Players who were projected relatively high in their pre-draft years

[WarriorofTime]

Jason Spezza.....he didn't drop a huge amount but he did some.

I watched Spezza play a lot when he was young....once when he was 14 (minor hockey AAA), many times when he was 15 (Brampton, OHL), a few times when he was 16 (Mississauga, OHL).

When he was 14 and 15, he was compared, some, to Mario Lemieux. Like Lemieux, Spezza was a right shot, very talented with the puck.

Spezza did look like he had the potential to be something close to Lemieux if he improved his skating a little.

But, it was obvious in his 16-year-old season that it wasn't going to happen.

Spezza went 2nd in the draft. Not much of a drop IMO.

 

[crobro]

Gilbert Brule

 

[reckoning]

David Cooper was expected to be a contender for the #1 overall pick at the start of the 91-92 season, but his stock dropped rapidly during the season. Buffalo took him at #11 in the actual draft, and most observers felt that it was too early. Sure enough, his career went nowhere.

While not exactly a huge drop, Mike Ricci going at #4 in '90 was a surprise, because everyone was touting him as the clear cut #1 going into the season. I remember even at the '89 draft, the announcers saying it was a weak class, but things would be better next year at "The Mike Ricci Draft". I don't think his value fell so much as Nolan, Nedved and Primeau seeing their value rise.

 

[Brodeur]

I didn't know a ton about him, but I remember being stoked to watch Luke Kirwan play in September 2014. Found this article from when he signed with Windsor: Spits bring Kirwan into the fold | Windsor Star

Kirwan has been projected as a top 10 pick for the 2016 NHL Draft and gives the Spitfires a big, physical component that has been lacking on the team in recent seasons.

Kirwan had played on the stacked '97 USNTDP squads and put up comparable/better numbers than Matthew Tkachuk, Jordan Greenway, Jack Roslovic, etc. The 2015 Draft was being highly touted ahead of time, so I took a couple of field trips to watch some draft eligible guys. Early September 2014 I saw a WHL preseason tournament which had guys like Paul Bittner and Brandon Carlo (unfortunately Matt Barzal and Ryan Gropp didn't dress). Later in the month, I got to watch Erie@Windsor and Youngstown@USNTDP on back-to-back days. Erie featured Connor McDavid, Dylan Strome, and Alex DeBrincat. Due to Josh Ho-Sang's suspension and Logan Brown's injury, I think Kirwan was the main guy I was watching on Windsor. My knee jerk reaction after one game was that I liked him better than Paul Bittner who was projected as a top 20 guy for the 2015 Draft at the time.

I didn't get to watch Kirwan again after that game, but he never put up great numbers in the OHL. And until looking it up now, I didn't realize he played his overage year in the QMJHL. He went undrafted three times.

 

[Wackster]

If I remember Cam Fowler was suppose to be draft higher than were he came out. Here in Quebec city the obvious answer is Esposito but i was quite clear when Radulov left that he wasn't as good as people told. Also Yann Sauvé an Alex Grant were sureshot NHLer when drsft in the Q ... that didn't work out for them

 

[Claude The Fraud]

Steven Anthony
Xavier Parent
Blake Clarke
Romy Elayoubi
Devereau Heshmatpour

 

[Dissonance Jr]

There was an old HFBoards thread from 2006 where people were discussing whether Drew Doughty and Yann Sauve could go 1-2 in the 2008 draft and arguing over who was better.

 

[cupcrazyman]

Adam Colagiacomo

Rico Fata

 

[McRpro]

Rico Fata

Weird reply to me but yes, Fata was hyped big time and did end up playing 200+ NHL games. World class speed and nothing else. He was a great player to pick up on EA sports NHL hockey.

 

[SniperHF]

Chychrun was ranked Tied 2nd in the preseason McKenzie rankings and ended up 16. He had a somewhat underwhelming season and a really bad tournament.

Turns out those earlier rankings were probably more correct

 

[RandyBobandi]

This thread screams Nick Ebert. A consensus first round pick after his Draft -2 year in the OHL. Rated 9th coming into the season. Had a completely garbage season and regressed in a lot of areas and showed improvement in none. Ended up being Mr. Irrelevant (last pick of the Draft).

here is an article less than a year before the draft on him https://thehockeywriters.com/nick-ebert-americas-top-nhl-draft-prospect/

Yeah I remember the hype about him being a top pick and then ends up getting picked last crazy how his career ended up. He was even traded straight up for Jack Campbell in 2016. Looks like he’s doing okay playing in the SHL.

Seth Ambroz was another guy I remember was hyped up a few years before his draft as a big power forward then didn’t really amount to much.

I thought Spencer Watson was a guy that was highly touted and ended up being a 7th round pick.

 

[The Kingslayer]

He was one of the names projected to go second, yeah. It was seen as a steal for Columbus to get him at 6th overall. Then he was rushed to the NHL, broke bones in two separate incidents and played only 7 games with the Blue Jackets before being sent back to the WHL. Also factor in that his father was abusive (I think verbally, not physically), and the mix led to a career that had him playing in Poland last year.

Brule is a solid human being. Too bad his father wasn't.

 

[The Kingslayer]

Chychrun was ranked Tied 2nd in the preseason McKenzie rankings and ended up 16. He had a somewhat underwhelming season and a really bad tournament.

Turns out those earlier rankings were probably more correct

The man that tore Roy and Sakic friendship apart...after Joe selected Jost haha.

 

[Claude The Fraud]

Blake Clarke

 

[David Bruce Banner]

There was an old HFBoards thread from 2006 where people were discussing whether Drew Doughty and Yann Sauve could go 1-2 in the 2008 draft and arguing over who was better.

Sauve’s stock slipped, for sure… but just when he looked like he might be able to turn things around he got hit by a car at Canucks training camp.

Well, not actually at the camp… while attending the camp.

 

[FrozenJagrt]

Some lists had Tyler Biggs as a potential top 10, even top 5 pick early in the season. Toronto trades up to leapfrog Detroit who may have been interested in him, taking him at 22. Questionable offensive upside, but viewed as a safe pick, a guy who could hit, fight, had a heavy shot and some leadership qualities. No chance he doesn't carve out a career as a bottom six grinder at the very least, right?

Never played a game in the NHL. Spent a lot of time in the ECHL, even a stint in the EIHL. I sure was excited about him but... Yikes.

 

[wetcoast]

O’Reilly
Saad
Barzal
Liljegren

Do O'Reilly and Barzal really fit the bill here though?

I know Barzal was unfairly touted as competition for McDavid (his skating is what made him such an exciting prospect) and ROR was always seen as a very complete player, which he has ended up being.

 

[wetcoast]

Came here to say (I can't remember his name though) a guy from the OHL considered theebest 16 year hockey player in the world, played with the Bulls I think.

Daniel Cleary it was.

 

[Laphroaig]

Dan Cleary. He was on everyone's radar a couple of years prior to being drafted and was thought to be a sure-fire top five pick but wound up going #13.

 

[Kent Nilsson]

Do O'Reilly and Barzal really fit the bill here though?

I know Barzal was unfairly touted as competition for McDavid (his skating is what made him such an exciting prospect) and ROR was always seen as a very complete player, which he has ended up being.

RoR had a very strange and unique path. I remember him being ranked a top5 pick pre-2009, didnt quite produce offensively in his draft year, fell out the 1st round on draft day, made the NHL straight off his D+1 year.

 

[Wackster]

The man that tore Roy and Sakic friendship apart...after Joe selected Jost haha.

This is right on!

 

[wetcoast]

RoR had a very strange and unique path. I remember him being ranked a top5 pick pre-2009, didnt quite produce offensively in his draft year, fell out the 1st round on draft day, made the NHL straight off his D+1 year.

Skating was a real big red flag for ROR as it was below average even for the OHL.

Scouting the 09 Draft - Ryan O'Reilly

The limiting factor with O’Reilly is his skating. Not only is he not that quick, but his stride is technically weak, leaving him without much room to improve his power, acceleration, balance or agility. At the OHL and U18 level he can keep up, but it would take a lot of work to get his skating to the level where he can unlock any greater potential he may have.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

@Habsfan18 or any of the other THN collectors, i swear ashley buckberger was once considered in the top five of the stacked 1993 draft. it would have been in a little box tucked into an article about the '92 draft, but my memory is it was like daigle, rob niedermayer, gratton, pronger, and ashley buckberger as their top five going into the draft year.

if this tickles anyone else's fancy, would love to know if i've been misremembering this for the last almost thirty years.

i also have no idea what happened to buckberger as a prospect but he ended up going near the end of the second round, 49th overall, to quebec. there were very good prospects available well into the second round, langenbrunner, brendan morrison, bryan mccabe, niinimaa, pandolfo, but the quality fell off a cliff in the middle of the round, with the last guy that in a normal draft year would likely have been a first rounder being probably kevin weekes at #41.

 

[Staniowski]

@Habsfan18 or any of the other THN collectors, i swear ashley buckberger was once considered in the top five of the stacked 1993 draft. it would have been in a little box tucked into an article about the '92 draft, but my memory is it was like daigle, rob niedermayer, gratton, pronger, and ashley buckberger as their top five going into the draft year.

if this tickles anyone else's fancy, would love to know if i've been misremembering this for the last almost thirty years.

i also have no idea what happened to buckberger as a prospect but he ended up going near the end of the second round, 49th overall, to quebec. there were very good prospects available well into the second round, langenbrunner, brendan morrison, bryan mccabe, niinimaa, pandolfo, but the quality fell off a cliff in the middle of the round, with the last guy that in a normal draft year would likely have been a first rounder being probably kevin weekes at #41.

I saw Buckberger play when he was 16 (and possibly when he was 15). He was certainly on the NHL radar at those ages, and was considered a potential high draft pick.

 

[Habsfan18]

@Habsfan18 or any of the other THN collectors, i swear ashley buckberger was once considered in the top five of the stacked 1993 draft. it would have been in a little box tucked into an article about the '92 draft, but my memory is it was like daigle, rob niedermayer, gratton, pronger, and ashley buckberger as their top five going into the draft year.

if this tickles anyone else's fancy, would love to know if i've been misremembering this for the last almost thirty years.

i also have no idea what happened to buckberger as a prospect but he ended up going near the end of the second round, 49th overall, to quebec.

I vaguely recall the article you’re referring to. I did dig out the ‘92 Draft Preview and went to the ‘93 look-ahead thinking that must be it, but Buckberger was just listed in the “others” category, listed first in alphabetical order.

I’ll see if I can find anything else previewing the ‘93 Draft in 1992.