Prospects who have stagnated.

[Hockeyville USA]

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.


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.

When the pandemic hit in March 2020, Lambos was a projected top 5-10 pick. He hasn't improved much since, regardless if it was in junior or in pro.

 

[Gregor Samsa]

Are we talking the 26 year old Logan Brown? He’s definitely not a prospect anymore. He was drafted almost 10 years ago

 

[McJedi]

Justin Barron?

 

[Mrb1p]

I'll just do the Habs.

Mesar. Ahdolute DUD. I don't see how he makes it to the NHL.

Reinbacher, slightly. Coming from his biggest fan pre-draft. With that said, there's clear explanations why he did and I buy it. If next year there is no bump in his decision making I'll be concerned. I'll say he did get his foot speed up a good bit.

Farrell. Just too small for pro play and not fast enough. The physical attributes are just nowhere near enough to counteract the size. Should be a career minor league a la Charles Hudon.

Heineman. Big lad with skill and grit but he missed a lot of time with injury. This is his last year to make it. Although at times he was Lavals best player.

William Trudeau. After being quite the surprise last year in the AHL he struggled to keep his progression going.

Kidney, Dobes and Tuch have all progressed but have met varying degrees of difficulty in important years. I have a lot of faith in Dobes, the other two I don't know.

 

[Zarzh]

Marco Kasper
Matt Savoie
Matty Beniers
Kent Johnson
Tyler Boucher

Those are some obvious ones people will complain about because they play for their team.

 

[CraigBillington]

William Stromgren is going to blow up this year.

Wherever this happens, I hope there's a good clean up crew.

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

Sam Poulin is a great example. Great D+0, D+1 and then has completely stalled out since.

 

[Brodeur]

Jesper Boqvist: has not improved offensive production

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.

Did you mean Adam instead of Jesper? I don't recall too many Devils fans thinking Jesper was a slam dunk top six forward, more or less hoping he'd be something like Carl Hagelin. Adam was thought to have more upside and was drafted higher.

 

[nbducksfan19]

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.

Whatever way you choose to go with on your list… it was the wrong one.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Whatever way you choose to go with your list… it was the wrong one.

I guess the truth hurts.

 

[Bouboumaster]

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

Some bold picks here lol

 

[Pavels Dog]

Those are some obvious ones people will complain about because they play for their team.

Could also be that people will complain because that was a troll post.

 

[Took a pill in Sbisa]

Was the right decision to trade Elmer Soderblom away in my keeper league last year

 

[Fatass]

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

Wright and Johnson could be in the stagnating group. Reinbacher?

 

[BLNY]

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.


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

I don't think 16 points in 10 playoff games, leading your team in scoring by a healthy margin, is pedestrian. I'm not claiming he's a superstar in the making. I just believe what he showed in the playoffs makes up for whatever people perceive he lacked in his second regular season.

 

[LeProspector]

I don't think 16 points in 10 playoff games, leading your team in scoring by a healthy margin, is pedestrian. I'm not claiming he's a superstar in the making. I just believe what he showed in the playoffs makes up for whatever people perceive he lacked in his second regular season.

Completely ignoring the regular seasons he had to use this point is you trying to get confirmation bias hoping he isn’t a bust. His playoffs wasn’t even great, either so I’m baffled as to why you’re using this as a point of contention…

He’s on a downward trajectory, however. I hate to be the bear of bad news.

 

[BLNY]

Completely ignoring the regular seasons he had to use this point is you trying to get confirmation bias hoping he isn’t a bust. His playoffs wasn’t even great, either so I’m baffled as to why you’re using this as a point of contention…

He’s on a downward trajectory, however. I hate to be the bear of bad news.

I don't think he's a bust. I don't think he's' a guarantee. I think his ceiling is Tatar. I'm prepared to give him time as a pro to see if he can be that sort of player.

I don't throw the baby out with the bathwater like so many are want to do now because someone hasn't met their expectations on their timeline. You'd have been in the camp of people that called Lafleur a bust and demanded his being traded after his first three seasons.

You're ignoring his playoffs to confirm your own bias. He quadrupled his point output. In ten games, he had 4 points more than Sale. Five more than Rehkopf - their leading scorer.

You know what they say about opinions. You're entitled to yours. Bye.

 

[Albatros]

Kakko is a decent NHL player, but you could definitely argue that he is a complete bust at this point.

You can always argue, but it's hard to see how that would be the case. Stagnated is definitely fair, underwhelming even, but "a complete bust" as a decent middle-six player drafted ahead of Dach, Byram, Turcotte? Hardly.

 

[Kingpin794]

Interesting thread considering that the word "stagnate" in this context has a connotation to it where it is assumed that you mean a player should be performing better than they currently are. Statistically speaking players aren't going to live up to what they were hyped up to be. It's not stagnation so much as it is that they are hitting their actual peak. Eye of the beholder and all. Just interesting who some consider to have stagnated.

 

[LeProspector]

I don't think he's a bust. I don't think he's' a guarantee. I think his ceiling is Tatar. I'm prepared to give him time as a pro to see if he can be that sort of player.

I don't throw the baby out with the bathwater like so many are want to do now because someone hasn't met their expectations on their timeline. You'd have been in the camp of people that called Lafleur a bust and demanded his being traded after his first three seasons.

You're ignoring his playoffs to confirm your own bias. He quadrupled his point output. In ten games, he had 4 points more than Sale. Five more than Rehkopf - their leading scorer.

You know what they say about opinions. You're entitled to yours. Bye.

I’m looking at the entire picture, not just the corner of it then using it as if that’s the entire story. But it’s funny because 16 points in 10 games isn’t even that good for a first round pick, completely ignoring the fact he only scored one goal lol. I’m going guess you’re a Montreal fan who can’t see past his own biases (shocker). He will never reach Tomas Tatar’s level and is one of the most disappointing players from first round of the 2022 first round, sorry you can’t see facts.

 

[Sacha BOXviert]

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.

I liked what I saw of Sillinger at the end of the season although

 

[gifted88]

Mesar is elite with his zone entries. Seems like he has good tools to be a complementary piece in the top 6. I don't think he's really stagnated.

 

[McJedi]

Wright and Johnson could be in the stagnating group. Reinbacher?

Reinbacher’s post draft season was certainly underwhelming. Too early to say he’s stagnated.

But a player like M Gulyayev had a much better post draft season as a guy that started his KHL season as a fringe number 7 but was playing a big and consistent middle pair role on a top KHL team by the playoffs.

Thats what progression looks like and it didn’t happen for Reinbacher last year.

 

[Haatley]

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.

Honzek will be fine. He had an injury plagued season. He doesn't have IQ problems; it was actually seen as a strength going into the draft. Here is a quote. It's his skating that was questioned.

"Equal parts goal scorer and playmaker. Sound hockey IQ. Understands how to play responsibly in all three zones. His skating will need to improve another 10 per cent for the NHL game."

 

[ElLeetch]

Matthew Robertson. Looked like he was gaining momentum fast after his draft and could become a good middle-pair defender in the NHL, but now, that seems to be his ceiling at the AHL level.