Unexpectedly Good Players

[Predsanddead24]

Rinne went undrafted three times before we took him in the 8th round in 2004.

 

[Lil Tuzzi Bert]

Travis Boyd has impressed me for the leafs wasn’t expecting much

 

[nbwingsfan]

Tyler Bertuzzi for Detroit

Our fans (myself included) were livid at the pick too. Shows how little us fans actually know about prospects most of the time.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

We have so many threads about draft busts or players who never reached their potential. I decided to make one celebrating the guys we never saw coming or the guys that we believed in when nobody else did.

Nobody expected anything from Tomas Kaberle when he was drafted in the eighth round, but he became a great blue-line passer for the Leafs under Pat Quinn.

Who else is there?

Brayden Point recently. This guy came out of nowhere.

 

[TheGoldenGod]

How about Jared Spurgeon? 5’9 dman drafted 156th overall in 2008. Now captain of the Minnesota Wild consistently averaging over 22+ minutes a season. Whether it’s his height, draft position, or just playing in Minnesota (no offense Wild fans) he still tends to get overlooked a ton but just a very good all around player.

 

[islesmb]

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

Teams didn’t know if he was choosing football or hockey, I believe that’s why he lasted so long in the draft.

 

[HanSolo]

Josh Manson for Anaheim

Zach Whitecloud for Vegas but a bit less so. Undrafted but did enter the NCAA signing period as the top target in his year of eligibility. What's surprising is how much better he's played than I expected. Thought he'd be a very dependable bottom pair defensive specialist. With under 50 NHL games played he looks like Vegas' second best defenseman this year. Part of that is Pietrangelo underperforming but Whitecloud finds a way to make a noticeable impact at both ends of the ice every shift and very rarely makes mistakes. Thought he'd be a career shutdown guy but now watching how he plays offense at the NHL level I would be surprised if he didn't clip 40 points at least once.

 

[Sadekuuro]

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

Datsyuk and Zetterberg were fun for sure

 

[jetsforever]

Brandon Tanev?

 

[josiesque]

Mark Streit. Spent his junior days in Bern where they told him, he's not gonna make it to the NLA. Finally drafted in 2004 (he's born in 1977) and had to start his NHL career playing few minutes as a forward. Has been the first swiss born captain as well as the first top scorer for an NHL Team (as a defenseman nontheless) and ended up winning the Cup with the Pens.
Nice career tho.

 

[BlueBaron]

Datsyuk and Zetterberg were fun for sure

Heh. Let's not talk about Detroit.....It gets even worse if you go back in time.

 

[Clode]

Brad Marchand

 

[Bounces R Way]

Obligatory overager 6th round pick Andrew Mangiapane mention

 

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

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.

From the bit I’ve seen the dude is in matrix mode right now, he can dodge anything. That said, all it takes is one mistake and he could pick up an injury, then that slows him and boom- he loses his effectiveness. He’s amazing right now, I just wonder how long his peak will be.

 

[Mats26]

Alex Iafallo, undrafted from NCAA goes straight to the NHL plays 1LW.

Matt Roy 2015 7th rounder, comes in last year and plays like a 10 year vet. #2D man.

And that kid drafted in 2005 from Slovenia with 1 ice rink, that couldn't skate well, now has 2 cups, future HOF and still a top C in this league at 33.

 

[Shocker]

How about Jared Spurgeon? 5’9 dman drafted 156th overall in 2008. Now captain of the Minnesota Wild consistently averaging over 22+ minutes a season. Whether it’s his height, draft position, or just playing in Minnesota (no offense Wild fans) he still tends to get overlooked a ton but just a very good all around player.

This is gonna take some time to get used to.

 

[Auto Pilot]

Damon Severson. The reason I’m saying this is I always thought he was a solid player, but so far this year his underlying numbers show him to be one of the top 5 dmen in the league. His numbers are similar or better than some of the most praised dmen in the league. Pretty comparable to Makar who is some what sheltered with the heavy o zone starts compared Severson.

 

[txpd]

 

[Dache]

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

Detroit 1998 picked Jiri Fisher 1st round and Datsyuk in the 6th. Went on to pick Zetterberg in the 7th round the next year. Always felt that was the biggest part of them having such a long run of playoff appearances

 

[BlueBaron]

Detroit 1998 picked Jiri Fisher 1st round and Datsyuk in the 6th. Went on to pick Zetterberg in the 7th round the next year. Always felt that was the biggest part of them having such a long run of playoff appearances

For sure. That's an extreme example but even now we can see teams that only hit on first round picks that tend to languish in bubbleland despite having top end guys.

 

[Raym11]

Joe Pavelski was drafted 205th overall, and immediately a good player in the NHL once he got his shot.

 

[Dache]

For sure. That's an extreme example but even now we can see teams that only hit on first round picks that tend to languish in bubbleland despite having top end guys.

Yeah, unless they’re home run first round picks most years, just having adequate first round picks won’t be enough. Even a late first isn’t anywhere near a sure thing

 

[BlueBaron]

Yeah, unless they’re home run first round picks most years, just having adequate first round picks won’t be enough. Even a late first isn’t anywhere near a sure thing

Agreed.

I have a suspicion, and this is just a guess, that most of the top teams have several 2nd and 3rd round picks in the line up with the super late round guys being more of an outlier.

 

[Stelio Kontos]

Ondrej Palat and he’s still underrated. 208th overall turned out to be a 1st Line Selke Caliber winger. Hossa Esque

 

[Rorschach]

MSL...back when ever rookie of note was super-hyped in the hockey card world, MSL had no hype. Marian Hossa too.