The best current player, who was a high draft pick, that did NOT have a break out rookie season?

[syz]

Draisaitl was also pretty unremarkable in his brief AHL stint. If I remember right there were really no expectations for him when he got called up again.

 

[Habsrule]

Sam Bennett is we the first to come to mind. 140 points in 382 games as a Flame. Then plays for the Panthers he has 150 points in 228 games.

That’s a huge jump in production.

 

[Czechboy]

I submit Mikko Rantanan... 10th overall

9 pointless games and returned to AHL as a rookie
4 AHL games and 75 NHL ones after that

In his first two seasons he played 84 NHL games and got 38 points over 2 years

Year 3 he took off and never really looked back! 1.09 PPG Career average despite being a .0 ppg in rookie year and a .5 ppg sophomore (which isn't bad by any stretch)

 

[PlayMakers]

Seguin

 

[LordBacon]

Really surprised Draisaitl only had 9 points in his 1st season (only 37 games but my point still stands),
guys been crazy consistant for as far as I can remember.

 

[Grifter3511]

Low key Quinn Hughes.

He had a good season offensively for a rookie. But he's become a top 5 player in the league when he's at his best. No one saw that.

 

[TheFamousFart]

Rantanen and Barkov, also Draisaitl and Jack Hughes come to mind

 

[Our Lady Peace]

I'll throw Morgan Rielly in there. NHL debut as a 19 year old. Points go from 27-29-36-27 before he hit 52 in year 5. Did struggle defensively quite a bit then but that was during the Leafs lottery years and nobody good could carry him

 

[Jumptheshark]

Who's the best example today of a great current player, who went HIGH in the draft, but didn't have a break out first season?

So they are absolutely a top player now, but didn't have that "top draft pick amazing rookie season"

Who comes to mind?

how do you define top player and non break out rookie season? Is PPG or .5 ppg

 

[ijuka]

Low key Quinn Hughes.

He had a good season offensively for a rookie. But he's become a top 5 player in the league when he's at his best. No one saw that.

??? This makes no sense at all.

You're saying no one saw that a 20-year-old defenseman who scored 53 points in 68 games(16 points in 17 playoff games) could possibly improve?

 

[Grifter3511]

??? This makes no sense at all.

You're saying no one saw that a 20-year-old defenseman who scored 53 points in 68 games(16 points in 17 playoff games) could possibly improve?

Read what i said. He was good but no one saw him becoming a top 5 player in the league., which is the level hes been playing at last year and into this one.

There's a world of difference between 'improve' and 'dominating analytics and tilting the ice more than almost any other player in the league.'

 

[Blueline Bomber]

Steven Stamkos. 46 points in 79 games during his rookie season. He really broke out in the next season. But probably not gonna win this thread, tho.

Wasn't that due to usage though? Melrose was playing him on the 4th line, for some god awful reason

 

[Hisch13r]

Didn't Jack Hughes have like 50 points combined his first two seasons?

21 in 61 then 31 in 56. Now tbf those are the 2 years cut short by Covid so it would’ve been higher than 52 total but yeah. His rookie year was brutal. He was wayyyyyyyyy better his sophomore year and was great. He looked elite and had elite playdriving and microstats. The puck just wouldn’t go it.

 

[Karl Eriksson]

Mark Stone. 6th round. Rough first seasons up and down.

 

[Jwads]

Barkov was FLAs best forward day 1 as an 18 year old. Nick Bjugstad led that team in scoring with 38 points.

 

[benfranklin]

Stamkos

 

[Primary Assist]

It's almost cheating to pick a goalie (let alone one on a dismal team) but people seriously doubted Fleury after he put up a sub 900 save percentage, GAA above 3, and twice as many losses as wins in his rookie season. And he was selected first overall in literally one of the most vaunted drafts ever.

Well, one epic playoff run, an all time save on an all time Swede, and his name punched on Lord Stanley later and he quieted all his doubters.

Not to mention all the success he has had since then.

 

[TheBeard]

Mark Stone. 6th round. Rough first seasons up and down.

Last I checked 6th round isn’t considered a high draft pick.

 

[Jared Dunn]

Jack Hughes. Need some of the reactions to him signing 8x8 framed, going to go down as one of the biggest steals in history

MacKinnon literally won the Calder at age 18. He's the exact opposite of this.

Kucherov and Draisaitl are the obvious names here.

Not exactly a stacked class though and his next three seasons were pretty pedestrian. There's a reason he signed one of the best value contracts of all time, dude was a 55 point player

 

[Bear of Bad News]

It's almost cheating to pick a goalie (let alone one on a dismal team) but people seriously doubted Fleury after he put up a sub 900 save percentage, GAA above 3, and twice as many losses as wins in his rookie season. And he was selected first overall in literally one of the most vaunted drafts ever.

Well, one epic playoff run, an all time save on an all time Swede, and his name punched on Lord Stanley later and he quieted all his doubters.

Not to mention all the success he has had since then.

Nobody (*) seriously doubted a goaltender who put those numbers up in a season where he started year as an 18-year-old. There's a reason goalies don't regularly wander in and start in the NHL as a teenager.

(*) I'm sure someone seriously doubted Fleury, but not anyone relevant.

 

[MS]

Not exactly a stacked class though and his next three seasons were pretty pedestrian. There's a reason he signed one of the best value contracts of all time, dude was a 55 point player

The question wasn't about his next 3 seasons.

MacKinnon won the Calder at 18 with a point total that was the highest for a teenager in the NHL for basically a decade between Kane and Matthews.

 

[Regal]

Wasn't that due to usage though? Melrose was playing him on the 4th line, for some god awful reason

He did flip the switch and score at a high level/play top line minutes the second half of the year, but I’m not sure if the breakout was because of the increased minutes or his minutes were increased because he improved that much in-season. Probably a bit of both.

 

[Regal]

The question wasn't about his next 3 seasons.

MacKinnon won the Calder at 18 with a point total that was the highest for a teenager in the NHL for basically a decade between Kane and Matthews.

I think some people forget how high on MacKinnon a lot of people were after his rookie year and especially after his playoffs. Obviously he wasn’t already an elite player like Crosby but he showed a lot especially for being 18 the entire year.