Who was the best Czech prospect of all time?

[Felidae]

So obviously Hasek and Jagr are the two best czech players of all time. But were they still the best draft prospects considering they weren't even the highest drafted czech players during their year?

I understand Jagr was a big question mark coming over to NA, and apparently Jagr said he'd only play with Pittsburgh.

But to my knowledge, even ignoring those factors and despite being considered the most offensively talented of the draft by some, it wasnt a gaurentee he would have been 1st overall even though there was conversation around it. My memory is probably foggy at best here though, so correct me if I'm wrong.

With Hasek, he was drafted in the 10th round. 3 other Czech players went ahead of him but he was also the only goalie and they tend to be disadvantaged in drafts. Still, you'd think teams would take a chance if he was a phenom as a prospect. Of course, I'm just basing this off their draft placements and there could have been other factors at play I'm not aware of.


Here are some of the highest drafted czech players of all time.

1st overalls: Patrik Stefan, Roman Hamrlik
2nd overall: Petr Nedved,
3rd overall: Radek Bonk
4th overall: Pavel Brenda, Rostislav Kesla,
5th overall: Jaromir Jagr
6th overall: filip zadina, Pavel Zacha, Milan Michalek, David Jiricek
7th overall: Jakub Voracek, Rotislav Olesz

Of course, not all drafts are created equal, and sometimes for whatever reason, incredible prospects are drafted lower than they should be. Which is why I'm asking you guys, who do you think was the best czech prospect of all time?

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[Michael Farkas]

Jagr

 

[GettingYourMoms]

Jágr, 2nd best is going to be Adam Benák

 

[MarkusKetterer]

Jagr. But as for second best (by this I mean hyped) it would have to be Bonk or Nedved.

 

[frisco]

Probably Stefan or Bonk.

Jags didn't really have a whole lot of smoke when he was drafted. He was drafted fifth because guys that produced in "known" junior leagues were considered less risky. The whole thing about only playing in Pittsburgh was a bit overblown. He would've come over within a year no matter who drafted him and teams were not looking at immediate help anyway and would've picked him and waited had they really believed he was the best prospect. Nedved was considered a surer pick as were the three Canadian guys taken ahead of Jagr.

I mean, of course in the end, the consensus was dead wrong, but at the time almost nobody was thinking Jagr was a sure superstar.

My Best-Carey

 

[Voight]

Still remember the hype around Nedved.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

i would love to see firsthand sources litigating jagr vs nedved.

retrospectively, obviously jagr looks like the easily better player in every way (jagr played at higher levels every step of the way and made national teams that nedved didn’t, for ex). and maybe this is just because nedved was our pick so the takes i received in the moment were very specific and selective, but at the time i don’t remember it being jagr vs nedved being clear at all.

i do think if nedved had been born later and the sedin trades still happened he would have been top pick in 1999, and i don’t know that he wouldn’t have been the top pick in 94 either. again, my perspective might be skewed from local coverage, but i remember him being talked about as a number one in less competitive years.

 

[sr edler]

There should be a clearer distinction here between best and most hyped, those aren't necessarily the same thing depending on situation. Who in NA even scouted teenage Hasek. And scouts can suck as well. But he played in the Czech first league at 16 and then in the Canada Cup at 19, so apparently someone liked his pedigree.

 

[seventieslord]

5th pick or not, I still say Jagr

 

[Staniowski]

Jagr towers over everybody else. He was by far the best player (and best prospect) at the time of the 1990 NHL Draft. As we've said before, you have to look through the lens of availability (to play in the NHL) and consider the scouting environment of the time. Everybody who saw Jagr play knew how good he was. The best NHL prospect since Lemieux.

Hasek might've been the biggest goaltending prospect ever.

Ruzicka would've been a very high 1st-rounder, perhaps even 1st overall in 1981, if available to play in the NHL. I doubt I saw him play in his 1st year of eligibility for the Draft, but i remember seeing him play shortly after that.

 

[Moose Head]

It’s Jagr. He probably goes first overall if everyone but the Pens knew he was going to the NHL immediately.

 

[PrimumHockeyist]

Still remember the hype around Nedved.

It was excessive

 

[Felidae]

THN's 1990 draft preview magazine.

I'm sure most of you have seen this already. Based on this it seems there was in fact some conversation around Jagr being the best draft player available. But "it is a minority viewpoint". The 1990 draft videos on YouTube also confirm that some scouts consider him the best player available.

the scouting report on his playstyle is interesting to say the least.. one of the early draft previews I found stated he's "not known as a scorer"


"Not real flashy, he doesn't attract you with his finesse so much as his overall performance in all areas of the game".

Maybe Jagr did in fact play differently as a prospect, I can't say. But it's closer to being the opposite of how I would describe his NHL Career.

The bit about Clarke is also funny in retrospect, or sad if you're a flyers fan..

Now if only the picture didn't crop off Nedved.

 

[Michael Farkas]

There was a passionate faction in the Wings organization that wanted Jagr in that draft.

 

[frisco]

Yeah, even just for 1990, Nedved was much more talked up than Jagr. His defection was a big news story and he dominated for Seattle. Jagr's hype did not nearly match his eventual level of ability. The fact he went fifth speaks to that. Teams just thought the other guys were surer bets. Jagr maybe not coming over right away wouldn't have swayed a team had they really thought he was "the guy".

I mean Sundin went #1 in 1989 based on the fact he was clearly the best player even though teams were looking at a one year wait and maybe even two before he came over. If a team were really that big on Jagr, the possible one year delay wouldn't have been a major factor.

As a Penguins fan, I wasn't over the moon we got him. It wasn't until I saw him play that it became real obvious he was clearly a superior (and maybe overlooked) talent.

The real value of that draft was the Islanders getting Scissons at #6. He, along with Chyzowski (2nd overall in 1989), really set the course of the franchise for the next decade plus.

My Best-Carey

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

i would love to see firsthand sources litigating jagr vs nedved.

Now if only the picture didn't crop off Nedved.

haha yeah, i was subtly bat-signaling a certain habs fan to swoop in to the rescue here

but doing some digging about a conversation that’s been had many many times before (how highly regarded pre-draft jagr was), this turned up:

"It's funny, but the Canucks asked me who was the best player in the draft when they interviewed me in 1990," Nedved says. "I told (General Manager) Pat Quinn, 'Jagr, by far,' yet they took me. Just think if Vancouver had Jagr, Pavel Bure and Alexander Mogilny now."

that’s nedved quoted in the sporting news, date unknown. the link is now dead. but that quote must have been around 1996 or 97, which means nedved would have had the benefit of knowing how jagr turned out and possibly embellished his account. just how astronomically good jagr ended up being, i suspect, can’t help but colour how people talk about prospect jagr, and my suspicion is it went from “some people think he might have been the best player, however availability” to “everyone knew he was the best but he said he wasn’t coming to anyone but craig patrick.”

here’s nedved speaking in june of 1990, courtesy of our habs fan friend in this thread:

a significantly more tempered account.

in my digging through old HOh threads, i also came across this photo. looking at that photo, with holik and reichel’s workmanlike soviet factory worker haircuts and jagr’s gothy ’80s synthpop look, people should have known that jagr was, in the parlance of the time, a different cat.

 

[JianYang]

I recall nedved being hyped alot l, but maybe that was also because I lived in the market of the team that drafted him.

Hamrlik seemed to have more hype than Stefan, but 1st overall picks are inherently high regardless.

 

[reckoning]

Jiri Dudacek should be mentioned. He was considered by many scouts to be the top prospect in 1981. Of course, there was the question of when he might be allowed to come to the NHL. Buffalo drafted him at #17. Bowman thought he may be able to work out a deal with the Czechs to bring him over, but it never happened.

 

[Robert Gordon Orr]

Jiri Dudacek should be mentioned. He was considered by many scouts to be the top prospect in 1981. Of course, there was the question of when he might be allowed to come to the NHL. Buffalo drafted him at #17. Bowman thought he may be able to work out a deal with the Czechs to bring him over, but it never happened.

Bowman took a gamble on Dudacek, calling him the best junior player in the world at the time.
Dudacek already played senior hockey at the age of 16. Unfortunately he had injury problems throughout his playing career. Aside from knee injuries, he also battled a fatigue syndrome.
Instead of becoming a millionaire in the NHL, he ended up installing plastic windows for a local company back home.

The Buffalo News, June 11, 1981 p.33

 

[Moose Head]

I recall nedved being hyped alot l, but maybe that was also because I lived in the market of the team that drafted him.

Hamrlik seemed to have more hype than Stefan, but 1st overall picks are inherently high regardless.

He was hyped because he was a great Czech prospect who had defected to Canada. Jagr would have been hyped even more if he had chosen the same path. Imo there is no doubt in mind Jagr goes #1 easily if he had chosen Nedved’s path.

Yeah, even just for 1990, Nedved was much more talked up than Jagr. His defection was a big news story and he dominated for Seattle. Jagr's hype did not nearly match his eventual level of ability. The fact he went fifth speaks to that. Teams just thought the other guys were surer bets. Jagr maybe not coming over right away wouldn't have swayed a team had they really thought he was "the guy".

I mean Sundin went #1 in 1989 based on the fact he was clearly the best player even though teams were looking at a one year wait and maybe even two before he came over. If a team were really that big on Jagr, the possible one year delay wouldn't have been a major factor.

As a Penguins fan, I wasn't over the moon we got him. It wasn't until I saw him play that it became real obvious he was clearly a superior (and maybe overlooked) talent.

The real value of that draft was the Islanders getting Scissons at #6. He, along with Chyzowski (2nd overall in 1989), really set the course of the franchise for the next decade plus.

My Best-Carey

Sundin was in a much weaker draft class though. In 1990 he might drop to #5.

 

[Felidae]

So were Hamrlik and Stefan unanimously considered the best players in their draft? And how highly regarded were those drafts at the time?

 

[Jumptheshark]

Still remember the hype around Nedved.

Yep

The Czech Gretzky according to some

 

[McGarnagle]

I've watched the 1984 draft on youtube and when Petr Svoboda walks out its treated like a huge deal. He had some big hype.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

So were Hamrlik and Stefan unanimously considered the best players in their draft? And how highly regarded were those drafts at the time?

no they were not

i expected either todd warriner or darius kasparaitis to be the number one in 1992, although hamrlik was also talked about as a healthy number one candidate. yashin was the only true star at the top of that draft but as i recall he was a bit of a surprise to go as high as he did.

stefan was probably no better than another czech, pavel brendl, alongside the wildcard of the sedins in 1999.

bonk was the czech that i expected to be number one, but he fell to three of course, behind jovo and tivo.

the other common denominator here is all three were considered weak drafts, at the time and in retrospect.

I've watched the 1984 draft on youtube and when Petr Svoboda walks out its treated like a huge deal. He had some big hype.

before my time but i imagine he must have been very highly regarded to have gone so high

other czechs i remember hearing a lot about pre draft were marek schwarz, milan michalek, michael frolik, and jake voracek, though none were considered as good as i remember bonk being.

although now that i think about it, it might have been rusty olesz not frolik who i am remembering getting a lot of pre draft hype. i always got those two mixed up.

 

[24 others]

Actually, Robert Reichel may be the correct answer here. He has never found much success in the NHL (had back-to-back 40 goal seasons, but for a player of his talent, that was not enough) and he was overshadowed by two of his WJC linemates, Jagr and Holik. But in terms of pure talent and hockey smarts, Reichel was an absolute prodigy and was considered the most talented player on that WJC line.