Average Junior player, Good/Great NHLer

[bruinsfan46]

That's because his game translates well to the NHL.

That and the fact he made the NHL at 19. Calling Milan Lucic an average junior player is really pushing it, he was the captain of the national team in the Super Series and probably would have captained the World Junior team if the Bruins returned him to junior. He was just a late bloomer that only got one season in after he bloomed, I bet he would have put up some very impressive numbers if he got to play in the WHL as a 19 year old.

 

[JUMBOcanuck]

Alex Burrows

his best season in the Q was 70 points, the season before he had 30.

 

[Breakfast of Champs]

Alex Burrows

his best season in the Q was 70 points, the season before he had 30.

I was thinking about posting him too but 70 pts is a bit above average for a jr player

 

[Incognito]

Tyler Myers was never a huge scorer as far as defensemen go in Junior. Now he's on his way to becoming a premier offensive-defenseman in the NHL.

 

[tikkanen5rings*]

Christian Ruuttu IIRC.

Ruuttu was a very impressive junior. At the time if there would be any doubt he wouldn't have been drafted at all.

 

[dm1371]

Ryane Clowe and Milan Lucic immediately came to mind

 

[Pick Six]

Generally average junior players don't get drafted, therefore you won't find many that are good/great NHLer's.

 

[le_sean]

milan lucic

While he was "meh" when drafted, he went on to be a force and Memorial Cup MVP.

 

[hskates21*]

Andrew macdonald wasn't great considering his age the fact that he was paired with Keith yandle and he was on a stacked team

 

[Duddy]

Tyler Myers was never a huge scorer as far as defensemen go in Junior. Now he's on his way to becoming a premier offensive-defenseman in the NHL.

True, in his Rookie Season in the NHL he scored more points than he did in his best season in the WHL.

 

[Al Swearengen]

While he was "meh" when drafted, he went on to be a force and Memorial Cup MVP.

He was a fan favorite in Vancouver because he was a home town boy and everyone loves a big tough kid in the WHL, but yeah, he never set the world on fire until he got to Boston.

EDIT: oh wait. G G A P PIM
2006–07 Vancouver Giants WHL 70 30 38 68 147
Playoffs
G G A P PIM
22 7 12 19 26

 

[Michel Beauchamp]

Patrice Bergeron played one full season in the QMJHL where he averaged just over a point per game. I'd say he turned out okay.
http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=62238

He simply did not have the time to be a "great" junior player as he was in the NHL at 18...

 

[brtriad]

Johan Franzen. Career high of 12 goals and 30 points in the SEL.

http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=158

 

[Hawkaholic]

Rob Schremp

He's the complete opposite.

 

[puckfan13]

James Neal sort of. 27 goals was his career high in junior and he has matched that in the NHL.

 

[StrictlyCommercial]

Interesting that every example is either a power forward or a offensive defenseman.

 

[Pick Six]

Completely forgot about Matt Moulson. He was a bottom six grinder on his high school team (though they were the best in Ontario). He wasn't good enough to be an average junior player, thus he played Junior B. Went to Cornell and the rest is history after that.

 

[puckfan13]

Although he's always been known as a sniper, it is odd and worth noting that Grabner's stats have almost been the same at every level he's played at. His goals have always outpaced his assists by like double.

 

[S E P H]

Very surprised no one has said Mike Green yet.

 

[Pick Six]

Very surprised no one has said Mike Green yet.

Probably because he wasn't an average junior player.

He was a very solid junior player. Average junior players don't get drafted in the first round.

 

[Benchguy]

Very surprised no one has mentioned Jordan Staal yet


http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=80489

 

[leoleo3535]

Byfuglien was a very good junior player. Big goal scorer, big hitter....man against boys.

Rene Bourque led the Saints in goals with 44 in 63 games.

 

[SmellOfVictory]

Interesting that every example is either a power forward or a offensive defenseman.

Power forwards are considered to have a slower development curve than other forwards (at least, offensive forwards), so that isn't particularly surprising. I think for defencemen you'd find equally as many defensive ones who were much better than they projected to be in junior, but that sort of thing is difficult/impossible to quantify (especially after the fact), so we see the OFDs with the high point totals in this thread.

 

[S E P H]

Probably because he wasn't an average junior player.

He was a very solid junior player. Average junior players don't get drafted in the first round.

No, his best season was his overage year which he had 66 points in 67 games, which is really good don't get me wrong, but for an overager it's not.

 

[Pick Six]

No, his best season was his overage year which he had 66 points in 67 games, which is really good don't get me wrong, but for an overager it's not.

He was 19 that season. Not 20. Thus he wasn't an overager.

Very surprised no one has mentioned Jordan Staal yet


http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=80489

A player who steps into the NHL at 18 is not an average junior player. People have some odd definitions of 'average' around here.