Prospects who have stagnated.

[LeProspector]

I’m sick of the only talk on this section being overly positive piss fests of people hyping and overhyping the current popular players. This is a thread to discuss prospects who have stagnated and the growth has stalled. Prospects that aren’t “busts” necessarily but players who maybe aren’t going to make it as once thought.

I’ll start off with a few names.

Carson Lambos
Once thought one of the best players in his age group, he is the quintessential example of a prospect who has seen little to no progression since being drafted. He made Canada’s WJC team as an 18 year old then failed to make the roster, as a 19 year old. If he wasn’t a first round pick, he maybe might not even be worth a contract slot.

Cole Sillinger
A player many were super high on after making the NHL as an 18 year old, Sillinger is now an example of a rushed prospect. A player who had promise but was forced to the NHL, and wasn’t ready yet and all his momentum from when he was a prospect is gone. This is a kid that could be out of Columbus soon.

Filip Mesar
After two seasons in the OHL that saw him put up average at best numbers for good teams, the question stands with him. What is he? Not talented enough offensively to slot in to the top-6, not nearly enough attention to detail to be a bottom-6 guy so what is he? For a first round pick, Mesar should have dominated the OHL, his value now comes from his draft position and not the player he could become.

Samuel Honzek
A terrible year for a top-20 pick. He has the size and speed but doesn’t have the brain. For a 19 year old in his last season of junior to not even put up PPG numbers is insane given his draft position. Progression has stagnated.

Click to read more...

 

[Hockeyville USA]

Ryan Suzuki
Jamieson Rees
William Wallinder
Ryan O'Rourke
Roni Hirvonen
Chaz Lucius
Oskar Olausson
Corson Ceulemans
Aleksi Heimosalmi
William Stromgren
Nathan Gaucher
Owen Pickering
Reid Schaefer
Ryan Chesley
Dylan James
Noah Warren
Eduard Sale
Martin Misiak

 

[LeProspector]

Michael Misa and Filip Ekberg are guys whom aren’t yet drafted that have stagnated, also.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I don't punch down at lower picks. Big boys only.

David Reinbacher
Adam Fantilli
Leo Carlsson
Dalibor Dvorsky
Shane Wright
Logan Cooley
Marco Kasper
Matt Savoie
Matty Beniers
Kent Johnson
Tyler Boucher

 

[BKarchitect]

I don't punch down at lower picks. Big boys only.

David Reinbacher
Adam Fantilli
Leo Carlsson
Dalibor Dvorsky
Shane Wright
Logan Cooley
Marco Kasper
Matt Savoie
Matty Beniers
Kent Johnson
Tyler Boucher

Wooooo…this is hot. I’m not touching it

 

[bert]

I don't punch down at lower picks. Big boys only.

David Reinbacher
Adam Fantilli
Leo Carlsson
Dalibor Dvorsky
Shane Wright
Logan Cooley
Marco Kasper
Matt Savoie
Matty Beniers
Kent Johnson
Tyler Boucher

Leo Carlsson and Adam Fantilli?!?! They played in the NHL in their d + 1 haha

 

[Xirik]

Alexander Holtz?

 

[NYI365]

Idk if he counts but Oliver Wahlstrom. Can't skate for the NHL

 

[BLNY]

Filip Mesar
After two seasons in the OHL that saw him put up average at best numbers for good teams, the question stands with him. What is he? Not talented enough offensively to slot in to the top-6, not nearly enough attention to detail to be a bottom-6 guy so what is he? For a first round pick, Mesar should have dominated the OHL, his value now comes from his draft position and not the player he could become.

No one is sure what he can become, but he put up 16 points in 10 playoff games in his second season. A sizable jump from he 4 points in 9 games the previous year. I'll reserve judgment until he's played at least a season of AHL hockey.

I don't punch down at lower picks. Big boys only.

David Reinbacher
Adam Fantilli
Leo Carlsson
Dalibor Dvorsky
Shane Wright
Logan Cooley
Marco Kasper
Matt Savoie
Matty Beniers
Kent Johnson
Tyler Boucher

Good troll.

 

[Preposterone]

I don't punch down at lower picks. Big boys only.

Ryan Suzuki…

Including a bunch of guys who were playing their first seasons in their respective leagues is certainly an interesting choice.

 

[LeProspector]

No one is sure what he can become, but he put up 16 points in 10 playoff games in his second season. A sizable jump from he 4 points in 9 games the previous year. I'll reserve judgment until he's played at least a season of AHL hockey.


Good troll.

How can you see him play last season and be at “wait and see” he was a pedestrian OHLer that got outscored by a 6th round pick, who is the same age, the guy was undrafted before this year, too! At only 5’10” without dynamic offensive abilitys he won’t cut it in the NHL. His value at this point is that of a former -1st round pick because he won’t amount to anything in the NHL. It’s funny at one point people thought he should play his D+1 season in the AHL but turns out he couldn’t hang in the OHL at 18 or 19.

Alexander Holtz?

He stagnated the year after he was drafted. He was going off of previous notoriety for a while there.

 

[MichaelFarrell]

Gregori Denisenko: has not improved from a top 6 minor league player
Filip Zadina: has not improved from a bottom-six level scorer
Cody Glass: had one decent season but otherwise has been a replacement level player
Jesper Boqvist: has not improved offensive production
Logan Brown: has not improved beyond a bottom six player
Erik Brannstrom: has been basically a bottom pair offensive defenseman his entire career so far

 

[LeProspector]

I don't punch down at lower picks. Big boys only.

David Reinbacher
Adam Fantilli
Leo Carlsson
Dalibor Dvorsky
Shane Wright
Logan Cooley
Marco Kasper
Matt Savoie
Matty Beniers
Kent Johnson
Tyler Boucher

Gotta hit at least one? Right?

Love the Savoie inclusion though, 100%

Gregori Denisenko: has not improved from a top 6 minor league player
Filip Zadina: has not improved from a bottom-six level scorer
Cody Glass: had one decent season but otherwise has been a replacement level player
Jesper Boqvist: has not improved offensive production
Logan Brown: has not improved beyond a bottom six player
Erik Brannstrom: has been basically a bottom pair offensive defenseman his entire career so far

These players I’d consider busts at this point. Not even prospects anymore to be honest. Just has beens

 

[LemonSauceD]

Kakko, Podkolzin, Turcotte, Soderstrom, pretty much most of 2019

 

[MichaelFarrell]

Gotta hit at least one? Right?

Love the Savoie inclusion though, 100%


These players I’d consider busts at this point. Not even prospects anymore to be honest. Just has beens

They fit the criteria of your post exactly. “Prospects that aren’t “busts” necessarily but players who maybe aren’t going to make it as once thought.”

They are all NHL players that have not gotten any better and stagnated. I honestly don’t agree with any of the prospects you mentioned in your own post.

Cole Sillinger played on a horrible team but still had decent numbers.

Carson Lambos played his first pro season.

Samuel Honzek didn’t dramatically improve his offensive numbers, but he was injured for like half the season.

Filip Mesar is an interesting player. I’ve always liked him as a prospect and think there is more there than his numbers suggest.

 

[Hockeyville USA]

Another one I need to add is Jack Peart. Could certainly get it back and turn it around, but a disappointing year at St Cloud State makes me think he is stagnating a bit

They fit the criteria of your post exactly. “Prospects that aren’t “busts” necessarily but players who maybe aren’t going to make it as once thought.”

They are all NHL players that have not gotten any better and stagnated. I honestly don’t agree with any of the prospects you mentioned in your own post.

Cole Sillinger played on a horrible team but still had decent numbers.

Carson Lambos played his first pro season.

Samuel Honzek didn’t dramatically improve his offensive numbers, but he was injured for like half the season.

Filip Mesar is an interesting player. I’ve always liked him as a prospect and think there is more there than his numbers suggest.

Lambos hasn't grown much since his D-1, relative to expectations that everyone had for him in 2020.

 

[LeProspector]

They fit the criteria of your post exactly. “Prospects that aren’t “busts” necessarily but players who maybe aren’t going to make it as once thought.”

They are all NHL players that have not gotten any better and stagnated. I honestly don’t agree with any of the prospects you mentioned in your own post.

Cole Sillinger played on a horrible team but still had decent numbers.

Carson Lambos played his first pro season.

Samuel Honzek didn’t dramatically improve his offensive numbers, but he was injured for like half the season.

Filip Mesar is an interesting player. I’ve always liked him as a prospect and think there is more there than his numbers suggest.

I created the thread so I make the rules, I’m not looking for outright busts.

A guy like Turcotte fits the bill, Podkolzin also, because they still have some potential as “maybe they’ll turn it around” but Logan Brown? No, he’s a BUST

 

[Sticktape]

Ryan Suzuki
Jamieson Rees
William Wallinder
Ryan O'Rourke
Roni Hirvonen
Chaz Lucius
Oskar Olausson
Corson Ceulemans
Aleksi Heimosalmi
Willliam Stromgren
Nathan Gaucher
Owen Pickering
Reid Schaefer
Ryan Chesley
Dylan James
Noah Warren
Eduard Sale
Martin Misiak

William Stromgren is going to blow up this year.

 

[LeProspector]

Another one I need to add is Jack Peart. Could certainly get it back and turn it around, but a disappointing year at St Cloud State makes me think he is stagnating a bit


Lambos hasn't grown much since his D-1, relative to expectations that everyone had for him in 2020.

Love the Peart pick, Evan Nause is another one from that same draft

 

[Vector]

Helge Grans immediately comes to mind. Although he hasn't stagnated so much as backslid.

 

[majormajor]

Cole Sillinger
A player many were super high on after making the NHL as an 18 year old, Sillinger is now an example of a rushed prospect. A player who had promise but was forced to the NHL, and wasn’t ready yet and all his momentum from when he was a prospect is gone. This is a kid that could be out of Columbus soon.

Sillinger was certainly rushed, and never got the opportunity to patiently work on his skating and skills until he was really ready. And I personally think his fit with the Jackets may be coming to an end in the next couple of years. They've got a lot of better centers now - Voronkov, Jenner, Monahan - and Fantilli and Cayden Lindstrom on the way.

But, FWIW, the way the org talks about him, including new GM Don Waddell, is that Sillinger is a guy they want to keep around forever. They were talking about doing a very long term deal with him, though now the reporting is that a two year deal is most likely. The kid does work his ass off and has good intangibles.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

You can take the question a few different ways.

Obviously you can name a bunch of guys who'll never reach the NHL and were like 5th round picks that at one point or another a few people on this website thought could be first round picks.

You can also name players that recently became NHL players or will be soon and won't have an issue maintaining a career in the league or even maintaining a good career that won't be what they were once billed as having the potential to be.

Neither approach is wrong. A matter of what route you want to go.

 

[Craig Ludwig]

I don't punch down at lower picks. Big boys only.

David Reinbacher
Adam Fantilli
Leo Carlsson
Dalibor Dvorsky
Shane Wright
Logan Cooley
Marco Kasper
Matt Savoie
Matty Beniers
Kent Johnson
Tyler Boucher

Someone is starved for attention...

 

[BigRangy]

William Stromgren is going to blow up this year.

Agree with this. I'm not expecting top-6 upside but he went from a guy I had totally written off last year to a guy that I'm confident will play some NHL games. Big, fast, and somewhat talented ends up being a good bet despite the uneven progression.

Jakob Pelletier on the other hand is someone that I've been reining back the projection year over year. He looked like a potential 2nd liner for a while but definitely has tapered off in development. Hoping for a healthy season because he's easy to cheer for.

 

[MichaelFarrell]

Another one I need to add is Jack Peart. Could certainly get it back and turn it around, but a disappointing year at St Cloud State makes me think he is stagnating a bit


Lambos hasn't grown much since his D-1, relative to expectations that everyone had for him in 2020.

Lambos was drafted 26th overall though. I still think he can develop into a top 4 D. I like his mobility and I thought he was good with Winnipeg last year.

I created the thread so I make the rules, I’m not looking for outright busts.

A guy like Turcotte fits the bill, Podkolzin also, because they still have some potential as “maybe they’ll turn it around” but Logan Brown? No, he’s a BUST

Logan Brown might be fair in terms of where he was drafted, but it is clear his progression stagnated early in his career.

The difference between somebody who didn’t meet expectations because their development stagnated and a bust is up to interpretation because not living up to expectations often means that you are a bust. Kappo Kakko is a decent NHL player, but you could definitely argue that he is a complete bust at this point.