Players that you thought would make it but never did for some reason.

[Jumptheshark]

Little more obscure but Evan McGrath. His game looked like it would translate easily to the Pro level and it never did.

well he was taken in the 4th round

 

[Carl33]

Rico Fata, Kris Beech, Eric Chouinard!!!!

Today 12:29 AM
mckly angelo esposito, ty wishart, jakub voracek, luc bourdon RIP

Eh...Luc Bourdon, it's weird to see his name in that post...

And Ty Wishart seem's to pan out this year...

Voracek...eh...even if he dont dominate, is not a bust...

Stop with those guys who are 21-22-23 years old...


Patrick Stefan is a good choice for that topic...

 

[Bjorn Le]

well he was taken in the 4th round

That's not the point. He was pretty highly regarded and he had fixed a lot of problems that saw him fall to the fourth round in the first place, just never got it together.

 

[BennyBST]

I thought Jamie Lundmark wouldve panned out.

 

[BennyBST]

angelo esposito, ty wishart, jakub voracek, luc bourdon RIP

Espo-yes
Wishart-jury is out, could still be a solid nhl
Voracek-no, needs a change of scenery
Bourdon-shouldnt be included

 

[Latex*]

Tony Salmelainen



The Guy has to be one of the fastest skaters i have ever seen. I'm still wondering why didn't he make it.. maybe he just (seriously) lacked hockey sense.

 

[gifted88]

Even though he did "make it" I say Benoit Pouliot. Should be a top 6er by now with all his talent.

 

[mm11]

Jay Legault, Daniel Tkaczuk, Sheldon Keefe, Matt Foy, Ryan O'Marra, Mike Blunden.

I remember in 1997 reading the hockey news and it flat out said about Tkaczuk, dont quote me but something to the effect if you wanted a guy to get the flag on capture the flag Tkaczuk is your man! I was sold right then, his last name was cool too.

im sorry I was one of those pencil neck geeks that would study draft positions and prospects while my roomates and I had a keg party, live band, and mind altering substances the night before. Well im 40 now and still going over draft positions!

married with a great kid so I guess my style works ehh? or maybe im lucky! anyway back in 1997 the NYI had 2 picks i believe in the top 10 and chose Brewer and Luongo. I wanted Tkaczuk and Samsonov. I guess I was wrong

 

[Suiteness]

Pavel Rosa. The guy put up points no matter where he played yet he barely had a sniff at the NHL level.

Another who totally blew me away at the World Juniors but never amounted to shyte in the NHL was Miika Elomo.

 

[Mr Bojanglez]

Gilbert Brule.

Yeah he's "made it" but he has played no where near his potential. He was such a force on the Giants that I thought he'd be a 30-40 goal scorer in the top 10 in points

Also Petr Nedved

 

[walle]

Pavel Rosa. The guy put up points no matter where he played yet he barely had a sniff at the NHL level.

Wtf? What he did wrong with his NA run to never get full NHL season? Been absolute beast in europe...

 

[this providence]

James Sheppard.

Minnesota fans could probably tell you why he didn't blossom more than I can. Maybe he was rushed into the system, maybe his game didn't work well with Lemaire's when he was a head coach. I dont know the reason, but I expected a lot from him.

Shep is pretty much a running joke by now from Wild fans. There's a myriad of different reasons as to why he didn't/hasn't worked out. The main one being that he just wasn't developed properly. He "made" the team right after being drafted so he skipped out on more QMJL play to further develop his game. However, he spent much of the season making popcorn or buried on the fourth line with limited minutes. After two seasons of failed development playing where he shouldn't be playing, he no longer was able to be sent down without clearing waivers. So he's pretty much been in that purgatory ever since.

But quite frankly, he just isn't that great of a player and has shown us fans nothing that suggests he's capable of turning a corner. He missed all of the '10-11 season due to an ATV accident. We'll see what the Wild decide to do with him this offseason. They can offer him a two-way now, but they may just decide to part ways.

Colton Gilles to? But obviously not for the size.

As for Gillies, the former GM went with the same mistake as Shep. Putting a player that clearly isn't ready immediately into the NHL. Even when Gillies was drafted though, many seen him as a limited player with a low ceiling and a high floor. He wasn't going to be an impact player, but he should find his way into the NHL at some point.

Now, Gillies was still eligible for AHL by the time the Wild changed regimes. He's spent two years exclusively in Houston and he's finally starting to make some head way. Especially for the Aeros in the playoffs. He's a great skater and checker but that's about all he'll ever be due to a limited hockey IQ and pure skill. He'll make his way to Minnesota (likely next season) but this is a guy who probably won't ever be more than a good third line banger.

 

[TopShelfSnipes]

A few players over the years I thought had the potential to be much more than they were (in the NHL):

Marian Cisar
Daniel Tkaczuk
JF Fortin
Branislav Mezei
Ivan Novoseltsev
Radovan Somik
Lee Goren
Jeff Heerema
Alexandre Picard (the forward)
Lonny Bohonos
Per Gustafsson
Peter Smrek
Daniel Corso
Alexei Morozov
Nick Stajduhar
Nikos Tselios
Jason Bonsignore
Pavel Brendl
Jamie Lundmark
Barrett Heisten
Hugh Jessiman
Rob Schremp
Alex Bourret
Lance Ward
Kristian Kudroc
Jason Dawe
Sandy Moger

 

[AlMo]

Milan Kraft - should have been what Evgeni Malkin is now

Taylor Pyatt - good skater, good size, thought he would have been a top 6

Sergei Samsonov - has had a decent NHL career but I thought he could have been a star in the league

Pat Falloon - outstanding junior career, should have been a good goalscorer for the Sharks

Nikita Alexeev - another skilled Russian but with size and a good shot, never did anything

some others

Brian Finley
Branislav Mezei
Robert Dome
Alexandre Volchkov

 

[WreckItRask]

Jeff Jillson and Matt Lashof. Two guys that had all the tools and no tool box. Jillson was incredible at Michigan.

 

[shello]

steven anthony and john mcfarland.......too soon??????

McFarland yes much to soon, just got signed to a contract.

 

[S E P H]

+1, I also thought Aliu would have at least had a taste in the NHL by now. Also from the 2007 draft I really though Turris would be better by now, he was so sick in the Super Series and the WJCs but he's basically invisible in the NHL, and not just because he plays for the Yotes. I'd put Gilbert Brule in a similar vein, he was a force of nature on the Giants, but he too has been pretty invisible in the NHL.

Seems you didn't watch the playoffs because he was Phoenix's best forward outside of Doan.

 

[Byron Bitz]

as a leafs fan i was always very excited about both jiri tlusty and chris didomenico

 

[Reddawg]

Tony Salmelainen
The Guy has to be one of the fastest skaters i have ever seen. I'm still wondering why didn't he make it.. maybe he just (seriously) lacked hockey sense.

He's kinda smallish too (5'9" / 180ish), same problem as Brett Sterling? Size and lack of a defensive element to the game has killed the NHL dream of so many diminutive offensive-minded hockey players.

 

[Reynys]

first name that came up in my mind was Maxime Oullet, I thought he was going to be franchise type goalie for philly. Not even sure why/how he turned out to be such a bust he is now.

 

[McDNicks17]

Stanislav Chistov.

 

[Breakfast of Champs]

Matt marquart

 

[devin1487]

Jozef Balej

 

[MoreMogilny]

Jeff Jillson and Matt Lashof. Two guys that had all the tools and no tool box. Jillson was incredible at Michigan.

Lashoff actually had a pretty good showing with the Leafs towards the end of the season. Who knows if he will be able to build on it, or if he will even get the chance to, but I was pleased watching him at the NHL level for a brief stint.

 

[Mansfield]

Lashoff actually had a pretty good showing with the Leafs towards the end of the season. Who knows if he will be able to build on it, or if he will even get the chance to, but I was pleased watching him at the NHL level for a brief stint.

Yeah, Lashoff looked pretty confident as a third string D.

Of course, that would never live up to the hype he had as a first round pick, but he could have an NHL career yet.