Did Dion Phaneuf live up to the hype?

[SeanMoneyHands]

He went 9th overall in the 2003 draft, ahead now of guys like Perry and Getzlaf. He had a lot of hype when he was drafted. His prime was short but he peaked early in his career. He played his best when paired with Roman Hamrlik where he was a #1 stud.

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[CanadienShark]

No.

 

[hotcabbagesoup]

Dont know how a guy so ugly got such a wife so beautiful.

 

[Toby91ca]

Not sure about draft hype, but I do remember the hype with him in year one or two when he was clearly the #3 guy behind Crosby and Ovechkin and the hype didn’t have him as a distant 3rd either….based on that hype, the answer for me is an easy no.

 

[banks]

No, he didn't. But that was more because the hype was overblown. He had a great peak, and a good career.

There was no way to live up to the hype when he was a big bruising Canadian kid. And then add in the fact that he was, at one point, an overpaid Maple Leaf. And that's the absolute worst thing for someone's value in the eyes of public opinion.

Phaneuf was a lot better than most people remember. Just not as great as the early expectation after his draft, and early few years with Calgary.

 

[LeonDraisaitl]

Especially after his first season I’d say no he did not

 

[LevelingSolo]

In his first three years or so then he fell off a cliff

 

[Suntouchable13]

Hated him as captain in Toronto. IQ of a banana

 

[Blackhawkswincup]

I would argue no and at end of things I would put Seabrook at #14 as a guy who had a better career as well

He didn't have the high-end offensive peak that Phaneuf had his first years in NHL, but Seabrook had much better/longer performance as top defender then Phaneuf

Phaneuf career

1,048 games
137 goals
357 assists
494 pts
-57

55 playoff games
7 goals (1 overtime GWG)
14 assists
21 pts
-22

Seabrook career with Hawks

1,114 games
103 goals
361 assists
464 pts
+111

123 playoff games
20 goals (3 overtime GWG)
39 assists
59 pts
+8

Flames would have been better off drafting Seabrook at #9 IMO

 

[Bileur]

I think he lived up to the draft hype but not the hype after his rookie season.

 

[TheGreenTBer]

Dont know how a guy so ugly got such a wife so beautiful.

It's called "money."

 

[Sorry]

Dont know how a guy so ugly got such a wife so beautiful.

Combination of buck chaser and puck chaser.

This is a little nuanced. Considering where he was drafted he had a solid career. Compared to the hype surrounding him after his first two years in Calgary, not even close.

 

[Dog]

I would say somewhere in the middle between sort of and slight disappointment. As a flame was sort of but as leaf was slight disappointment. Then again he was not the only one that had hard time in Toronto. Big markets can be hard to play in with the media attention. He put up okay numbers though just was different time in NHL.

 

[Sasha Orlov]

Wasn’t he pretty consistently voted the most overrated player in the nhl?

 

[nbwingsfan]

He went 9th overall in the 2003 draft, ahead now of guys like Perry and Getzlaf. He had a lot of hype when he was drafted. His prime was short but he peaked early in his career. He played his best when paired with Roman Hamrlik where he was a #1 stud.

I feel like sort of makes the most sense.

He was a legit top pair guy for many years, which is great for a 9th Overall pick


But after his WJC and his rookie season there were a ton of people expecting a future Norris winner which in that sense he didn’t come close to that hype

 

[Tuggy]

What I remember him for

 

[nbwingsfan]

Dont know how a guy so ugly got such a wife so beautiful.

Money is the most attractive part of a man to many people

 

[bert]

Hated him as captain in Toronto. IQ of a banana

Played great in Ottawa, high iq player who carried the second pair to a goal away from a SCF. Maybe it was just toronto.

Money is the most attractive part of a man to many people

He's also an absolute beauty.

 

[Voight]

Money is the most attractive part of a man to many people

She's not an A Lister, but she's an actress who definitely made some decent coin before marrying him.

 

[KevinRedkey]

The hype around him at the draft wasn't any different than most guys picked in that range.

That said - he had a ton of hype once he started playing the NHL. He'd have won the Calder in more than a few other years, but just happened to be in an absolute monster of a year alongside Crosby and Ovie.

Based on draft hype - I think he exeeded expectations overall. He peaked both high and very early, but carved out a 1000+ game career with almost 500 points. Anyone would be happy with that with 9th overall.

Based on hype at it's peak (~2006), he certainly never became the player it looked like he may become, and thus failed to live up to relative expectations. I'm just not sure it's really a fair way to look at player's career.

To answer the OP - it would depend on which 'hype' you're referring to.

 

[Midnight Judges]

The announcers used to hype him up and then on the ice I just didn't see it.

 

[Schennanigans]

If he lived up to the hype he wouldn’t have been traded to Toronto. So the answer is no.

 

[NyQuil]

Played great in Ottawa, high iq player who carried the second pair to a goal away from a SCF. Maybe it was just toronto.

Also that he didn't have the same expectations and responsibilities.

 

[pi314]

Not sure about draft hype, but I do remember the hype with him in year one or two when he was clearly the #3 guy behind Crosby and Ovechkin and the hype didn’t have him as a distant 3rd either….based on that hype, the answer for me is an easy no.

I remember.

It was the middle of their rookie season.

Pierre McGuire was asked which of the 3 super rookies he would want to build around.

“No disrespect to the other two but this has to be Dion Phaneuf.”

 

[JackSlater]

I suppose he basically lived up to his draft hype, maybe just falling a little short. He fell well short of his hype by the time he entered the NHL or after his first few years. He was basically expected to become the rich man's version of what Shea Weber became.