Players Whose Rookie Years Were Their Best
- Thread starter NVious
- Start date
Took a pill in Sbisa
2showToffoliIwascool
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
Came into the league as an 18-year old and produced at a pace that was only eclipsed once in the 13 subsequent seasons when he leeched off the McDrai on the best PP in league history.
His offensive creativity and sheer talent peaked that first season.
Came into the league as an 18-year old and produced at a pace that was only eclipsed once in the 13 subsequent seasons when he leeched off the McDrai on the best PP in league history.
His offensive creativity and sheer talent peaked that first season.
I wonder who else has been around long enough to remember the Prucha > Crosby thread?
SillyRabbit
Trix Are For Kids
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Best season isn't the same thing as season played during the era with the highest league-wide scoring.
HabsQC
Registered User
Dino Cicarelli
Steve Penny
Doug Wickenheiser
Wendel Clark
Jimmy Carson
Anton and Marian Stastny
Blair MacDonald
Steve Penny
Doug Wickenheiser
Wendel Clark
Jimmy Carson
Anton and Marian Stastny
Blair MacDonald
vadim sharifijanov
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Paul4587
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- Jan 26, 2006
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Selanne had much better years than his rookie year which looks a lot more dominant than it is due to insane scoring levels that year. He finished 1st in goals and 2nd in points only behind a dominant Jagr in 1998-99.
Rorschach
Who the f*** is Trevor Moore?
Selanne is the answer. He had an insane first season and then a skate through his Achilles tendon and he was never, ever the same. He had top five GOAT potential.
FiveTacos
Registered User
He lost his warp speed but thankfully was still pretty fast. And of course, it turned out he was not a one trick pony breakaway artist.
A HoF career despite losing what looked like his best asset early on is pretty amazing. I dunno about top 5 GOAT, but he'd almost certainly have finished top 5 all time in goals, which would have been incredible considering his prime was in the dead puck era.
Deep Blue Metallic
Bo knows hockey.
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Washed Up 29YearOld
Bro Do You Even Hockey?
MoneyManny
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The Gr8 Dane
L'harceleur
Olli Maatta, he looked like he could be Finland's version of Lidstrom and afterwards he had thyroid issues that took him down a few notches.
John Marino, much like Maatta this guy looked like he could end up being a very solid top pairing defenseman based on how he played when he was a rookie. The new car smell wore off after that but he's still a very serviceable top four D.
Non- hockey: RG3
John Marino, much like Maatta this guy looked like he could end up being a very solid top pairing defenseman based on how he played when he was a rookie. The new car smell wore off after that but he's still a very serviceable top four D.
Non- hockey: RG3
I mean, he was 31. He’s the reason they added an age limit to the Calder.
This isn’t a case of “Young player showed promise but didn’t develop as hoped as he approached his prime age” (which is really what this thread is trying to find). This was “player was already past his prime age before he even came to the NHL, so he unsurprisingly declined as he aged further into his 30s”.
Brain farts. Dude has the skills to be an all-timer - skating, puck handling, physicality, covers the ice like nobody else in the league right now. But... Chaos giraffe.
Barret Jackman. Won the Calder in his rookie year, never did it again in his career.
