Unexpectedly Good Players

[Machinehead]

Colin Blackwell, Jesper Fast, and Anton Stralman for the Rangers.

 

[kilowatt]

The most underrated player in hockey right now is Matt Roy, a seventh rounder in 2015. He's creeping up into 1D territory.

 

[TheGoldenGod]

Oskar Sundqvist for the Blues

 

[cudi]

Came here to say this. Horny was THE last person taken in the entirety of the draft that year

Brian Elliott has some haters for sure, but he's done not bad for being the 2nd last player taken in the 2003 draft.

 

[Tom Polakis]

123rd pick Conor Garland is the Coyotes' best player. I'm afraid the little shrimp is going to get squashed and that will be the end of it, though.

 

[Kcb12345]

John Klingberg was a 5th round pick

 

[Reggiet2]

Anders Lee, I think was a 6th round pick, now Islanders captain and a top powerforward.

 

[NHL WAR]

Is there anything more satisfying than a late pick turning into a star?

For a 5th round pick Zach Hyman turned out pretty well.

Funny side thought. How many times has a teams last pick been better than it's first I wonder?

Leafs in 2013 is one example. Andreas Johnsson in the 7th round, Freddy Gauthier in the 1st

 

[DingDongCharlie]

Marino for one. I didn’t much care that he refused to sign. It’s unfortunate but I never expected him to be as effective in Pittsburgh as he was. Especially that quickly.

 

[danpantz]

Torey Krug went undrafted. Has had a pretty good career so far.

 

[BlueBaron]

Leafs in 2013 is one example. Andreas Johnsson in the 7th round, Freddy Gauthier in the 1st

Nice catch. I bet there are even more extreme examples.

 

[Tripod]

Kimmo Timonen was a 10th round pick...ended up a #1 Dman

Phil Myers went undrafted and is already a top 4 Dman 81 games into his NHL career.

 

[JT Kreider]

The most underrated player in hockey right now is Matt Roy, a seventh rounder in 2015. He's creeping up into 1D territory.

Cal Petersen too. 5th round pick by the Sabres and they didn't/couldn't sign him and this year he has been one of the best goalies in the league.

I have him in my fantasy league and if it came to it I would drop Carter Hart over CP.

I think he has given up 4 goals in one game the rest are 3 or under.

 

[JT Kreider]

Colin Blackwell, Jesper Fast, and Anton Stralman for the Rangers.

Even though he was a 1st round pick, man, did Torts ever save Brian Boyle's career along with Stralman. I believe Stralman had been a training camp cut by the Devils before he latched on with the Rangers and was surely on his last legs in this league.

And speaking of legs, Boyle could barely stand on his when he was on the ice. A bender would not even accurately describe how bad of a skater Boyle was when he first got to the Rangers. He was the softest goofiest 6'7" person in the history of 6'7" people. A criminal waste of size.

 

[Necrobutcher]

Kimmo Timonen was a 10th round pick...ended up a #1 Dman

Kinda insane that the 1998 finnish league champion HIFK team had Timonen, Tim Thomas and Brian Rafalski. A 10th round pick, a 9th round pick and an undrafted player who all became stars in the NHL and Stanley Cup champions.

 

[Dynamite Time]

I miss Mattias Janmark but he does fit better with an offensive team who lets him run a bit.

 

[LeafGrief]

Andreas Johnsson was a 7th round pick. After he was drafted he was diagnosed with asthma and started getting treatment for it. He pretty much exploded into a legit prospect over night and is now a very good hockey player. I wish him tons of success with the Devils.

How asthma diagnosis transformed Devils' Andreas Johnsson from 7th-round pick to rising NHL star

 

[DontLaughAtThat]

Colin Blackwell

 

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

Brock McGinn's been underappreciated as a premium bottom-6er for a few years now. I've never seen him score like this, though.

 

[High five Tom]

Brad Marchand

 

[Romang67]

Enström and Byfuglien were 2 legitimate top pairing D-men for the Jets who were drafted 6 spots apart in the famously great 2003 draft.

In the 8th round, 239th and 245th respectively.

 

[larmex99]

Brandon Tanev went undrafted and didn’t have much interest from the NHL. He has gotten better every year and would be a terrific bottom six on any team. Wish he was still a Jet......

 

[DanyHeatley]

What about Daniel Alfredsson? Before he won rookie of the year, there were no expectations for him. 22 year old rookie, 6th round 133rd draft pick in 94. Then ended up carrying the team and becoming the face of the franchise for 18 years. Too bad he couldn’t win a cup

 

[Rabid Ranger]

A guy like Pionk comes to mind.

 

[LucianoBorsato]

Neal Pionk, Undrafted college UFA, had no idea what to expect when he was traded for Trouba but many were pretty underwhelmed. Basically the Jets best defenseman now (yeah maybe that isn't saying much, but still) and quietly having a strong offensive season, 15 points, 8th in defenseman scoring.