Best late Bloomers

[Brodeur]

I'd put Danny Briere up on this list.

I remember reading about Briere admitting that he was a lazy entitled player early in his career. He thought on pure skill he was an NHL player, but then he got waived and cleared which was a huge wakeup call. To his credit he made some changes on and off the ice and turned things around.

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Dan Cleary was an early favorite to go #1 in 1997 but had a mildly disappointing draft season which caused him to drop to #13. He was expected to be a pure skill guy but carved out a niche as a role player in his late 20s.

 

[MadLuke]

Nobody playing 20+ minutes a night in the NHL at 20 years old or however young he was could be seen as a late bloomer, even if he did end up improving at a rate that was unexpected.

Would have done that of course, but he was a 11 minute "#6-7# at 20, 22 when he started to see 20 minutes a night on a regular basis, 24 for your first Norris vote is not that old too, specially for that position, you are right. But has for being a 3rd round pick and getting a chance in the nhl in his early 20s, that in the context of being 6 foot 9 with a great athletic background and super high ceiling, those 2 points could have been part projection, part where he was hockey development wise and making him look more ahead that he was. Maybe in term of ability-dev would he have been 5'11'' he goes undrafted and do not get on an nhl game untils he his 22.

Maybe Markov as a better late bloomer case, 6th round pick, 28 years old season first Norris attention

 

[carjackmalone]

Nazem Kadri

 

[Brodeur]

Not sure if he exactly counts, but John Madden wasn't an NHL regular until he was 26. Signed as an undrafted college free agent at age 24 and then spent a couple seasons in the AHL.

I remember there being some confusion about his birthday back in the day. Some magazines / hockey cards had him listed as a 1975 (instead of 1973) birthday. So at least early in his career we thought he was younger than he actually was.

 

[carjackmalone]

Valeri Nikushkin was thought to be finished by 25

What a late career turnaround minus the legal troubles

 

[JackSlater]

Oates is a good answer, Brett Hull too. Both playing junior A in their last year of junior, Hull had tremendous genes but by his own admission was lazy and disinterested. Guys like Marchand or Reinhart had uneven development but they were elite junior players, both playing at the WJC at 18 and with big roles at 19. Marchand played on a deep team but obviously fell into a perfect situation, and Reinhart had to deal with the Buffalo stink.

 

[Sentinel]

Datsyuk?

 

[Yozhik v tumane]

Datsyuk?

For as deep a team as the Red Wings in a low scoring era, I’d say he looked promising immediately and only got better from then on. Of course, he makes the NHL at 23 and it’s difficult for me to know what to make of his earlier years in Russia. Kind of looks like he only had his breakout season in the top flight of the Russian league the season prior to joining Detroit, which does strike me as pretty late at 22, for a future NHL superstar nonetheless.

 

[MadArcand]

Gustav Forsling, from waiver fodder at 24 to cup-winning #1 four years later

 

[mobilus]

Tim Thomas

 

[Overrated]

Jaromir Jagr. He was always a star but I don't think people thought he'd become what he became when he was 20.

 

[Hobnobs]

Thread needs more Robert Lang.

He's was bouncing around alot from nhl to out of nhl for most of his 20s.

His 30s on the other hand were very productive. He ended up playing until 40, and looked like he could have played more had he not had his achilees sliced at age 39.

To be fair to Lang. He was jerked around a lot by the Kings. Eventually leaving NHL all together for Europe.

 

[Hobnobs]

Not sure if he exactly counts, but John Madden wasn't an NHL regular until he was 26. Signed as an undrafted college free agent at age 24 and then spent a couple seasons in the AHL.

I remember there being some confusion about his birthday back in the day. Some magazines / hockey cards had him listed as a 1975 (instead of 1973) birthday. So at least early in his career we thought he was younger than he actually was.

I think guys like Madden and for example Rafalski was more of a "they were overlooked college kids". They were always good but never really got a shot.

I think guys like Conroy and Pellerin were more of late bloomers as it took them a while to find their niche in the league.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

I think guys like Madden and for example Rafalski was more of a "they were overlooked college kids". They were always good but never really got a shot.

I think guys like Conroy and Pellerin were more of late bloomers as it took them a while to find their niche in the league.

pellerin especially got a lot of shots, as a former hobey baker winner. he was in a devils organization that specialized in developing NCAA scorers into middle six 15 goal defensive system players.

unfortunately for him, he couldn’t reinvent himself fast enough to break through and got passed by younger better more versatile players like brian rolston and sergei brylin. so he went to st louis and then blossomed as an excellent PKer, eventually putting up 20 goals in st louis and later leading the expansion wild in scoring (lemaire had a bunch of lou’s NCAA sloppy seconds in minny: pellerin, willie mitchell, jim dowd, later rolston)

a lot of prospects/young guys like pellerin on the devils. some eventually made it after leaving, like dowd, others like david emma became european leaguers. but i think in lou’s dream world the devils would have just consistently developed pandolfos. or maybe rolstons and brendan morrisons if those guys had known their place.

 

[Hobnobs]

pellerin especially got a lot of shots, as a former hobey baker winner. he was in a devils organization that specialized in developing NCAA scorers into middle six 15 goal defensive system players.

unfortunately for him, he couldn’t reinvent himself fast enough to break through and got passed by younger better more versatile players like brian rolston and sergei brylin. so he went to st louis and then blossomed as an excellent PKer, eventually putting up 20 goals in st louis and later leading the expansion wild in scoring (lemaire had a bunch of lou’s NCAA sloppy seconds in minny: pellerin, willie mitchell, jim dowd, later rolston)

a lot of prospects/young guys like pellerin on the devils. some eventually made it after leaving, like dowd, others like david emma became european leaguers. but i think in lou’s dream world the devils would have just consistently developed pandolfos. or maybe rolstons and brendan morrisons if those guys had known their place.

I remember a swedish magazine asking "Will Brian Holzinger become a Paul Kariya or a David Emma?" Talking about the Hobey Baker curse. Winner in the middle of those two, Pellerin which brings us to another Devil and late bloomer but only for a few seasons Mike Mottau.

 

[JackSlater]

Datsyuk?

Ah yes, definitely.

Jaromir Jagr. He was always a star but I don't think people thought he'd become what he became when he was 20.

I don't see how it could be Jagr. When he was 18 many people recognized him as the best player in his draft class. I see him more of a guy who developed to his maximum potential, mainly because his landing spot was perfect due to Lemieux. A successful development story of an all time great talent.

Not sure if he exactly counts, but John Madden wasn't an NHL regular until he was 26. Signed as an undrafted college free agent at age 24 and then spent a couple seasons in the AHL.

I remember there being some confusion about his birthday back in the day. Some magazines / hockey cards had him listed as a 1975 (instead of 1973) birthday. So at least early in his career we thought he was younger than he actually was.

Am I wrong in thinking that Madden grew up in actual poverty? Which was pretty rare by the time players of his era hit the NHL, though not to the levels of the current rich kids era.

 

[MadArcand]

Am I wrong in thinking that Madden grew up in actual poverty? Which was pretty rare by the time players of his era hit the NHL, though not to the levels of the current rich kids era.

I do remember this being mentioned, of both him and Glen Metropolit.

 

[Hobnobs]

Am I wrong in thinking that Madden grew up in actual poverty? Which was pretty rare by the time players of his era hit the NHL, though not to the levels of the current rich kids era.

Yeah, I remember reading an article about him and Glen Metropolit (hey, another late bloomer) and their experiences growing up in the worst neighbourhoods of Toronto.

 

[MadArcand]

Yeah, I remember reading an article about him and Glen Metropolit (hey, another late bloomer) and their experiences growing up in the worst neighbourhoods of Toronto.

Why do I have a sneaking suspicion that we've both read it in our own language's version of Pro Hockey magazine?

 

[Hobnobs]

Why do I have a sneaking suspicion that we've both read it in our own language's version of Pro Hockey magazine?

That is correct, sir

 

[Dissonance Jr]

Jean Ratelle?

He might’ve bloomed sooner if not for an early spinal cord injury, but he didn’t become a star until the age of 27 and the vast majority of his points were scored after he turned 30.

 

[Jets4Life]

Off the top of my head:

Mikka Kiprusoff
Dwayne Roloson
Tim Thomas

Off the top of my head:

Mikka Kiprusoff
Dwayne Roloson
Tim Thomas