games
Robillard 11pts in 21 games
Esposito 11pts in 23 games.

Not a good sign when your second best player in the regular season becomes your 10th scorer. Even the next two seasons, he was unable to elevate his play to carry his team.

I'm not even sure he will stick in the AHL. I can see him turning out pro in Europe tho. Ala Gamache, Bordeleau, Fata and cie.

 

[oil slick]

Really not a fan of Esposito.

But what you just said abour points production is dumb. 69pts in 56games and 42pts in 35 games is crappy?

Mike Richards, in his last junior year at 19 years old, produced 58pts in 43 games. No big difference between that and 69pts in 56 games. There are hundred of exemple than slightly above PPG last junior year player becoming very good NHLer. Esposito isn't one of them and won't be imo, but that looking at CHL 18 and 19 years numbers, when its well above a PPG, calling that crappy production, is dumb.

The CHL isn't like it was in the 80's-90's. When 19 years old future NHLer were putting 70 goals and 150pts on the board.

Mike Richards 19 year old season was crappy - far worse than his 17 and 18 year old season, and frankly I would say looking at his CHL career, the chances of him being a first line player would have been slim. He obviously developed fantastically since then, but to say that a 58 point season as a 19 year old means you are on pace to be an NHL star is obviously wrong. Richards is an exception.

Sure, there are many more guys with mediocre CHL numbers who have made fine nhlers, and some, stars. Those guys developed fantastically, but to expect other players to make the same progress as Richards is crazy. It's the same way looking at Zetterberg does not mean that your 5th round pick who put up mediocre numbers in his draft year will become a future star.

 

[axecrew]

Would anyone like to hear a comment from a Chicago Wolves season ticket holder, who has actually seen him play every game in his pro career? Or would you rather debate past history as you are doing on here?

 

[gifted88]

Would anyone like to hear a comment from a Chicago Wolves season ticket holder, who has actually seen him play every game in his pro career? Or would you rather debate past history as you are doing on here?

how's his skating been?

 

[kasper11]

Mike Richards 19 year old season was crappy - far worse than his 17 and 18 year old season, and frankly I would say looking at his CHL career, the chances of him being a first line player would have been slim. He obviously developed fantastically since then, but to say that a 58 point season as a 19 year old means you are on pace to be an NHL star is obviously wrong. Richards is an exception.

Sure, there are many more guys with mediocre CHL numbers who have made fine nhlers, and some, stars. Those guys developed fantastically, but to expect other players to make the same progress as Richards is crazy. It's the same way looking at Zetterberg does not mean that your 5th round pick who put up mediocre numbers in his draft year will become a future star.

Seems to be a complete lack of middle ground here. Clearly, Esposito was not an elite talent, even before the knee injury. He lasted until 20 in the draft for a reason.

BUT...the numbers he put up his final two seasons of Juniors were solid. If he had played the entire season he would have been top-5 in goals, top-10 in points. There was every reason at that point to believe that he could become an effective second line center in the NHL.

 

[Samsquanch]

Would anyone like to hear a comment from a Chicago Wolves season ticket holder, who has actually seen him play every game in his pro career? Or would you rather debate past history as you are doing on here?

I sure wouldn't mind. Whats the story?

 

[Bjorn Le]

Mike Richards 19 year old season was crappy - far worse than his 17 and 18 year old season, and frankly I would say looking at his CHL career, the chances of him being a first line player would have been slim. He obviously developed fantastically since then, but to say that a 58 point season as a 19 year old means you are on pace to be an NHL star is obviously wrong. Richards is an exception.

Sure, there are many more guys with mediocre CHL numbers who have made fine nhlers, and some, stars. Those guys developed fantastically, but to expect other players to make the same progress as Richards is crazy. It's the same way looking at Zetterberg does not mean that your 5th round pick who put up mediocre numbers in his draft year will become a future star.

His 19 year old sesaon was far from crappy.

 

[Issacar]

Seems to be a complete lack of middle ground here. Clearly, Esposito was not an elite talent, even before the knee injury. He lasted until 20 in the draft for a reason.

BUT...the numbers he put up his final two seasons of Juniors were solid. If he had played the entire season he would have been top-5 in goals, top-10 in points. There was every reason at that point to believe that he could become an effective second line center in the NHL.

Scouts did not believe he could be that effective. During the season he was bound to be drafted, he started as the #1 guy to draft. Throughout the whole season I kept hearing all over how he was not the dominating player everyone thought he was. For a guy to fall from #1 spot to #20 clearly showcase that NHL teams did not believe in his potential anymore and the Penguins just thought they were making a high risk - high reward pick.

 

[FlyingKostitsyn]

Indeed, he put up huge rookie numbers in the Q, but it was on a crazy high scoring team, getting a tonne of points off of Radulov's domination. Other than this one year there was never too much of a reason to believe that he was a high end prospect.

I remember watching the Ramparts a couple of time that year. Radulov was ridiculous and completely dominant. He was NHL ready at the time no question. There was one game I saw were he scored like 4 goals. Esposito had a few assists but was barely noticable (altho he had remarkable wheels).

how's his skating been?

Thats a very good question considering his knee injuries. Imho it used to be his greatest strength.

 

[Duke749]

Would anyone like to hear a comment from a Chicago Wolves season ticket holder, who has actually seen him play every game in his pro career? Or would you rather debate past history as you are doing on here?

Please talk. At this point, everything before his knee injuries are worthless. What he's done since his last knee injury will tell you a hell of a lot more then what he did before the 1st one.

Also, I think he spent some time with Zach Bogosian last summer. Not 100% sure though.

 

[danyhabsfan]

I saw his name in the Chicago Wolves vs OKC Barons box score, and I was wondering, what happened to Angelo Esposito?

Has a player ever started off as strong as he did and fall so far? 98pts in his Q rookie season, and then worse and worse each year.

Anybody know the story on him? Is he still Penguins property?

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=89534

I saw his games played were very low the last 2 seasons. Didn't know about the injuries.

It seems you didnt know a lot

 

[JTG]

I'd imagine the knee injuries haven't helped his development.

He's always been knocked for hockey IQ. His speed, was atleast, his biggest strength. I don't know what it's like now.

 

[Biz Nasty]

Dude had ridiculous wheels...I remember watching him at Pens training camp in the same skating drill as Sid and Esposito just flat out dusted him. It's a shame that the injuries and the attitude issues derailed him...he definitely had the chops to be an exciting player down the road.

 

[Duke749]

Dude had ridiculous wheels...I remember watching him at Pens training camp in the same skating drill as Sid and Esposito just flat out dusted him. It's a shame that the injuries and the attitude issues derailed him...he definitely had the chops to be an exciting player down the road.

I don't think he's had any atttitude issues in a few years. Certainly not any in in the last 2.