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

[Anthrax Jones]

After being spoiled with prospects that made impacts in the NHL almost immediately (Deadmarsh, Drury, Hejduk), that next wave of Avs youngsters were stamped as cant-miss: Skoula, Nedorost, Riazantsev.

They missed. And by a wide, wide margin. Skoula especially, after having a borderline dominant stretch in the 2000 playoffs, went over the cliff.

 

[MoreMogilny]

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.

I certainly don't think he will ever reach that hype/potential he had early on in his career, but he could carve out a career as a solid bottom pairing defenseman.

 

[Leafs87]

Jiri Tlusty. He is an amazing AHL player, but just can't get it together in the NHL.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Some names that I thought were supposed to be top six forwards in the NHL but never panned out:
Jared Aulin, Yanick Lehoux, Jamie Lundmark, Jan Caloun, Pavel Vorobiev, Mikhail Yakubov, Jeff Heerema

 

[ekcut]

Sergei Berezen.
The kid was fast with slick stick handling skills

Jamie Rivers.
I read that he was the 2nd coming of Al Macinnis and I was foolish enought to take him in a fantasy draft two years in a row based on that scouting report....F U Sherry Ross!

 

[pdxshark]

Todd Robinson.

Was only a kid back then but his skills were obvious. Knees and size held him back. I think if he had the season he did in '98 in 2008, he would have made it. Seems like the type of player who would benefit from todays rules in the NHL.

 

[JeffShibley]

Stanislav Chistov.

I'm with you. great rookie year did nothing after that.

 

[Balls Mahoney]

Scott Jackson and Zack FitzGerald. Watched them both come up here in Seattle and I thought they'd both be great top four NHL players. FitzGerald was a nasty defensive defenseman who also was the reigning WHL Heavyweight Champ. Jackson was a smooth two-way defenseman who looked good in both ends of the ice. They formed one of the best defensive pairings I've ever seen in Seattle. Both were drafted by the Blues with Fitz going in the 3rd and Jackson going in the 2nd, however neither made it far. FitzGerald has been bouncing around the AHL as a goon now in Carolina's system. Jackson has also been bouncing around the AHL now in Tampa's system.

 

[canuck2010]

Bryan Fogarty was an incredible talent. Should have been the next Bobby Orr. Too bad he couldn't overcome his addiction. RIP

 

[davebenj]

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

Don't know how to not inclue an entire post but thank you! Aleksey Morozov sucked in the NHL for the amount of hype he gets

 

[ponder]

Jiri Tlusty. He is an amazing AHL player, but just can't get it together in the NHL.

He is one guy who never impressed me, even slightly. I'm a Leafs fan, and obviously want our prospects to succeed, but I never got the hype about Tlusty at all, he always looked like a complete and total scrub in the NHL.

 

[davebenj]

I thought Serge Aubin would be a very good player

 

[R S]

After being spoiled with prospects that made impacts in the NHL almost immediately (Deadmarsh, Drury, Hejduk), that next wave of Avs youngsters were stamped as cant-miss: Skoula, Nedorost, Riazantsev.

They missed. And by a wide, wide margin. Skoula especially, after having a borderline dominant stretch in the 2000 playoffs, went over the cliff.

I don't see how you can say Skoula especially. Atleast the guy had a moderately successfull NHL career.

 

[Snatcher Demko]

Bryan Fogarty was an incredible talent. Should have been the next Bobby Orr. Too bad he couldn't overcome his addiction. RIP

Yup, Fogarty has to be the saddest example. Had Paul Coffey potential - could have legitimately been one of the all time greats.

I remember a quote from Sundin when he was a kid at a Nordiques camp saying Fogarty showed up completely drunk* and still skated circles around everyone.

*not trying to slander anyone - just what I remember about the quote.

 

[Anthrax Jones]

I don't see how you can say Skoula especially. Atleast the guy had a moderately successfull NHL career.

I'm being a little hard on him putting him in the same category as Nedorost and Riazantsev, but I always felt he couldve been so much more. He was a serviceable defenseman for 10 years or so.

 

[Ferjo]

Think some of them have been mentioned but in the late 90s the Barrie Colts had 4 excellent prospects, none of which came close to making an impact in high levels of pro hockey.

Daniel Tkaczuk, Denis Shvidki, Brian Finley, and Michael Henrich were all teammates, and all top 15 picks, two going in the top 6, and all had massive struggles for one reason or another in the pro game. Tkaczuk especially was a great package and was clearly the best of the bunch. Sad story he never came close to sticking full time.

Henrich and Shvidki had warning signs while they were there but still looked like they had legitimate NHL skill sets, while Finley lost his whole season as first year pro and never regan his junior form. Martin Skoula was also on those Colts teams, and stopped developing early in his NHL career.

 

[scoutman1]

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.



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.

A power forward like james Sheppard could have been a really good player in the NHL but again just like Pierre-marc Bouchard they rushed him too fast a power forward needs to get stronger and he had to really work on his skating big time before going NHL, a low confidence is a big part of his decrease in development...

 

[VLoo]

Yup, Fogarty has to be the saddest example. Had Paul Coffey potential - could have legitimately been one of the all time greats.

I remember a quote from Sundin when he was a kid at a Nordiques camp saying Fogarty showed up completely drunk* and still skated circles around everyone.

*not trying to slander anyone - just what I remember about the quote.

I remember reading that in an article as well. It might be part of the same quote but somebody said that he'd been drinking and went to bed like 2 hours before practice and then was still the best player on the ice. That's when they realized he actually had a pretty big problem.

 

[STL fan in MN]

Marek Schwarz and Carl Soderberg - the Blues top 2 picks in 2004.

Schwarz had very good reflexes and was very good in both the U-18s and U-20s but seemed to lack the mental toughness needed for a goalie to shake off bad goals and is now back in the Czech Rep.

Soderberg had a ton of size and skill, put up 48 pts in 27 Jr games in his draft year, then a couple of years of a pt/game pace in the Allsvenskan and SEL but then he suffered a pretty nasty eye injury, his team was then relegated back down to the Allsvenskan and he eventually decided to stick with his hometown Malmo playing in Sweden's 2nd tier league instead of ever trying his hand at the NHL.

 

[Nikita Filatov]

Incredibly early, but by meeting the kid and how positive he was and how his career started off, I thought Nikita Filatov would be so much of an impact by now. It's so strange see a former #1 prospect with the most immense amount of talent not even be able to replicate his rookie season in the AHL. No one but maybe him know what's going on, I'd still love to him him become a force on any club. There is more than enough time for his career to be salvaged though.

 

[DaveG]

Casey Borer

He looked awesome at St Cloud State and was one of the few people I've ever seen have Ovechkin frustrated in the WJCs. Looked great in his callup in his rookie year and was on track for a great second season before blowing out his knee. Then there was the bus crash in 09. I'm convinced he'd be a solid 2nd pairing dman by now if not for those injuries, absolutely no doubt in my mind.

add to the list: Wes O'Neill, Evan McGrath, Marek Schwarz

 

[Blue Dragon]

TJ Hensick. Thought he was going to be a top-6 forward. Turned out to be a AAAA player (does very well in the AHL and is not good at NHL level).

Yup, Fogarty has to be the saddest example. Had Paul Coffey potential - could have legitimately been one of the all time greats.

I remember a quote from Sundin when he was a kid at a Nordiques camp saying Fogarty showed up completely drunk* and still skated circles around everyone.

*not trying to slander anyone - just what I remember about the quote.

I'm shocked, shocked that you suggest Bryan Fogarty had a drinking problem!

 

[WreckItRask]

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.

Oh no! Don't do this to yourself...it's not healthy. I hated that the Bruins gave him up for Recchi because he had his moments. Then Tampa fans got all excited because he finished that season on a high note playing meaningless games and getting PP time, and then he sucked the next season. He's a huge tease, and he's now fooled two organizations into thinking he's going to put it all together. Don't be the third..set your expectations beyond low.

 

[BruinsFan1960]

Cameron Mann drafted in 1995. I can remember The Hockey News had
him labeled has a can't miss prospect.

 

[Vinner]

Sergei Berezen.
The kid was fast with slick stick handling skills

Jamie Rivers.
I read that he was the 2nd coming of Al Macinnis and I was foolish enought to take him in a fantasy draft two years in a row based on that scouting report....F U Sherry Ross!

Berezin made it. He was a 10th round draft pick and..

He scored 20+ goals 5 out of 7 years in the league, including a 37 goal season.

He was a career +29 and his post season statistics are on par with his numbers during the regular season, through 50 games. In 502 career games he also had just 54 penalty minutes.