Fabian Brunnstrom and Other Players Greatly Hyped before Becoming Nhlers

[carjackmalone]

Pat Price

 

[Brodeur]

Angelo Esposito, he had huge hype but didn’t he blow out his knees?

I think by the time the draft rolled around, teams were a little skeptical about his play. And then as you mentioned, one of his strengths (skating speed) got diminished with injuries.

I forever associate Esposito with Brady Quinn thanks to a beer league teammate who doesn't quite know as much as he thinks he does. At some point the upcoming NHL draft came up in conversation and he brought up Esposito being the next #1 stud. I mentioned how his stock was dropping and he might not even go top 10. Buddy then offered to bet me that Esposito was going #1; He scoffed that I'd know anything about prospects and how his friends back home in Canada had told him how sick Esposito was. Naturally he disavowed that bet a few months later.

A few minutes later the NFL Draft came up and same buddy declared that Brady Quinn would be better than Tom Brady. [/coolstorybro]

 

[Voight]

Another three that popped into my head today.

Angelo Esposito, he had huge hype but didn’t he blow out his knees?

Gilbert Brule, typical early Jackets development and I think mental health issues.

Then John McFarland, guy carried minor hockey hype all the way to the NHL draft somehow.

Unrelated but he went into politics during the last Canadian federal election (he lost).

 

[ShelbyZ]

Undrafted free agents? Adam Oates is a famous one back in the day and his success caused a change in the CBA (supplemental draft).

First one that came to mind when I saw this thread was sort of related to the Oates signing (and ended up the exact opposite):

Ray Staszak

Staszak was part of that giant Red Wings college free agent binge in 1985 that included Oates. Staszak's contract ended up being even bigger than Oates' and he was touted as having more upside.

IIRC, the supplemental draft had more to do with high spending teams simply outbidding other teams for undrafted talent, which then evolved into the ELC with capped salary/term and perf. bonuses being used instead of guaranteed money.

Staszak played 4 games to start the season for the Red Wings, and IIRC was noticeably bad. When I was a kid in the 90's, I had some book of NHL/hockey quotes and there were a handful in there from the hockey media talking about how out of place Staszak looked in the NHL.

He eventually got sent to the AHL, where he started to produce a bit, but then a groin injury ended his career.

Also, surprised no has mentioned Justin Pogge.

 

[shello]

Unrelated but he went into politics during the last Canadian federal election (he lost).

Yup. I remember one of his ads well. Was like 80% just him on the ice

 

[Jumptheshark]

Brunnström had size, speed, skill and a hard working attitude. He was described as the next Alfredsson. He had all the potential in the world. Atleast his first season in SHL and NHL. Then something happened with him. Could been a injury or something mental.

https://www.google.se/url?sa=t&sour...jtAF6BAgJEAY&usg=AOvVaw0te2ZMSYtRV7PwStK6354q

The NHL also figured him out. IT was not hard to get him off his game

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

And then on the note of older Europeans, Jiri Dopita was often cited as the best player not in the NHL in the late 90's. After Cechmanek had success in Philadelphia, he convinced Dopita to give North America a chance. But it seemed like Dopita (and his wife) never got adjusted.

this is the guy i came into this thread to discuss

another “best ____ outside the NHL” was leif rohlin, once considered the best dman outside the NHL. drafted by the canucks in 1989, considered a stud by the mid-90s. total flop but we kept him on our protected list for years after he went back to europe, for some arcane reason i can’t remember.

 

[carjackmalone]

Joe Juneau was highly touted as a member of team Canada

 

[Stephen]

When the Turris for Rundblad+2nd trade happened, so many people were shocked that Turris was worth more. Definitely some shiny new toy syndrome there, some posters acted like Turris was a finished product and weren't aware he was only 14 months older than Rundblad.

Rundblad was on the same Swedish club as Adam Larsson during the latter's draft year. Rundblad put up monster numbers compared to Larsson, so the faulty logic was that if Larsson was a potential #1 overall pick that must mean Rundblad had superstar potential.

Although admittedly I would have expected Rundblad to have had a better NHL career than he did.

The Blues probably noticed something wrong with Rundblad when they traded him for an identical mid first round (Tarasenko pick) a year after selecting him.

 

[Stephen]

Sometimes it just depends on the teams involved. Anaheim signing somebody like Jonas Hiller didn't get much fan fare as I remember it but Toronto being interested in Gustavsson made it a higher profile thing. I seem to remember Andrei Kuzmenko pre-signing threads on the main board, but those mostly devolved into fans arguing about why their team had the better future.

Not true actually. Jonas Hiller was much sought after by the Toronto Maple Leafs and when he went to Anaheim the Jonas Gustavsson sweepstakes were seen as a do over.

 

[Brodeur]

The Blues probably noticed something wrong with Rundblad when they traded him for an identical mid first round (Tarasenko pick) a year after selecting him.

That one just felt like the Blues saw the opportunity to get Tarasenko more than something bad happened with Rundblad. The Blues taking another RHD like Rundblad in 2009 was a bit of a surprise to me since they had taken Erik Johnson (2006) and Alex Pietrangelo (2008) already.

If I recall correctly, the Blues said afterwards that they had Tarasenko ranked higher than Jaden Schwartz but they played a bit of poker as they had some intel that Ottawa had interest in Schwartz; The implication being that Ottawa would have kept the pick had Schwartz still been available.

------

Unrelated to the thread topic, but another instance of a team trading a first rounder a year later for a de facto redo was the Devils drafting LD Corey Foster #12 in 1988 and then trading him for #18 in 1989 (C Jason Miller). That was before my time, so I don't know the total context behind that one. Although I have read how the Devils were confident that at least one of Jeremy Roenick, Rod Brind'Amour, or Teemu Selanne was going to be available at #12 and then they went 8-9-10 in 1988.

Edit: It looks like the Devils were just that high on Miller and some of their scouts wanted him at #5 over Bill Guerin.

 

[Stephen]

The one just felt like the Blues saw the opportunity to get Tarasenko more than something bad happened with Rundblad. The Blues taking another RHD like Rundblad in 2009 was a bit of a surprise to me since they had taken Erik Johnson (2006) and Alex Pietrangelo (2008) already.

If I recall correctly, the Blues said afterwards that they had Tarasenko ranked higher than Jaden Schwartz but they played a bit of poker as they had some intel that Ottawa had interest in Schwartz; The implication being that Ottawa would have kept the pick had Schwartz still been available.

------

Unrelated to the thread topic, but another instance of a team trading a first rounder a year later for a de facto redo was the Devils drafting LD Corey Foster #12 in 1988 and then trading him for #18 in 1989 (C Jason Miller). That was before my time, so I don't know the total context behind that one. Although I have read how the Devils were confident that at least one of Jeremy Roenick, Rod Brind'Amour, or Teemu Selanne was going to be available at #12 and then they went 8-9-10.

Nice one. I'll have to think about recent draft picks for new draft picks trades as well.

 

[markymarc1215]

Jarkko Immonen was the central piece coming back in the Brian Leetch trade. He had one mediocre season with the Rangers before disappearing into obscurity.

 

[JianYang]

I got caught on the ville leino hype train.

 

[JianYang]

Joe Juneau was highly touted as a member of team Canada

I think injuries played a large part in his career. He had some good seasons after his rookie year but the games played were often low in the season.

He was a smart player though so he was able to have a long career by becoming a more of a checking guy

 

[Brodeur]

Jarkko Immonen was the central piece coming back in the Brian Leetch trade. He had one mediocre season with the Rangers before disappearing into obscurity.

Looked up Immonen out of curiosity since I didn't recall him being considered a blue chip in 2004. THN had him #5 among Toronto's prospects and he didn't crack the overall top 75.

 

[Johnny Engine]

View attachment 1003235

Looked up Immonen out of curiosity since I didn't recall him being considered a blue chip in 2004. THN had him #5 among Toronto's prospects and he didn't crack the overall top 75.

There's a certain contingent who'll use anyone the Leafs trade away as a cudgel, in an effort to prove the Leafs are dumb and don't plan for the future. They're often right, but if you do that every time, you'll realize that there are a lot more Jarko Immonens than there are picks that get you Scott Niedermayer.

 

[carjackmalone]

Steven Anthony

 

[wetcoast]

Am i really in the HOH section?

This thread screams Jean Beliveau as Montreal bought an entire league to get him.


One can only imagine the hype for Jean if something like this happened today.

Beliveau signed historic contract with Canadiens 70 years ago | NHL.com

Record deal paved way for 10 Stanley Cup titles as player, 7 more as executive

www.nhl.com

 

[Yozhik v tumane]

Am i really in the HOH section?

This thread screams Jean Beliveau as Montreal bought an entire league to get him.


One can only imagine the hype for Jean if something like this happened today.

Beliveau signed historic contract with Canadiens 70 years ago | NHL.com

Record deal paved way for 10 Stanley Cup titles as player, 7 more as executive

www.nhl.com

The thread title is somewhat misleading, but the OP asked:

Who are some other guys that have been greatly hyped, only to end up being nothing special in the NHL?

Jean Beliveau belongs nowhere near the other guys in this thread.

 

[wetcoast]

The thread title is somewhat misleading, but the OP asked:



Jean Beliveau belongs nowhere near the other guys in this thread.

Okay that makes sense and I read the OP but probably got bored as that's in the last sentence and something that should have been in the first sentence one would think.

 

[JohanFranzenstein]

Its not as long ago as most on the list, but I remember the rabid Justin Schultz sweepstakes.

 

[Staniowski]

Am i really in the HOH section?

This thread screams Jean Beliveau as Montreal bought an entire league to get him.


One can only imagine the hype for Jean if something like this happened today.

Beliveau signed historic contract with Canadiens 70 years ago | NHL.com

Record deal paved way for 10 Stanley Cup titles as player, 7 more as executive

www.nhl.com

As an aside, I read somewhere that somebody described Beliveau's signing with the Habs as the biggest news story in the city of Montreal since World War II.

 

[Ishdul]

Its not as long ago as most on the list, but I remember the rabid Justin Schultz sweepstakes.

Yeah, and he had a really strong half season in the AHL in the lockout year before playing in the NHL, scoring at a 115 point pace as a defenseman. It was only slightly off the production of Eberle when Eberle was one of the highest P/G producers the year before and slightly higher than Hall when he was seen as a burgeoning superstar himself. There was a legitimate expectation that he was going to be a Norris calibre player.