First round picks who were barely professional level?

[Finster8]

Zack Senyshyn was a surprise to go 15OA by Boston. The Chesty Morgan of busts

 

[teravaineSAROS]

A lot of people are just mentioning players they're personally disappointed with instead of reading what OP is looking for.


Zack Phillips had a few seasons in the AHL but then he went to the ECHL and in the last few years he's ended up playing in Poland, "Germany3" and EIHL.

Griffin Reinhart did have a few NHL games but he was given a lot of chances based on being drafted so high. He was disappointing in both the AHL and the KHL and ended up in the EIHL after that.

Philippe Paradis played in the AHL where he barely produced points and he eventually ended up in the LNAH which is a league I don't know anything about.

 

[SharksAttack]

Teemu Riihijärvi. Drafted between Iginla and Giguere

 

[Arthur Morgan]

Percy was derailed by a hip injury IIRC .. actually was strong up until then.

Anton Gustafsson drafted 21st OA in 2008 played a grand total of 1 AHL game.

yeah I guess. but I mean NHL/AHL arent the only pro leagues. im not too sure on the ranking of these leagues but are HockeyAllsvenskan, NLA, NLB, NL, or HockeyEttan pro leagues? he got 18 SHL games in though

Kryukov an absolute beauty:

View attachment 902043

KHL is a pro league. 216 games is still not too bad at a professional level. and Im not sure what level RSL is considered

 

[1specter]

yeah I guess. but I mean NHL/AHL arent the only pro leagues. im not too sure on the ranking of these leagues but are HockeyAllsvenskan, NLA, NLB, NL, or HockeyEttan pro leagues? he got 18 SHL games in though


KHL is a pro league. 216 games is still not too bad at a professional level. and Im not sure what level RSL is considered

RSL is the same thing as KHL, they rebranded in 07/08.

A lot of people are just mentioning players they're personally disappointed with instead of reading what OP is looking for.


Zack Phillips had a few seasons in the AHL but then he went to the ECHL and in the last few years he's ended up playing in Poland, "Germany3" and EIHL.

Griffin Reinhart did have a few NHL games but he was given a lot of chances based on being drafted so high. He was disappointing in both the AHL and the KHL and ended up in the EIHL after that.

Philippe Paradis played in the AHL where he barely produced points and he eventually ended up in the LNAH which is a league I don't know anything about.

Another funny thing is the people who are mentioning Biggs and White, you can tell who only reads thread titles and who actually reads the OP

 

[PatriceBergeronFan]

Zach Senyshyn. Good work Sweeney.

 

[luiginb]

I suppose the most recent bust is Dominik Bokk (whom I thought would actually be good);

His surname literally means in Turkish, should have seen it coming

 

[Jumptheshark]

AJ Thelan

 

[aylib]

Nazarov

 

[WiHockeyGuy]

yeah I guess. but I mean NHL/AHL arent the only pro leagues. im not too sure on the ranking of these leagues but are HockeyAllsvenskan, NLA, NLB, NL, or HockeyEttan pro leagues? he got 18 SHL games in though


KHL is a pro league. 216 games is still not too bad at a professional level. and Im not sure what level RSL is considered

A pro league sure, but look at his stats.

 

[FerrisRox]

Michael McCarron

He's played over 200 games at the NHL level and over 250 in the AHL and you think he's barely at the level to even play pro?

 

[FerrisRox]

Angelo Esposito

Selected 20th overall, never got it going in the AHL, banged around in Europe and managed to fail even in the Austrian League (1 goal, 8 pts in 35 games)

I heard a pretty incredible story about Angelo a few years back, from someone who was very much in his "circle" the first few years of his career.

He was pretty certain he would be picked in the top 8, because he felt, quite strongly, that the Bruins were going to take him. He thought Boston was his best interview, by far, and he strongly believed if he wasn't taken in the top 7, he was going to go at 8. He was also told that Florida, who had the #12 pick, was keenly interested so if he somehow did get past Boston, he was going to the Panthers.

When neither team picked him and he fell way down the draft to Pittsburgh, something was never the same for Esposito. The way the draft went really shook his confidence. When the Penguins traded him months later, again, he was really shook and his confidence took another enormous blow. In his eyes, even after slipping in the first round, the Penguins still didn't see him as a steal, or a value, and shipped him out. His representatives tried to tell him it was a compliment, he was the Penguins best asset and was swapped for an elite All-Star player, but Esposito took these three things (Boston, Florida and Pittsburgh not wanting him) extremely personal and he never recovered.

 

[Neil Racki]

Rangers with the 10th pick of the 2010 draft took Dylan McIlrath who played just 38 games for them over 4 years before bouncing around, eventually becoming Captain and an important piece of the Washington Capitals farm club Hershey Bears back to back Calder Cup Champions in 2023 and 2024.

 

[teravaineSAROS]

yeah I guess. but I mean NHL/AHL arent the only pro leagues. im not too sure on the ranking of these leagues but are HockeyAllsvenskan, NLA, NLB, NL, or HockeyEttan pro leagues? he got 18 SHL games in though


KHL is a pro league. 216 games is still not too bad at a professional level. and Im not sure what level RSL is considered

NLA/NL and Allsvenskan are definitely good pro leagues. The NL is probably in the top 5 out of all the leagues.

 

[hypereconomist]

AJ Thelen. 12th overall, 10AHL games, 4 seasons in ECHL

Thelen was always a classic "all tools, but no tool box" type of boom or bust prospect, but he would absolutely have ended up with more than 9 AHL games if injuries, particularly concussions, didn't tank his career. The kid just couldn't stay off IR

It's a different situation than someone like Zack Philips who lacked speed, was a bad skater, couldn't play a physical game, and had a myriad of other deficiencies in his actual hockey-playing ability that prevented him from translating his game from junior to any level of pro.

 

[Craig Ludwig]

Zach Senyshyn Drafted 15th overall by the Bruins probably meets what you are looking for. Famously was a reach at 15 that draft year.

The Bruins had three picks in a row and went with Zboril (13)-Debrusk (14)-Senyshyn(15), next three picks were Barzal (16), Connor (17), Chabot (18)....

 

[1specter]

I heard a pretty incredible story about Angelo a few years back, from someone who was very much in his "circle" the first few years of his career.

He was pretty certain he would be picked in the top 8, because he felt, quite strongly, that the Bruins were going to take him. He thought Boston was his best interview, by far, and he strongly believed if he wasn't taken in the top 7, he was going to go at 8. He was also told that Florida, who had the #12 pick, was keenly interested so if he somehow did get past Boston, he was going to the Panthers.

When neither team picked him and he fell way down the draft to Pittsburgh, something was never the same for Esposito. The way the draft went really shook his confidence. When the Penguins traded him months later, again, he was really shook and his confidence took another enormous blow. In his eyes, even after slipping in the first round, the Penguins still didn't see him as a steal, or a value, and shipped him out. His representatives tried to tell him it was a compliment, he was the Penguins best asset and was swapped for an elite All-Star player, but Esposito took these three things (Boston, Florida and Pittsburgh) not wanting him extremely personal and he never recovered.

It sounds like he had an inflated ego and all but I would argue that destroying his knees by the time he turned 20 probably had more of an impact than anything else. He was drafted in 2007 and he tore the same ACL twice by 2009.

 

[mattihp]

Nazarov

Toughest player from outside of North America ever.

 

[CanadienShark]

Nick Petrecki fit the bill? When I was becoming a big hockey fan and started following prospects, I thought he'd be great. I'm just dumb.

 

[LuGBuG]

Logan MacMillan is probably the best example from a Ducks’ perspective. Massive problem child with attitude issues, traded to Calgary, couldn’t hack it in the AHL or ECHL for 2 years before he headed to Europe, had a decent-ish season in Austria but did nothing in either the VHL (Russian 2nd division) or England (weirdly was a PPG player in Romania) and his career was done by 30.

I remember the pick but had never heard of the attitude issues. Figured I would’ve since I follow the Mooseheads pretty close.

German Rubtsov
Morgan Klimchuk (retired)
Shane Bowers
Emile Poirier
Henrik Samuelsson

Bowers played 8 games in the NHL last year, has been a regular in the AHL and is only 25. This makes no sense.

 

[ElLeetch]

hugh jessiman baby!

played almost a decade in the AHL being productive. thats "Professional Level" hockey.

Hugh doesn't really make the cut here. He was obviously talented. Had some unfortunate injuries and still put 20 goals up in his last AHL (short) Season.

Hugh also got drafted right before the NHL decided it was going to turn itself into a softer skill-based league instead of the meat grinder it used to be. had he been drafted a generation earlier, he would have had a long career in some teams bottom 6.

 

[SaintMorose]

Griffin Reinhart was living on the coattails of his family name, Memorial Cup win, and WJC appearance, and draft slot but was a below average AHLer who has already been retired for a couple years.

The weirdest thing about this one is drafting him 4th overall and then another team using pick #16 and #33 to acquire him essentially drafting him in the 1st round a second time after 2 years of offensive regression in juniors and an AHL year where he was not seen as having NHL potential in NY for the following season.

 

[Brodeur]

Nick Petrecki fit the bill? When I was becoming a big hockey fan and started following prospects, I thought he'd be great. I'm just dumb.

Petrecki did last 7 seasons in the AHL, I think OP was looking for guys who didn't weren't AHL caliber. I liked Petrecki too, I remember being upset that the Devils missed out on him because we had to give up our 1st rounder to dump Vladimir Malakhov's cap hit.

In the book "Future Greats and Heartbreaks" there was a passage about the NHL combine and how Petrecki being physically developed might have actually hurt his draft stock. Some teams would think he was 90% to his physical peak so there might not be as much untapped potential for him after the draft.

 

[Fire Sweeney]

He somehow played a lot of games thanks to his name, but Malcolm Subban was an absolute shit goalie. Seems he rightfully hasn't sign a new contract.

 

[Arthur Morgan]

RSL is the same thing as KHL, they rebranded in 07/08.


Another funny thing is the people who are mentioning Biggs and White, you can tell who only reads thread titles and who actually reads the OP

oh didnt know that. thanks. I never really thought about leagues over seas till like 2017 or 18

A pro league sure, but look at his stats.

stat lines dont always paint a perfect picture

NLA/NL and Allsvenskan are definitely good pro leagues. The NL is probably in the top 5 out of all the leagues.

this is a pretty tough one, alot easier if u use NHL or maybe AHL. hard to truly find those bums lol