Guys who never should have played a single game

[Stephen]

even worse...the Bruins would've taken Pogge instead of Rask for Raycroft but Toronto said no

I think that's a myth. The Bruins targeted the Finnish Rask because their bluechip franchise goalie prospect Hannu Toivonen was looking like a flop. Rask was still the better prospect, being a recent first, while Pogge kind came on as a seeming late bloomer.

 

[Doctor No]

Stephane Fiset played 40 seconds in the Avs' 1996 Cup run for a similar reason (stalling tactic) - fortunately for him, he played a few seasons as the go-to guy elsewhere.

 

[James Walker]

In the past decade who are some examples of players who truly didnt earn the right to play a single NHL game.

Three players that come to mind are:

Jared Staal - Could barely put up mediocre numbers in the ECHL

Bobby Robbins - Past his prime AHL enforcer

Niklas Treutle- Guy looked more nervous in net than Scott Foster

The answer is Joel Rechlicz. According to hockeydb, he has played in 407 junior/minor pro/NHL games and scored 5 goals and 7 assists over 13 seasons.

Joel Rechlicz hockey statistics and profile at hockeydb.com

 

[Dingo]

Mel Angelstad

 

[Nick Hansen]

Johan Backlund. Played exactly one game for the Flyers and actually did OK with .917 in saving percentage. But he didn't impress anyone in the AHL. I remember the hype surrounding him back then, when he played for Timrå in Sweden. His numbers weren't great looking back at it but there was this feeling he was carrying a poor team. Even managed to become Sweden's starter in the net for the 2007 WHC.

 

[Doctor No]

Johan Backlund. Played exactly one game for the Flyers

And a small portion of one playoff game.

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

Archie Henderson
Brian Curran
Jeff Brubaker
Andre Peloffy
Bob Lemieux

 

[Austerlitz]

Two candidates from the decade of darkness in Edmonton:

Daniel Tjarnqvist- not sure what made anyone think he was worth a gamble. I mean, as opposed to a Valabik who at least had one NHL asset, Tjarnqvist was... soft, average skater, not skilled, not good defensively...

Zach Stortini- fourth-line fighter who couldn't fight that well. Could never question his heart, though.

 

[Michael Farkas]

Huggy bear was a 3rd round pick, that's more than a little silly...probably scores a goal a year in the American League...he still gets AHL deals...

 

[Albatros]

Daniel Tjarnqvist- not sure what made anyone think he was worth a gamble. I mean, as opposed to a Valabik who at least had one NHL asset, Tjarnqvist was... soft, average skater, not skilled, not good defensively...

Recorded 15 points in 37 games in Edmonton. Perhaps only a mediocre NHL defenseman, but therefore one without any real weaknesses. He earned his 352 games by being a reliable workhorse.

 

[Brodeur]

A question on Fukufuji - my impression was that he was the Kings' 5th or 6th goalie, in a season where they were wracked with injuries and not even strong in the crease in the first place. Were there any extenuating circumstances leading to him even getting that far on LA's depth chart? Obviously his Japanese origin made a stir when he played an NHL game, but was there any reason he'd have been out of his depth even in the ECHL? Or were the Kings just in an ordinarily bad place with their goaltending pre-Quick?

The other goofy thing was the re-entry waivers rule at the time. In order to recall LaBarbera from the AHL, he would have been subject to waivers again and the Kings thought they somebody would take him based on his AHL success. So they ended up calling guys lower on the depth chart than him. And as others said, the Kings goaltending was really that bad. They actually got Sean Burke on re-entry waivers that season too.

Cloutier was out for the season with a hip injury and Garon missed a few weeks with a broken finger. Gotta enjoy this blunt quote from Kings GM Dean Lombardi:

"He's an NHL goaltender," Kings GM Dean Lombardi told The Canadian Press. "He's a character guy. But we're not sure what to expect. In fairness to him, he hasn't played a lot this year."

 

[ArizonaCoyotes19]

The answer is Joel Rechlicz. According to hockeydb, he has played in 407 junior/minor pro/NHL games and scored 5 goals and 7 assists over 13 seasons.

Joel Rechlicz hockey statistics and profile at hockeydb.com

Wow, great choice there. 1 assist in 58 QMJHL games. I'm pretty sure I could double that total.

 

[The Panther]

Surely there are a handful of guys on, say, the 1974-75 Capitals who would merit consideration...

 

[Sensinitis]

the bad Orr

 

[Johnny Engine]

Fukufuji was a PR pick that stumbled into the show because of a bunch of injuries...just a mess of a goalie...

The other goofy thing was the re-entry waivers rule at the time. In order to recall LaBarbera from the AHL, he would have been subject to waivers again and the Kings thought they somebody would take him based on his AHL success. So they ended up calling guys lower on the depth chart than him...
Cloutier was out for the season with a hip injury and Garon missed a few weeks with a broken finger...

The Labarbera waivers problem (which I remember now, thank you) is probably a good reason to qualify Fukufuji for this thread. Injuries happen, there's a team every year that has to scramble to put in a triple-Z goaltender at one point or another, but it's a special situation when the best man for the job just gets stuck a level below where he's supposed to be.
As for him being a PR pick - well, maybe that factored into decisions at some point, but in January 2007 the Kings were well past able to be choosy about who played goal for him, so...maybe.

 

[Michael Farkas]

I had it on good authority at the time that it was just a people-pleaser...it's a complete accident he played in the league...

But that's right, re-entry waivers...both sides hated that so much haha...best laid plans, oh well...

 

[BobbyAwe]

The two worst NHL-level players I've ever seen are probably:
- Neil Sheehy
- John Scott

Scott, yeah 11 points in 286 games as a forward no less. Enforcer types were usually poor players but there should have been a rule against someone who couldn't skate 2 feet in any direction and was obviously only there to bust heads.

 

[Michael Farkas]

"Guys who never should have played a single all-star game" ... "Guys who never should have won a single all-star game MVP"...

 

[a79krgm]

Ernie Hicke should have never played.

The Seals may have landed Guy Lafleur if they didn't exchange 1st rounders with Montreal for Ernie.

Again in 1975 he was also involved in a heartbreaking trade where Minnesota North Star legend, JP Parise was shipped to the Islanders in exchange for his services.

 

[The Panther]

It'd have been nice if Gary Suter had never played, and then Gretzky and Kariya might have had longer primes...

 

[Sanf]

I don´t know if I would be as harsh and say never deserved to play, but a rather strange that he got a shot in NHL.

Jari Kaarela was a goalie in Finnish second tier in early 80´s. When the euro scouting was what it was he ended up to Rockies. Steve McDonald who was playing in second tier SaPKo knew someone in Rockies organization and managed to get Kaarela a tryout By surprise he got a contract and managed to even be one of the three goalies that Rockies kept up.

He ended playing five games in Rockies and few season in minors. After he came back to Finland he got contracts to elite league, but never became starting goalie in any team.

But yeah he did outplay other guys in camp so yeah he "deserved it". But in truth he never was even close to top goalies in Finland.

 

[sharkhawk]

A lot of the goons from the 80s

Stu grimson for example

 

[Bluto]

Miroslav Horava

 

[CaptBrannigan]

Here’s an obscure one: Evgeni Konstantinov. A goalie for early 00’s Lightning. One “appearance” was a zero second cameo to game a time out and the other was a 20 minute third period mop duty, he was only up as the backup was out injured.
Interestingly, he did garner a minor penalty in that appearance, I want to say for crossing the red line during a fracas.

I say he qualifies for ‘never should have played a single game’ as his two* appearances were both a matter of circumstance.

 

[FerrisRox]

Danny Taylor resurfaced with the Senators this past season!

Danny Taylor is unique in the time between his NHL stints.

He first plays in the NHL in 2007-08 playing one period for the Los Angeles Kings. He doesn't return to the league for five years, resurfacing for two games with the Calgary Flames in 2012-13. Then he's out of the league - and North America - for the next four years before returning to the NHL and appearing in a game for the Ottawa Senators.