Guys who never got a chance in the NHL

ted2019

History of Hockey
Oct 3, 2008
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Falls more into the category of guy you liked on your junior team and always thought should have been given more of a shot in the NHL, but to me Ryan Parent never got a reasonable look at the NHL level. Although now that I see his possession numbers, he really was a boat anchor in that regard, maybe the analytics revolution killed his career

Ryan Parent was horrible. Check out his numbers, they were beyond bad.
 

The Pale King

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Sep 24, 2011
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I'll throw Nolan Baumgartner's name into the mix. CHL defenseman of the year on an absolutely stacked Kamloops Blazers team that won b2b Memorial Cups (Iginla, Doan, Tucker, etc). Wasn't blindingly great at anything, didn't have that one skill you'd lock onto and rave about, but I don't remember any glaring weaknesses either.

Now hear me out: I know he wasn't going to anchor a blue-line, but the way the Capitals brought him up really didn't give him any chance to get his feet under him. Top-10 pick in 1994, doesn't get into more than 10 NHL games in a season for one team until 05-06, his age 29 season, where he suits up for 70 and leads Canuck defensemen in points.

Has one other season where he played more than 10 NHL games, and finishes up his career in the AHL as an (apparently) excellent mentor on the Moose. I was waiting for him to break out for every year from like 99-05 and it didn't ever happen. His one full season in the league was reasonable though.

I feel like the Capitals were too cautious with him. Bouncing a guy between the IHL, AHL and whatever else and the NHL for very short bursts is a recipe for zero confidence. Baumgartner could have been a passable mid-pairing guy.
 
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vadim sharifijanov

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Oct 10, 2007
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I'll throw Nolan Baumgartner's name into the mix. CHL defensman of the year on an absolutely stacked Kamloops Blazers team (Iginla, Doan, Tucker, etc). Wasn't great at anything, didn't have that one skill you'd lock onto and rave about, but I don't remember any glaring weaknesses either.

Now hear me out, I know he wasn't going to anchor a blue-line, but the way the Capitals brought him up really didn't give him any chance to get his feet under him. Top-10 pick in 1994, doesn't get into more than 10 NHL games in a season for one team until 05-06, his age 29 season, where he suits up for 70 and leads Canuck defensemen in points.

Has one other season where he played more than 10 NHL games, and finishes up his career in the AHL as an (apparently) excellent mentor on the Moose. I was waiting for him to break out for every year from like 99-05 and it didn't ever happen. His one full season in the league was reasonable though.

I feel like the Capitals were too cautious with him, Baumgartner could have been a passable mid-pairing guy.

a very interesting guy. clearly loves hockey, you have to if you make it to almost 1,000 games in the minors, never gave up, always was a good mentor, probably will be in the game his whole life, and i wouldn't be surprised if he's an NHL head coach someday. bieksa and edler both completely overachieved and both credit him as the guy who groomed them in the AHL.

so it's not like he was some lazy hotshot and that's why he didn't make it. he just wasn't strong or assertive enough to be a regular NHL defenseman and not (nearly) good enough offensively to be worth the harm.

but it's surprising that he never caught on with an expansion team. if you look at some of the guys on the early predators or bluejackets or thrashers teams, baumgartner could have had multiple seasons like he did on the canucks in '06. he didn't belong in the NHL, and jacques lemaire would have never tolerated him in minnesota, but he could have played on those awful expansion bluelines if drake berehowsky and john slaney could play on the predators.

i do, however, think that even if he was ten years younger and came into the league unrushed in 2006, he still wasn't going to make it. to make a contemporary comparison, derrick pouliot is baumgartner-esque. maybe baumgartner running the canucks' d is why derrick pouliot is still in the NHL; sees a lot of himself in the kid and keeps giving him chances even though he belongs in the minors or europe.
 
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The Pale King

Go easy on those Mango Giapanes brother...
Sep 24, 2011
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Does Todd Bergen count?

From the little bit I've read, yeah absolutely. Very difficult league to re-shape your reputation in, and even more so to get a second chance. Sounds like Keenan permanently crippled Bergen though, not unlike whatever that 80s Vancouver drill-sergeant coach did to a number of players (I don't care about his name, not worth remembering).

Lots of old-school guys that would rather lose the "right way" than win unconventionally.
 

Artorius Horus T

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This topic could have a lot of names of high scoring AHL players who were under six foot tall, during the 90’s and 00’s. It’s amazing how much talent was never given a real chance because NHL teams were obsessed with size.

Hopefully ITM doesn’t see this post and go on one of his page long tirades that have zero basis in reality or what the poster actually wrote. LOL

The number of moving traffic cones in the NHL is staggering, zero talented players who could barely skate not alone pass the puck
have 400-700 game NHL careers, yet super talented, high scoring "undersized" players have zero games in the NHL.
 
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Artorius Horus T

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Chris Bourque, 5 foot 8 forward (33), the true name for this thread. - the player that got forgotten by time,
would fit perfectly to today's NHL though, if anyone would still remember him.

When ever he was given a "chance" to play for the Capitals
he played in the 4th line, 4th line minutes for the Penguins too,
Bruins gave him 3rd line minutes (not always) with super limited pp time, yeah!

07-08 got to play in 4 games, avg ice time, 08:30, sweet!
08-09 got to play in 8 games, avg ice time, 09:25, hey improvement, yea!!
09-10 got to play in 21 games (Penguins gave him a "chance") , avg ice time, 09:50, improvement, yea!
12-13 got to play in 18 games (this time for the Bruins), avg ice time, 13:07, pp time added, 3rd line introduced, yeah!

In the AHL however (so far)...about 250 goals, almost 500 assists, almost ppg player in his entire career in the AHL
if only he was given a real chance, it could of been different story, heck!...it still could, if someone could just give him a ******* fair chance!.
at 33 he still is better than most players in the AHL, 45 points in 56 games this season, 23rd in the AHL scoring but 1st in Bridgeport scoring.
 

Michael Farkas

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Chris Bourque and Nolan Baumgartner each got about a million chances to play in the league and were not good enough to do it each time. They are the opposite of what this thread should be about...

To be blunt, if you think GP and ice time are the things that determine whether you got a chance...it means that you don't understand how the process works. Those minutes are the result, not the process...

Citing numbers from a much lesser league is not proof that he could perform with the world's best. It shows that he was good the fifth best league in the world...the best checkers player isn't necessarily a capable chess player...
 

brachyrynchos

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Apr 10, 2017
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Dieter Hegen and Peter Draisatl are two players I would've liked to have seen get an opportunity. By the time Hasselhoff tore down the Berlin Wall in '89, both players had a good amount of experience (Olympics, World Juniors, Canada Cup..) and were still young enough (Hegen 27, Draisatl 24) to have a chance, and the late '80's-early'90's NHL style of play might've been a good fit for their style. Hegen (LW) had been drafted in '81 by Montreal in the 3rd round, Draisatl (C) was never drafted....not sure if any teams were interested in inviting them over here or if they were content in staying in Germany where both were successful and appreciated. Oh well. Prost.
 

BigBadBruins7708

Registered User
Dec 11, 2017
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Chris Bourque, 5 foot 8 forward (33), the true name for this thread. - the player that got forgotten by time,
would fit perfectly to today's NHL though, if anyone would still remember him.

When ever he was given a "chance" to play for the Capitals
he played in the 4th line, 4th line minutes for the Penguins too,
Bruins gave him 3rd line minutes (not always) with super limited pp time, yeah!

07-08 got to play in 4 games, avg ice time, 08:30, sweet!
08-09 got to play in 8 games, avg ice time, 09:25, hey improvement, yea!!
09-10 got to play in 21 games (Penguins gave him a "chance") , avg ice time, 09:50, improvement, yea!
12-13 got to play in 18 games (this time for the Bruins), avg ice time, 13:07, pp time added, 3rd line introduced, yeah!

In the AHL however (so far)...about 250 goals, almost 500 assists, almost ppg player in his entire career in the AHL
if only he was given a real chance, it could of been different story, heck!...it still could, if someone could just give him a ******* fair chance!.
at 33 he still is better than most players in the AHL, 45 points in 56 games this season, 23rd in the AHL scoring but 1st in Bridgeport scoring.

on the contrary...the only reason Bourque kept getting cracks at the NHL was because he's Ray's kid.
 

Michael Farkas

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I'm not sure how many people have seen Chris Bourque play, and also know what NHL talent looks like AND think that Chris Bourque belonged in the NHL.

I imagine it's a similar ratio to: People who believe in Astrology and are Cancers AND are actually giant crabs...
 

Sanf

Registered User
Sep 8, 2012
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Chris Bourque and Nolan Baumgartner each got about a million chances to play in the league and were not good enough to do it each time. They are the opposite of what this thread should be about...

To be blunt, if you think GP and ice time are the things that determine whether you got a chance...it means that you don't understand how the process works. Those minutes are the result, not the process...

Citing numbers from a much lesser league is not proof that he could perform with the world's best. It shows that he was good the fifth best league in the world...the best checkers player isn't necessarily a capable chess player...

I agree mostly in this. But then there are guys like Martin St.Louis.

St.Louis was a star in Vermont. I was actually doing research on Tim Thomas. Trying to prove my friend that Tim Thomas wasn´t some unknown hidden star that nobody couldn´t find. Well I found an article (from around mid 90´s) where Tim Thomas manager mentioned that every team had seen Thomas because every team had heavily scouted St.Louis and Perrin in Vermont.

So every teams scout had seen St.Louis. Yet he went undrafted. He got a "chance" with Flames. Was waived. Cleared. Left unprotected in expansion. Was not selected. What if St.Louis had left to play europe or retired.

Sometimes there are just human errors. False assumptions. Players don´t fit the mold. The process isn´t perfect.
 

crobro

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Aug 8, 2008
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Who was that Russian player with a chip on his shoulder who Washington drafted in the first round but never played a game?
 

sr edler

gold is not reality
Mar 20, 2010
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edler [ ... ] completely overachieved

2bfK.gif
 

MS

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I'll throw Nolan Baumgartner's name into the mix. CHL defenseman of the year on an absolutely stacked Kamloops Blazers team that won b2b Memorial Cups (Iginla, Doan, Tucker, etc). Wasn't blindingly great at anything, didn't have that one skill you'd lock onto and rave about, but I don't remember any glaring weaknesses either.

Now hear me out: I know he wasn't going to anchor a blue-line, but the way the Capitals brought him up really didn't give him any chance to get his feet under him. Top-10 pick in 1994, doesn't get into more than 10 NHL games in a season for one team until 05-06, his age 29 season, where he suits up for 70 and leads Canuck defensemen in points.

Has one other season where he played more than 10 NHL games, and finishes up his career in the AHL as an (apparently) excellent mentor on the Moose. I was waiting for him to break out for every year from like 99-05 and it didn't ever happen. His one full season in the league was reasonable though.

I feel like the Capitals were too cautious with him. Bouncing a guy between the IHL, AHL and whatever else and the NHL for very short bursts is a recipe for zero confidence. Baumgartner could have been a passable mid-pairing guy.

Baumgartner was a massive prospect as a junior player as a hard-nosed two-way defender but had his completely derailed after he had both shoulders reconstructed and missed the better part of two years age 19-21.

Was able to re-invent himself as a puck-moving depth defender and managed to have one nice season as an NHL regular and a long minor-league career.

Much more of a ‘what if?’ than a guy who didn’t get chances, though. Had a ton of opportunities and even got a fat UFA contract in 2006.
 

The Pale King

Go easy on those Mango Giapanes brother...
Sep 24, 2011
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Baumgartner was a massive prospect as a junior player as a hard-nosed two-way defender but had his completely derailed after he had both shoulders reconstructed and missed the better part of two years age 19-21.

Was able to re-invent himself as a puck-moving depth defender and managed to have one nice season as an NHL regular and a long minor-league career.

Much more of a ‘what if?’ than a guy who didn’t get chances, though. Had a ton of opportunities and even got a fat UFA contract in 2006.

Was not aware of the bolded, thanks. Yeah I'll agree he's maybe not a good fit for this thread. Interesting player (to me, at least) nonetheless.
 

Eisen

Registered User
Sep 30, 2009
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Dieter Hegen and Peter Draisatl are two players I would've liked to have seen get an opportunity. By the time Hasselhoff tore down the Berlin Wall in '89, both players had a good amount of experience (Olympics, World Juniors, Canada Cup..) and were still young enough (Hegen 27, Draisatl 24) to have a chance, and the late '80's-early'90's NHL style of play might've been a good fit for their style. Hegen (LW) had been drafted in '81 by Montreal in the 3rd round, Draisatl (C) was never drafted....not sure if any teams were interested in inviting them over here or if they were content in staying in Germany where both were successful and appreciated. Oh well. Prost.
Hegen perhaps, I don't see Draisaitl. Draisaitl was always good but never the standout player. But when we are talking about Germans, Gerd Truntschka would have been a goodie. Was drafted, but never played a game in NA. I don't know why. An absolute fantastic playmaker.
 
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