Most overhyped prospects in recent memory?

[austin63867]

Laine and Mittelstadt don't belong here at all.

The hype around Cody Hodgson in Vancouver was insane for a guy with Daymond Langkow upside.

Lafreniere to me was a guy who would have been a #5 overall-ish pick most years and got hugely overhyped because of #1 overall.

Kravtsov.

Generally, it's guys who have a big WJC which doesn't represent their overall development.

Horrendous take on Laf. He was the best Q player since Crosby. He'd go top 2 in almost every draft year, including potentially this year.

 

[Stephen]

I’ll chime in here, Nick Robertson.

At one point in time, it was almost insane how hyped he was by Leaf fans, especially around here. Many Leaf fans were convinced he was better than his brother - Jason Robertson.

Now injury’s haven’t helped but at one point the hype and attention around him was INSANE.

I can't imagine Nick Robertson's hype was actually anything special unless you spent your time digging for Nick Robertson news and Leafs prospect depth. Not a high draft pick, not an ideal pro build.

Just compare him to how much Leafs Nation actually hyped up Matthew Knies.

Going to call bull on this one.

 

[MichaelFarrell]

Laine and Mittelstadt don't belong here at all.

The hype around Cody Hodgson in Vancouver was insane for a guy with Daymond Langkow upside.

Lafreniere to me was a guy who would have been a #5 overall-ish pick most years and got hugely overhyped because of #1 overall.

Kravtsov.

Generally, it's guys who have a big WJC which doesn't represent their overall development.

That is just not true. Alexis Lafreniere looked amazing in junior. He was two time CHL player of the year and WJC MVP all before he got drafted.

Hes at least 2nd overall in almost every draft in last 15 years. Based on his draft year, he probably goes ahead of Power, MacKinnon, Ekblad, Hischier, Yakupov, Nugent-Hopkins, Hall, and maybe even Stamkos.

 

[MS]

That is just not true. Alexis Lafreniere looked amazing in junior. He was two time CHL player, and WJC MVP all before he got drafted.

Hes at least 2nd overall in almost every draft in last 15 years. Based on his draft year, he probably goes ahead on Power, MacKinnon, Ekblad, Hischier, Yakupov, Nugent-Hopkins, Hall, and maybe even Stamkos.

I just didn't see it at all. He wasn't fast, didn't dominate games, was old for his draft year, played a low-value position.

At the time I felt like he looked like a future 60-70 point complimentary scorer, which doesn't look too far off.

 

[ello]

I don't remember Sanheim being that hyped at all...

I do. I was a kid when it happened but the fact that I even recall some random dman from Philly being the next big thing means that he probably was given a fair amount of attention

 

[Kshahdoo]

That is just not true. Alexis Lafreniere looked amazing in junior. He was two time CHL player, and WJC MVP all before he got drafted.

Hes at least 2nd overall in almost every draft in last 15 years. Based on his draft year, he probably goes ahead on Power, MacKinnon, Ekblad, Hischier, Yakupov, Nugent-Hopkins, Hall, and maybe even Stamkos.

Laf is steadily improving. He was 16+23 after 81 games last season, he's already 17+19 this season after just 58 games. And he's still 22. It won't surprise me if he becomes a PPG player in a couple years. So yeah, he isn't next big thing as some people though but he's going to be good.

I'd say he was sure overhyped but he isn't any close to Yakupov or Kravtsov.

 

[majormajor]

Laf is steadily improving. He was 16+23 after 81 games last season, he's already 17+19 this season after just 58 games.

On Panarin's wing that level of production isn't much.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

There was tons of hype for this Dustin Rose kid but he never made it.

 

[Neil Patrick Harris]

Fabian Brunnstrom

That's Fabian 'Hat-Trick-in-his-Debut' Brunnstrom, thank you very much.

 

[Beerz]

I’d still trade for him. I think Buffalo botched his early development. There is still something there.

His early development was hampered by injuries more than anything else.

Owen Power will be on this list soon enough.

 

[JeffreyLFC]

Do people really consider Arber Xhekaj overhyped? He has been a pretty good player in the NHL at this moment considering his young age and the fact he was never drafted. If anything he has surpassed the expectations.

 

[The don godfather]

Kakko he sounded like pavel bure of the draft .

 

[MS]

Do people really consider Arber Xhekaj overhyped? He has been a pretty good player in the NHL at this moment considering his young age and the fact he was never drafted. If anything he has surpassed the expectations.

Nobody had even ever heard of Xhekaj before he made his NHL debut so I don't see how he was overhyped.

 

[ChesterNimitz]

Craig Button at one point had Kravtsov and Denisenko as the 1st and 2nd best prospects outside the NHL.

Neither are NHL’ers.

Neither is Button.

 

[Pavels Dog]

I was recently wondering what that big forward Detroit played at the beginning of last year that got a ton of hype was up to, only to see Elmer Soderblom was having a middling season in the AHL after playing 20 games in the NHL last season while garnering a ton of media attention in the process.

Weird call honestly, he's had health issues and overall has never seen much widespread hype.

For me this is always Lafreniere. Remember hearing about him for YEARS pre-draft. "Just wait until Lafreniere.." etc., and he's a ....decent?.. NHL player. Laine, Puljujärvi, Granlund, yeah the finns know how to produce overhyped players too.
Another recent one is Benson. Talked about like a #1 in a re-draft when he first made the NHL. Realistically he's a good pick who probably shouldn't even be in the NHL this early.

 

[kp61c]

kaako and wright. disgusting hype.

 

[fredligh]

As a swede, Rundblad. But to some extent the hype was justified, he was toying around in the SHL, could deke out a whole team effortlessly. But after he failed in north america, he wasnt even the same back in europe. He peaked as a 20-21 yearold.

Sebastian Collberg was also hyped up, he was on pair with Forsberg as a double underager in the wjc iirc, Didnt really produce any numbers in the SHL and i think he retired before turning 30.

 

[TMLegend]

Mikael Granlund was the first one that came to mind.

Jonathan Drouin got quite a bit of hype too back in the day.

Luke Schenn was over hyped by Leafs fans, not sure about the general community.

I got a feeling Matvei Michkov will be on this list in 5 years or so.

 

[FissionFire]

This thread screams Jack Eichel. While he is an excellent player, there were lots of claims that he would be equal/better than McDavid leading up to the draft, and some clamoring for Edmonton to take him #1 over McDavid.

 

[forever1922]

To the guys saying Kakko: he was very, very good in his draft year. He just hasn't developed much at all since then.

Between Aho, Laine and Puljujärvi, the hype was definitely aimed wrong as Aho was the least hyped, touted simply as a stable presence and for being a smart player more than for any dynamic abilities I find.

I find Michkov overhyped and overvalued myself. It is often the case for prospects like that, who are uncertain since only few have seen him live and his future is also veiled in mystery. Sure, he was drafted accordingly but for now I think he has little left to prove in KHL outside of playoffs. Now it's time to see if he has the attitude and abilities to handle NHL's pace and physicality.

 

[Fish on The Sand]

This thread screams Jack Eichel. While he is an excellent player, there were lots of claims that he would be equal/better than McDavid leading up to the draft, and some clamoring for Edmonton to take him #1 over McDavid.

None of what you said is true.

Eichel was very hyped, and considered maybe the best number 2 since Malkin, but not even his own mother wouldn't have argued for him over McDavid.

 

[ijuka]

For Kaapo Kakko, yes. The issues were there, but the fact that he hasn't managed to improve upon them at all in 5 years is.. well, concerning. It seems like he never took on. Even five years later, he still plays like he's a rookie. He just became such an invisible vanilla player. A decent third-liner but where on earth did the high-end skill disappear to?

We have players like Matias Maccelli who was nowhere near as highly regarded(though still considered a skilled player with fantastic hands even at the time) completely leapfrogging Kakko in development.

Between Aho, Laine and Puljujärvi, the hype was definitely aimed wrong as Aho was the least hyped, touted simply as a stable presence and for being a smart player more than for any dynamic abilities I find.

Yeah. Aho had this reputation as a high hockey IQ player(which is true), but perhaps his other assets weren't talked about enough. He's not amazing at any one aspect, but he's a good skater, good passer, has a good shot, and has good hands. And he also has the good attitude and intangibles and goes to high-danger areas. He is a very Captain-like player.

But I can at least proudly say that at the time, I thought Puljujärvi was extremely overrated in comparison to the other two.

 

[Rpenny]

Nearly every pick by a fans team. All team fan bases over hype and over value their prospects

 

[Chaos2k7]

I can't imagine Nick Robertson's hype was actually anything special unless you spent your time digging for Nick Robertson news and Leafs prospect depth. Not a high draft pick, not an ideal pro build.

Just compare him to how much Leafs Nation actually hyped up Matthew Knies.

Going to call bull on this one.

Knies is no longer a superstar? But those 6 games against TB in the playoffs?

I will give one for the Panthers, Devon Levi, 7th rounder, WJC sweetheart, to main piece in acquiring a top forward in just about a year.

Hopefully he pans out but the naysayers are already chomping at that bit.

 

[Mathieukferland]

Jack Campbell, most hyped goaltender I can remember. Glad he managed to somewhat get his career back on track though