Alek Stojanov

[Passchendaele]

I just saw that this dude was drafted 7th overall, in 1991, just behind Peter Forsberg. My question is: we all know he turned out to be a bust, however, what did the scouts see in him at the time? Cam Neely potential? what made him so attractive? just curious.

 

[Skk82]

The Penguins thought he could replace Kevin Stevens/Rick Tocchet's role as a power forward and gave up surplus forward Markus Naslund for him.

Naslund was expendable to Pittsburgh who had Lemieux, Jagr, Francis, Tomas Sandstrom (PPG + player), Glen Murray, Brian Smolinski in the fold.

I remember hearing that Stajonov was really de-railed by a terrible car accident too.

 

[Boris Le Tigre]

well, he was a heavy guy to begin with... played in the 230's i think... his skill set lended itself more to the enforcers role, than the power forward... he was a decent enforcer, but not a top guy... and not really that physical of a player, in terms of forechecking and tenacity... he was too heavy and not fast enugh... so he didn't really fit a role i guess.

shawn antoski
and belak are other enforcers taken high in drafts...

not a bad gamble though, considering his size... which was all the rage when he was drafted.

 

[Goalie_Bob]

As Johnny Drama brought up, Stojanov was severly injured in a car accident after the season that the Pens traded for him, so he was about 22-23. He never fully recovered and I don't think he played another game for the Pens after the accident.

So I wouldn't call him a bust. It would be like calling Michel Briere a bust because he never lived up to his potential.

 

[12# Peter Bondra]

Didnt he beat Lindros in juniors in a fight?

 

[MS]

I just saw that this dude was drafted 7th overall, in 1991, just behind Peter Forsberg. My question is: we all know he turned out to be a bust, however, what did the scouts see in him at the time? Cam Neely potential? what made him so attractive? just curious.

Everyone compared him to Bob Probert when he was drafted. Elite goon potential with very soft hands. Schooled Eric Lindros in a fight in his draft year, which really upped his stock.

Shoulder problems were a huge issue. Missed a ton of time with injuries in the OHL from 91-93, then had a complete shoulder reconstruction in 1993 which cause him to miss the entire 1993-94 season. Prior to that, he showed considerable offensive potential - 71 points in 49 games in the OHL in 1992-93, and made an instant impact in the AHL as a teenager with 4 goals in his first 4 AHL games.

After returning from his shoulder reconstruction, he never showed any offensive flash again, and his fighting skills were diminished as well. Probably didn't skate well enough to ever meet the expectations of him when he was drafted, but without the injuries (played only 90 games in the three critical development years after being selected) he probably has a more successful career.

There was reason at the time to like him, although not to the tune of #7 overall - that was probably more due to the hype from the Lindros beating. But there hasn't been a player since with the elite enforcer potential Stojanov had who has also put up the kind of offensive numbers in junior that he did.

 

[pedis]

Never understood the major bust label and thought this guy was much better than half the players in those random articles named "20 worst players in nhl history." The accident was huge in derailing the career but is it enough to warrant worst player of all time?

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

i have always wanted to see video of that fight. i guess if it's 2015 and i still haven't, it probably doesn't exist.

 

[Hawksfan2828]

i have always wanted to see video of that fight. i guess if it's 2015 and i still haven't, it probably doesn't exist.

You ever see the clip where he fought his brother?

That was funny...

I wonder if the Sutters ever fought in a game?

 

[Jumptheshark]

I just saw that this dude was drafted 7th overall, in 1991, just behind Peter Forsberg. My question is: we all know he turned out to be a bust, however, what did the scouts see in him at the time? Cam Neely potential? what made him so attractive? just curious.

I remember this pick clearly--Scouts saw the 6'4 220 pound kid who could hit, fight and score-- however--it did not translate to the NHL level--Got the nucks Markus Nasland--that got them the win.

What did him in--In my opinion was when people started calling him the next bob probert and that caused his value to rise. I think the scouts and media that reported that cuased him to go from a second round pick to a first round pick.

For me, when I started looking at the his numbers I came up with the expression "soft numbers"--Take a look at the team he played on the year of his draft? It was not a good team and on bad teams, some players get lots of ice time because the team has no one else to play the time needed.

How often have we seen a guy go from getting good numbers on a bad nhl team to a good team and go MIA on a good team? One reason is the good team has players that they can toss out in different situations and the icetime the bad player got on the bad team is not the same time he will get on a good team.

 

[billybudd]

A lot went wrong for Stojanov right after he came to Pittsburgh. There was a car wreck where he suffered a pretty serious skull fracture. Then while he was recovering, his dog kicked him in the metal plate, denting it and knocking him out and/or causing him to seize up. After that, I think think there may have been some alcohol issues, but I'm only about 60% on this last part (this is from memory).

He might have been a bust on talent anyway, but there were mitigating circumstances with the events surrounding his time in Pitt that could be argued to have derailed anybody. Knowing what we know now about head trauma, his failure to develop if he were drafted today would be explained by citing brain damage.

 

[sr edler]

i have always wanted to see video of that fight. i guess if it's 2015 and i still haven't, it probably doesn't exist.

I have always wanted to see video footage of Shakespeare writing his sonnets.


But I thought it was Chris Gratton who beat Lindros in a fight? It feels like "beating Lindros in a fight" is one of the strongest mythological metrics going around in modern hockey folklore.

 

[IComeInPeace]

Stojanov and Lindros had a great fight in junior.

But, it was a close fight with both guys throwing bombs. Stojanov was given the decision by many...but, I think some of that was because Lindros was thought to be invincible.

Stojanov gets a really bad rap by most hockey fans.

That was an era when everyone was looking for the next Bob Probert.

In his final season in junior he put up some really good numbers (27 goals in 35 games) before turning pro and scoring 4 goals in 4 AHL games.

But, this is what is always left out with Stojanov.

He missed a tonne of hockey after being drafted.

Drafted in '91...here's what happened to his development:

'92 he misses half a season due to shoulder problems.

'93 he misses another huge chunk of the season (40 goals in the 53 games he plays though, including the 4 in 4 AHL games).

'94 misses the entire season.

The shoulder finally required major reconstructive shoulder surgery before the '94 season....and he was never able to get his game back.

So he missed 1/2 season, 1/3 of a season, and a full season in his 1st 3 seasons after getting drafted.

Not to mention he would now have a fully reconstructed shoulder that would never be the same. The shoulder would 'pop out' when he would simply grab an opponents jersey in a fight.

Now you could definitely say he shouldn't have been drafted at #7. But, you take the better part of 3 years of development away from any kid in his shoes, and his future is going to be in serious doubt.

Even moreso when that kid is expected to be a top end fighter, and he has a permanently damaged shoulder that 'pops out' simply from tugging on a players jersey.

But, just to be clear, he never 'pummelled' Eric Lindros in a fight like some suggest. They had a great fight that Lindros fans could argue went in Eric's favor. I would call it a draw, slight edge to Stojanov.

 

[IComeInPeace]

The Lindros vs Stojanov fight was readily available way back when.

I'm surprised it's hard to come by now.

I checked YT, and you're right, it's not there.

Even DYG doesn't have the fight (even more surprisingly, they have no mention of the fight on their site).
That's strange.

 

[Jumptheshark]

A lot went wrong for Stojanov right after he came to Pittsburgh. There was a car wreck where he suffered a pretty serious skull fracture. Then while he was recovering, his dog kicked him in the metal plate, denting it and knocking him out and/or causing him to seize up. After that, I think think there may have been some alcohol issues, but I'm only about 60% on this last part (this is from memory).

He might have been a bust on talent anyway, but there were mitigating circumstances with the events surrounding his time in Pitt that could be argued to have derailed anybody. Knowing what we know now about head trauma, his failure to develop if he were drafted today would be explained by citing brain damage.

from the word go im Vancouver they knew they had a problem

 

[Mayor Bee]

[deleted]

 

[Sprague Cleghorn]

Never understood the major bust label and thought this guy was much better than half the players in those random articles named "20 worst players in nhl history." The accident was huge in derailing the career but is it enough to warrant worst player of all time?

Those lists are dumb. The worst players of all-time list shouldn't be including guys that managed to play 100+ NHL games. There are plenty of players who only played one NHL game and for good reason.

 

[Ishdul]

I have no doubt that he was highly touted but it's hard not to look back at a guy with a big size advantage only putting up 45 points in 62 games in the OHL in his draft year (6th on his team in scoring) and ended up being a consensus top 10 pick in what was a strong draft and think of the problems with scouting in those days. Even if you just absolutely had to take a really big dude Glen Murray fits that bill.

 

[IComeInPeace]

I have no doubt that he was highly touted but it's hard not to look back at a guy with a big size advantage only putting up 45 points in 62 games in the OHL in his draft year (6th on his team in scoring) and ended up being a consensus top 10 pick in what was a strong draft and think of the problems with scouting in those days. Even if you just absolutely had to take a really big dude Glen Murray fits that bill.

GM's were in love with trying to find the 'next Bob Probert' after his showing in the playoffs in '88.
Expending a 1st or 2nd round pick and trying to find that guy became a trend that probably lasted 15 years.
The Canucks drafted Stojanov and Antoski, and traded for Mike Brown (Panthers 1st rounder in '97).

Stojanov's 25 goals in 62 games in the OHL that season compared favorably with Murray's 27 goals in 66 games, no???

I don't agree it was 'problems with scouting in those days'...
Fighting/intimidation was still viewed by some GM's and coaches as a very significant part of the game, especially in the playoffs.
Probert had showed himself to be a rare 'impact' player in those '88 playoffs.

Consequently, if you could get your hands on a guy that had the same soft hands, but could buy himself and his teammates some extra ice, without the off ice distractions, you had a gem on your hands.

If you read those blurbs above, it's clear it wasn't just the Canucks that were looking at Stojanov. He probably went a lot higher than he should have because the 'Nucks knew he would be gone soon after their pick.

But, again, I think you're somewhat discounting the impact his shoulder injuries and subsequent reconstructive surgery had on his career.

Aside:
Both Stojanov and Antoski had horrible car accidents...but it was Antoski (not Stojanov) that had the metal plate inserted in his head, and the subsequent injury involving his dog.