Your team's "goaltenders of the future" who didn't pan out

[DFF]

For the Flames, uh... every young goalie they've had since Mike Vernon...

Let's see, there was Jason Muzzatti, Trevor Kidd, Tyler Moss, Dany Sabourin, Brent Krahn, Matt Keetley, Curtis McElhinney...

J-S Giguere and Dwayne Roloson turned out okay, but not in Flames uniforms. :/

I agreed with Kidd, Krahn and Muzzatti.

Moss, Sabourin, Keetley, McElhinney, Moss were all long shot low picks....you cant expect every piece of garbage to turn into gold

 

[jkrx]

Bruins hype on Hannu Toivonen was huge.

He was an athletic butterfly GK who was blanking the AHL, got called up and played impressively for 20 games.

But the following season the league caught on quickly that he went down very fast and was getting beat high almost every time, and he never adjusted.

He got sent down and then the following year was traded to St. Louis, (for the rights to Carl Soderberg), with similar results.

He got released and after a season in Finland he'd been playing in Rockford for the last 2 years, with last year being his best statistically since that first breakout stint in 2006.

I don't know where he is now.....

He's in Malmö Redhawks in Sweden (2nd division) and not playing very good.

 

[Hoser]

I agreed with Kidd, Krahn and Muzzatti.

Moss, Sabourin, Keetley, McElhinney, Moss were all long shot low picks....you cant expect every piece of garbage to turn into gold

Moss was taken 29th overall. He was the second goalie drafted in '93. He was not a "long shot" pick by any means. He wasn't necessarily expected to be a star, but he was expected to stick around the NHL. Personally I don't think he was given a fair shake by the Flames organization; he was better than Giguere.

McElhinney was drafted low because he elected to go to college. He was chosen after his freshman season where he went 6-0-1 as a backup. The next year he was a Second Team All-American. Two years later he went 21-3-1 and was First Team All-American. He graduated to the AHL and had a mediocre first season as Brent Krahn's backup but in his second season he usurped Krahn's job, played in the AHL All-Star Game and was named to the Second All-Star Team at the end of the year. At that point I think it is fair to say he was not considered a long shot to make the NHL.

Keetley was an outstanding goalie in junior. Two-time WHL Champion, Best Goalie at the Memorial Cup, WHL Playoff MVP... I think a little more was expected of him than ECHL scrub.

Sabourin? Sabourin I'll grant you wasn't expected to do a whole hell of a lot at the NHL level. Amusingly enough he's probably had a better career than Tyler Moss, Curtis McElhinney and Matt Keetley put together.

 

[0V3CHKiN]

One other goalie in the Washington pipeline was Rastislav Stana. I still remember he started one of his first games (maybe second) against the Red Wings AT the Joe. He actually won and let in only 1 goal on 30+ shots. I wouldn't say he was as high as Ouellet at the time but still someone to consider.

 

[DisgruntledGoat*]

I remember Corey Hirsch being a big-time prospect for Vancouver.

He's the St Louis goaltending coach now.

 

[Blitz]

via Draft:

Jacques Cloutier
Mika Norenen
Steve Shields
Daren Puppa (To a lesser degree)
Darcy Wakaluk

via Trade/FA:

Jocelyn Thibault
Ty Conklin
Patrick Lalime
Tom Draper
Bob Essensa
Andrei Trefilov (lesser extent - lower expectations)
Mikael Tellqvist (lesser extent - lower expectations)

 

[MetropolisPt31]

via Draft:

Jacques Cloutier
Mika Norenen
Steve Shields
Daren Puppa (To a lesser degree)
Darcy Wakaluk

via Trade/FA:

Jocelyn Thibault
Ty Conklin
Patrick Lalime
Tom Draper
Bob Essensa
Andrei Trefilov (lesser extent - lower expectations)
Mikael Tellqvist (lesser extent - lower expectations)

Man, you are REALLY stretching on the trade/FAs.

 

[Johnny Engine]

via Draft:

Jacques Cloutier
Mika Norenen
Steve Shields
Daren Puppa (To a lesser degree)
Darcy Wakaluk

via Trade/FA:

Jocelyn Thibault
Ty Conklin
Patrick Lalime
Tom Draper
Bob Essensa
Andrei Trefilov (lesser extent - lower expectations)
Mikael Tellqvist (lesser extent - lower expectations)

Yeah, it's really a shame that neither of those plucky youngsters Thibeault, Conklin or Lalime managed to step up and grab the torch from that over-the-hill greybeard Ryan Miller.

 

[GrkFlyersFan]

Antero Niittymaki. Played really well as a 3 game call up in 03-04, was good as a rookie backup to Robert Esche in 05-06, the next year, for political reasons he became the starter. He didn't end up being our goalie of the future.......

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

Yeah, it's really a shame that neither of those plucky youngsters Thibeault, Conklin or Lalime managed to step up and grab the torch from that over-the-hill greybeard Ryan Miller.

or that damn darren puppa, who was _only_ a vezina finalist. loser couldn't even win the damn thing.

 

[seventieslord]

a guy with 200 career wins who was great in the playoffs and played a couple all star games arguably didn't pan out?

Potvin is almost the only leaf drafted and developed player who did pan out since 1990..

well said.

Oh, Don't forget Brandon Convery. he was pretty good too.

I still cant get over that we traded Tim Cheveldae and Dallas Drake for Bob Essensa and Bautin

Why not? Cheveldae was never once top-10 in the NHL in sv%. Essensa was coming off four straight seasons in the top-10 including once 2nd behind Roy. He lasted over 100 more games in the NHL. History will remember him as the better goalie.

Drake for Bautin was the bad part.

No you didn't. Fanhome didn't become popularized until 1999 at the very earliest as one of the original incarnations of Hockeyboards.com. Cousineau last played a game for the Leafs during the 1997-98 season and was never "pimped" by Toronto fans or the media..

you are right. Cousineau was jus a minor league goalie who came up for a cup of coffee in 1996-97 because Beaupre was either injured or just plain terrible. Pretty sure he shut out the Isles on a weeknight but don't quote me on that. Something tells me that there was a penalty shot in that game too, and IIRC, Tie Domi scored a PP goal (if not, he at least played on the PP)

 

[Johnny Engine]

Oh, Don't forget Brandon Convery. he was pretty good too.

I'm more of a Darby Hendrickson fan myself.

you are right. Cousineau was jus a minor league goalie who came up for a cup of coffee in 1996-97 because Beaupre was either injured or just plain terrible. Pretty sure he shut out the Isles on a weeknight but don't quote me on that. Something tells me that there was a penalty shot in that game too, and IIRC, Tie Domi scored a PP goal (if not, he at least played on the PP)

If there was ANY excitement about Cousineau at all, it was because there was nothing at all to be excited about in Toronto around 97/98. Case in point: Domi playing the powerplay.

---

I remember Stephen Valiquette playing fantastically in limited action with the Islanders at 22 years old, then vanishing for years, and coming back as a veteran bit player. What happened there? Did the Isles expect anything from him? I realize that they had a 24 year old Luongo, and were about to draft Dipietro, but I would think putting up a .949 sv% and a 1.87 GAA merits a little bit more than 0 NHL games in the next 5 years or so.

 

[Killion]

...but I would think putting up a .949 sv% and a 1.87 GAA merits a little bit more than 0 NHL games in the next 5 years or so.

Your referring to Steve Valiquette, currently with Moscow CKSA of the KHL?... At 6'6" youd think yes?. He was impressive out of Junior yet proved inconsistent despite a decent sv% & impressive GAA in NY over what, a mere 6 games?. Career minor leag'r, really poor on his skates, weak mentally, like about 99.9% of the Butterfly Artistes' of the new era.

 

[Stephen]

well said.

Oh, Don't forget Brandon Convery. he was pretty good too.

Sarcasm?

 

[Corto]

Mika Noronen for the Sabres.

Biron to a lesser extent, though he became arguably the best backup in the league, went on to have two solid seasons as the #1 in Philly, including a nice playoff run.
But he was never the rock solid #1 fans hoped he'd become after Hasek was traded.

 

[Fish on The Sand]

Generally speaking, goaltending has been far and away the team's strength for the Habs since Roy left. It's been traditionally one of the Habs strengths and has continued since 1995.

The immediate post-Roy years with Thibault was kind of rough. He lost his starting job to Andy Moog and was consistently outplayed by Theodore and eventually traded for Hackett. It wasn't until Theodore broke out in the 99/00 season that Montreal had seen somebody actually step up and seize the number 1 role (although Vigneault stupidly kept playing Hackett that season anyways).

 

[Jinsell]

Jimmy Waite

Spent high 1st on him in draft ,, Had 1 real good year in IHL but Belfour emerged (And Hasek in 92 as #2) and Waite never emerged

Bounced around NHL from disasterous time in SJ , Back to Chicago as 3rd string/IHL guy and then to Coyotes in which he actually played well at times (And brutal at times)

As a kid I bought the hype and traded for alot of Jimmy Waite rookie cards ,, Seriously I have a ton of Jimmy Waite rookie cards and other Jimmy Waite cards

The hype around Jimmy Waite was well-founded. He had a great career in junior. It is widely believed that Waite's NHL career got off to a rough start because of Chicago's coach at the time Mike Keenan. Keenan was never really high on the guy, preferring Ed Belfour's competitive intensity over Waite's skill. Unfortunately, this had a negative effect on the young goalie's confidence and he never really grasped the NHL career scouts thought he would because of it.

 

[Jinsell]

Robb Stauber immediately comes to mind. Drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in the sixth round of the 1986 draft, he made big waves in 1987-88 with the University of Minnesota, winning the Hobey Baker Award that year. By the time he entered the pros in 1989-90 he was considered a top goalie prospect. However, he never amounted to much more than a backup at the NHL level. His best days were during the 1992-93 and 1993-94 seasons. After that, he was shipped off to Buffalo (in the Grant Fuhr deal) where he faded into obscurity.

At one time Troy Gamble was considered quite the prospect for the Canucks. He put in some decent showings from time-to-time but concussion problems in 1991-92 ruined his career and he never regained his form. Eventually, he lost his backup job to Kay Whitmore.

In 1985 the Hartford Whalers drafted Kay Whitmore, a highly regarded goalie from the OHL's Peterborough Petes. Whitmore was selected after Sean Burke and Troy Gamble but before the likes of Mike Richter and Bill Ranford. By the time he reached the NHL in 1989, the Whalers were a team on the decline. The young Whitmore was thrust into a struggling Whalers roster where he often had to compete with two or three other goalies (the likes of Peter Sidorkiewicz and Darryl Reaugh) to get playing time. He finally got the starting job in 1991-92 but the Whalers were so dismal it probably just hurt him. Prior to the 1992-93 season, he was traded to the Canucks where he fit way better as a backup to Kirk McLean. It was during his run in Vancouver that many believed he would become a #1 goalie but he was never able to catch on.

Then there was Trevor Kidd. Calgary was so high on this guy for what seemed like forever. Everytime I saw this guy play I was never that impressed.

 

[Johnny Engine]

Your referring to Steve Valiquette, currently with Moscow CKSA of the KHL?... At 6'6" youd think yes?. He was impressive out of Junior yet proved inconsistent despite a decent sv% & impressive GAA in NY over what, a mere 6 games?. Career minor leag'r, really poor on his skates, weak mentally, like about 99.9% of the Butterfly Artistes' of the new era.

Looked at his game log, and you're right that he was quite a lot less consistent than his averaging numbers suggest.

It's actually creepy how similar he looks in that light to current Leafs prospect Ben Scrivens.

 

[pdd]

Daren Puppa (To a lesser degree)

Say what? Puppa was a Vezina finalist and Second team All-Star in 1990 as a Sabre. I'd say he was doing pretty well.

 

[iamjs]

The guy that immediately came to my mind for the Pens was Craig Hillier. He was our first rounder in 1996. He never made it. Guys like Lalime and Hedberg burst onto the scene largely because of Hillier's failings as our 'goaltender of the future'.

Hillier did look like the goalie of the future coming out of the OHL. Back-to-back Dave Pinkney Trophy (awarded for lowest team GAA in the O) where he took the majority of the starts, and first team all-star and goaltender of the year honors as an 18 year old.

Never found his game in either Syracuse and Wilkes-Barre and eventually got moved into the ECHL where he bounced through 4 teams in 12 months. There were rumors of partying ruining his play, which might be plausible since he racked up a DUI during his brief stay in Toledo.

 

[VanIslander]

Who immediately comes to mind when you think of some "goaltenders of the future" who were supposed to tend goal for your club for many years, but for some reason or another it didn't pan out?

96 friggin' posts and no mention of Rick DiPietro who is five years into a 15-year, $67.5 million contract and yet is ranked third in organizational depth chart for goaltendng talent this season.

He IMMEDIATELY comes to mind!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Muuri]

Ahonen played 5 seasons in the AHL without getting a single NHL chance. I admire his persistence.

 

[seventieslord]

96 friggin' posts and no mention of Rick DiPietro who is five years into a 15-year, $67.5 million contract and yet is ranked third in organizational depth chart for goaltendng talent this season.

He IMMEDIATELY comes to mind!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Poor guy. Not just for the injuries, but because it’s increasingly clear that the above is how people are going to remember him. Dipietro did pan out! He clearly went from being their “goalie of the future†to their “goalie of the present†for two full seasons in which he played very, very well. Top-10 in the NHL, I would personally assess.

Of course, injuries wrecked him after that. To me, it is not clear what is responsible for his play this season (which, unfortunately, is starting to look like what we should expect for the duration of his pro career):

Lingering effects from his injuries limiting his mobility and reflexes, Simply being rusty from playing 20-odd games over a three year period, or Poor attitude/conditioning/contract-induced complacency leading to not getting into proper game shape now that he is healthy.

But, he did “pan outâ€.

 

[JaysCyYoung]

That's extremely arguable.

DiPietro was supposed to be a franchise-level talent in goal for the Islanders, an organizational game-changer between the pipes. They ended up passing on a 50/100 man in Dany Heatley, who was arguably the best left wing in the world for a season or two and an Olympian, as well as a high-flying offensive talent in Marian Gaborik who has reached the forty goal mark on a couple of occasions. Either one of those players would have been better selections than DiPietro.

Have DiPietro's injuries had an incredibly deleterious impact on his overall career? Of course they have. He's a very talented player who has been prevented from reaching his ultimate potential because of those injuries. But it nonetheless was a bizarre selection at the time, not just in hindsight given that the Islanders already had a superior goaltending prospect in Luongo and could have simply retained him rather than dealing him to the Islanders for a relative pittance, and then used the first overall pick on Heatley or Gaborik. As it stands DiPietro has a career record flirting with .500 (130-133-36) and a rather below-average .903 career save percentage. He's never won a playoff series to date and has an awful 2-7 record in playoff games started. I think that it is safe to say that he has been a disappointment.

For all intents and purposes he will be remembered for unfulfilled expectations and the assorted injuries that played a major factor in preventing him from reaching his ultimate potential. There is only one season in his career that I would characterize as DiPietro having been a very good, impact-level goaltender and that was in 2006-07 when he finished sixth in the league in save percentage (.919) and won 32 games while helping the Islanders to the post-season over Toronto on the final day of the regular-season. Other than that brief peak he has been an unmitigated disappointment in virtually every respect and claiming that he panned out is to be revisionist in what the Islanders believed that they were getting with him at the time he was selected first overall over superior talents.