Players who failed to make US national team development program and were later successful

[LoveHateLeafs]

Examples of any players who fit the description in the title would be appreciated, but I just want to emphasize that by successful, I don't necessarily mean top 6/4 NHL players. It could just be someone who was cut and then went on to outperform the majority of their birth year's NTDP roster.

I'm equally interested in stories about players who failed to make the program and were successful in Jr A. and/or college relatively soon after, even if they didn't go on to NHL careers in the end.

Thanks in advance.

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[William H Bonney]

There's a bunch of really successful Americans who didn't make the NTDP. Guys like DeBrincat, Connor, etc. but sometimes it's tough to know whether a player failed to make the team or just wanted to go another route.

My favorite NTDP roster selection stories are Patrick Kane and Charlie McAvoy.

Kane didn't make the team out of the NTDP tryout camp. Instead, he had to attend the USAH Player Development Camps later on and eventually earned one of the last roster spots.

McAvoy wasn't originally invited to the NTDP tryout camp. He was a late addition after Troy Henley decided to back out after he committed to the OHL. McAvoy went on to make the team, although he was overshadowed his first year by Werenski and Hanifin. When they both went to college after their U17 season, McAvoy got his chance to shine.

 

[DatDude44]

Blake Coleman, pat maroon, Conor Garland, Torrey krug, Zach Sanford, Scott Mayfield

 

[howkie]

Remember when Team US did not bring Kyle Connor to the U20 beacuse reasons... it ended well for USA that year...

 

[William H Bonney]

Remember when Team US did not bring Kyle Connor to the U20 beacuse reasons... it ended well for USA that year...

USAH didn't think Connor was good enough for the WJC but put him on the WC later that year, which says everything about USAH.

 

[Voodoo Glow Skulls]

USAH didn't think Connor was good enough for the WJC but put him on the WC later that year, which says everything about USAH.

Sounds like a story.

Never heard about this, honestly.

Anyone give me a readers digest version?

 

[William H Bonney]

Sounds like a story.

Never heard about this, honestly.

Anyone give me a readers digest version?

No real story, just USAH ineptitude. They chose guys like Scott Eansor, Ryan Hitchcock, Ryan MacInnis, Ryan Donato, etc. over him. They didn't even invite Connor to the December tryout camp.

 

[Voodoo Glow Skulls]

No real story, just USAH ineptitude. They chose guys like Scott Eansor, Ryan Hitchcock, Ryan MacInnis, Ryan Donato, etc. over him. They didn't even invite Connor to the December tryout camp.

Oh, ok. I didn't know that.

Thank you.

 

[lawrence]

Brock Boeser.

 

[VanJack]

Brock Boeser.

Actually the Canucks drafted a couple of other ones.....Adam Gaudette and Jack Rathbone never played for the USNTDP.

 

[Favin]

Partial List

Mikey Anderson
Kieffer Bellows
Logan Brown
Brandon Carlo
Alexander Chmelevski
Kyle Connor
Jack Drury
Christian Dvorack
Nolan Foote
Alex Galchenyuk
Dyland Gambrell
Jon Gilles
Jordan Harris
Vinnie Honostroza
Ryan Johnson
Arthur Kaliyev
Joey Keane
Andrew Peeke
Cayden Primeau
Jack Rathbone
Vincent Trocheck
Riley Tufte
Reilly Walsh
Kailor Yamamoto

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Partial List

Mikey Anderson
Kieffer Bellows
Logan Brown
Brandon Carlo
Alexander Chmelevski
Kyle Connor
Jack Drury
Christian Dvorack
Nolan Foote
Alex Galchenyuk
Dyland Gambrell
Jon Gilles
Jordan Harris
Vinnie Honostroza
Ryan Johnson
Arthur Kaliyev
Joey Keane
Andrew Peeke
Cayden Primeau
Jack Rathbone
Vincent Trocheck
Riley Tufte
Reilly Walsh
Kailor Yamamoto

Zac Jones

 

[Rabid Ranger]

No real story, just USAH ineptitude. They chose guys like Scott Eansor, Ryan Hitchcock, Ryan MacInnis, Ryan Donato, etc. over him. They didn't even invite Connor to the December tryout camp.

The enigma that is USA Hockey. Biggest under performer in American hockey history.

 

[LoveHateLeafs]

Partial List

Mikey Anderson
Kieffer Bellows
Logan Brown
Brandon Carlo
Alexander Chmelevski
Kyle Connor
Jack Drury
Christian Dvorack
Nolan Foote
Alex Galchenyuk
Dyland Gambrell
Jon Gilles
Jordan Harris
Vinnie Honostroza
Ryan Johnson
Arthur Kaliyev
Joey Keane
Andrew Peeke
Cayden Primeau
Jack Rathbone
Vincent Trocheck
Riley Tufte
Reilly Walsh
Kailor Yamamoto

Are you sure all these players tried out for the National Team Development Program? Or did they just not play for it?

I ask because Galchenyuk was drafted 1st overall in the OHL draft that year. Granted, that wasn't a strong year for OHL talent, but the 1994-born US u17 team didn't have a ton of talent at forward either. The next season he hit the ground running in Sarnia, so its seems odd to me that he wouldn't be able to make the NTDP team less than a year earlier.

 

[LoveHateLeafs]

Thanks for all the responses, but I just want to clarify my question.

I'm interested only in players who specifically tried out for the u17/u18 teams that spend all year training together in Plymouth(previously I think they were based in Ann Arbour).

If a player never bothered to apply to the team because he wanted to go the CHL or HS route, or because he wanted to play in the USHL full time, then that's not really what I'm looking for.

Since I'm not sure how transparent USA Hockey is about who's invited and who's cut versus who's offered a spot but declines to play somewhere else, I understand there may not be a lot of examples where we can say for sure the player was cut.

While the Kyle Connor WJC story is definitely interesting but it's not quite what I was going for either. It's not being cut from a team for a specific tournament, it's being cut from the 2-year (for most) program. That being said, I realize that being cut from the program means a player is effectively prevented from representing the USA in certain tournaments because USA Hockey will only send the NTDP team to certain tournaments and rarely adds outside players to the rosters.

 

[Favin]

Are you sure all these players tried out for the National Team Development Program? Or did they just not play for it?

I ask because Galchenyuk was drafted 1st overall in the OHL draft that year. Granted, that wasn't a strong year for OHL talent, but the 1994-born US u17 team didn't have a ton of talent at forward either. The next season he hit the ground running in Sarnia, so its seems odd to me that he wouldn't be able to make the NTDP team less than a year earlier.

They all tried out - or at very least, attended Spring tryout camp.

 

[wetcoast]

Actually the Canucks drafted a couple of other ones.....Adam Gaudette and Jack Rathbone never played for the USNTDP.

Rathbone had zero interest in going, even stayed at a lower level for family reasons before going to Harvard.

 

[WarriorofTime]

How do you know which players didn't make USNDTP as opposed to simply weren't interested? Not everyone wants to go to USNDTP.

 

[snipes]

The enigma that is USA Hockey. Biggest under performer in American hockey history.

It’s like the antithesis to Finland who always punch above their weight with excellent coaching and team cohesion at pretty much every level the past decade or so.

 

[johnnystormcgy]

If I remember correctly J. Gaudreau and K. Hayes both didn’t even get a tryout (Spitten Chiclets).

 

[Artorius Horus T]

Alex DeBrincat.

Never was even drafted to the OHL, not to mention not accepted to the USNTDP.

Eventually got drafted by the Waterloo Black Hawks (USHL, futures draft).

Then the famous trip by the Otters GM and scout to Lake Forest, Illinois
DeBrincat plays his best game of the season, 5 goals and something like 8 points...but the the amazing part
was, they didn't even go to scout him, but rather his big, hulking winger, Estonian player called Vasjonkin,
but it was Lake Forest coach who said, look at this number#12 C Alex DeBrincat instead....
well the rest was history. (they did come back one more time, to be sure, before signing him as a free agent).

 

[Favin]

How do you know which players didn't make USNDTP as opposed to simply weren't interested? Not everyone wants to go to USNDTP.

There were very few that attended the Spring camp that were not at least interested. Some, like Antonio Stranges or Wyatt Schingoethe ultimately opted for other teams. There were a couple that were dual citizens, like Nolan Foote, who were called away by Canada. But for most part, the players who attend that final tryout were there to make team.

 

[WarriorofTime]

It’s like the antithesis to Finland who always punch above their weight with excellent coaching and team cohesion at pretty much every level the past decade or so.

I'm confused, doesn't USA do pretty well in the World Juniors? Is the feeling that they need to be doing even better?

• 2010 —
  
  Gold
• 2011 —
  
  Bronze
• 2012 — 7th place
• 2013 —
  
  Gold
• 2014 — 5th place
• 2015 — 5th place
• 2016 —
  
  Bronze
• 2017 —
  
  Gold
• 2018 —
  
  Bronze
• 2019 —
  
  Silver
• 2020 — 6th place
• 2021 —
  
  Gold

A bit inconsistent as you'd like those quarterfinal exits to at least be semifinal exits (but sometimes the quarterfinals are a bit of a crapshoot based on who you match up with... if you draw one of the big 5 then semifinals are obviously not a guarantee). 4 Golds + 1 other final appearance are pretty good though. And it's good that they do well in Bronze Medal Games.

The World Championships are crap, but I don't get the sense anyone is too concerned.

The last two Olympics that had NHL players were a Silver Medal and Semifinals exit (lost in Bronze) which seems decent. Olympics without NHL players, I don't think anyone is too concerned either.

USA Hockey seems to do about as well as you'd expect. Without more NHL Olympics, I think the World Juniors is about as far as we can really go to assess the program.