Who had all the tools but just couldn’t make it?

[Clode]

625 NHL games. He found his niche for a while.

Wow had no idea he lasted that long lol

 

[Crosscrease14]

Since many have already been said: TJ Brennan. 6' 215, nearly a PPG in the AHL for many years. One of the best defenceman to play for the Marlies. Never carved out a role in the show.

Great shot, good skating and pass. Wasn't up to par defensively.

I feel in this era where we have players like Klingberg, DeAngelo, Karlsson he would be more likely to make it, even if just as a PP specialist.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

Sean Day comes to mind. Always had the size, skill to play the game. The hockey IQ that's always been the question mark with him.

 

[Filthy Dangles]

Julien Gauthier seems like one of those guys right now. He has a ton of speed, a very good shot, good hands, good size and puck protection ability. All the tools are there. Can't seem to figure it out.

Not over for him but chances are he won't live up to his potential.

I watched basically every game of him as a Ranger and respectfully disagree.

He’s big and fast and can drive the net wide with the puck occasionally, that’s it. As one dimensional a player as there is in the league.

He’s got no hands to speak of, don’t recall him ever deking a defender or goalie in the NHL, he just goes wide with speed.

 

[psycat]

Pavel Brendl.

 

[MessierII]

Like Alexandre Giroux?

6'3, 205. Not a terrible skater. Gritty enough too.

69-60-37-97
69-50-53-103

In consecutive years in the AHL yet never really stuck in the NHL. Played 48 NHL games over 6 seasons.

He was a pretty terrible skater

 

[JPeeper]

If Sam Bennett had any hockey IQ he'd still be a Flame and be putting up 90+ points a year.

I know this thread is more for people who didn't really make it and Bennett is a decent 2nd liner these days, but he should be such a better player than he is.

 

[adsfan]

A guy that comes to mind is Colin Wilson. Another is David Legwand (even though he had a decent career).

I saw both of them play in Milwaukee.

Wilson was a Preds draft choice, #7 overall in 2008. He played 40 games in Milwaukee with 34 points.
He played 632 NHL games with 286 points. He also played 65 playoff games with 33 points. Subtract 18 games and 9 points for the Avs playoffs. Nashville fans used to call him "Playoff" Wilson.

Colin is the son of Carey Wilson (552 NHL games). Carey played for Calgary, Hartford, NY Rangers, then Hartford for one year and Calgary again for about three partial seasons.


Leggy played 3 games for an injury rehab. He looked like a push rod hockey player going up and down the center of the ice with no moment to the sides. The Admirals fans did NOT like him. He scored ZERO points and was a -1 in Milwaukee. Legwand played 1136 NHL games with 618 points. He was, and I believe still is, the leading all-time Nashville scorer over his fourteen seasons with the team. He was the #2 pick overall in 1998, the year the team started playing. He played one game for Nashville during that season.

 

[chipbiscuit]

Anthony Mantha for me. When the dude shows his flashes and shot he looks like a hell of a hockey player. Super disappointing. I do think Blashill severely misutilized him though and didn't help his development.

If he had put it together and worked harder I truly think he would of been flirting with top 5 in goal scoring most years

 

[YippieKaey]

Zherdev-Connolly-Armia
Jack Johnson-Ristolainen

That's a decent second line/pairing i'd say.

 

[RobBrown4PM]

Filatov

Unfortunately, he was born with Silver Spoon in mouth syndrome. A relatively bad case of it too.

 

[seafoam]

Ho-Sang

 

[Jorma Heart]

Juhamatti Aaltonen, he had skills, speed, size and IQ to play top 6 role. I know he's regular season totals from European leagues doen't seem like much, but he was much more skilled than numbers suggest. Maybe he lacked competitiveness or ambition, since he never tried NA leagues, I think he got some offers but he wanted one-way deal or something

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

Anthony Mantha for me. When the dude shows his flashes and shot he looks like a hell of a hockey player. Super disappointing. I do think Blashill severely misutilized him though and didn't help his development.

If he had put it together and worked harder I truly think he would of been flirting with top 5 in goal scoring most years

I was coming here to mention him as well. I think he just doesn't have good habits on and off the ice. He recently admitted being overweight last season with the Caps (came in at 242 lbs). He had the size, the hands and the shot to be a 40 goal scorer every year.

Super disappointing indeed.

 

[Craig Ludwig]

Way out of left field, but I always thought Riley Barber would carve out a career in the NHL. Great numbers at Compuware AAA, Captained the U.S World Juniors, great College Career, progressed very well in AHL, just couldn't make that next step. I guess it was his skating?

 

[jbeck5]

He was a pretty terrible skater

Comparing him to past sens, not much different than guys like Heatley or Cheechoo who both produced in the NHL.

He wasn't Corey Locke bad at skating lol.

 

[saintunspecified]

Good pick, Connolly was so ahead of his time.

He was done in by concussions without which I'm certain that he would have been a more productive player. This one was not a mystery, and is very much in the done-in by injuries category.

The opposite of most of the guys listed here is Thomas Hickey - great hockey sense, attention to detail, desire, stayed relatively healthy, known as a great teammate. If he was bigger, or was a more powerful skater, or had a shot that was above average (he had a muffin), he'd have been an all star. What made him an oddity is that all of his mental characteristics were there as a junior player enough that he got drafted super early.

About Robbie Schremp - I think the notion that he was a head case is overblown. But he was small, and slow. Maybe if he had been able to adjust his play away from the puck, he could've become a bottom-6 guy kept on a roster to be a shootout specialist. But he couldn't have been more than that, imo.

 

[ValeriKamensky]

For me it’s Logan Brown. Great size, decent skater, vision and hands. I thought he will be Kevin Hayes at worst case scenario, probably poor man Joe Thornton.

In reality he became completely bust

 

[Machinehead]

John Moore was big, an excellent skater, and had a mean streak.

No hockey IQ. Poor guy couldn't tell you what planet he was on.

 

[X66]

Who remembers Chad Kilger?

Literally had everything you'd want in a player.

Just couldn't figure it out.

 

[Fig]

I don't understand what happened with Mark Jankowski. He had size, offensive acumen, defensively responsible and for a while he was an excellent 4th line with Mangiapane and Hathaway. He was scoring more short handed goals than he was contributing towards 5 on 5 goals at one point which was bizarre.

I don't get how he's not at least a bottom 6 mainstay like Hathaway. He looked solid for his first two full seasons and then cratered soon after his arbitration filing/covid season.

I don't think as highly of him as Weisbrod did, but I didn't expect him to be a league minimum deal calibre guy so soon into his career. He always seemed like he should at least by a solid bottom 9 option at C. I don't think it's skill or complete lack of IQ. I think it's something else. But what that is, I don't know.

 

[CuuuJooo]

Kent Nilsson. He had everything but desire.

 

[Brent Burns]

Zherdev with CBJ

 

[PositiveCashFlow]

Marko Dano

Things we now know about Marko Dano

- will be a 1st line winger
- will be a 50-70 point player that is a beast on the PP
- will have a higher career high in points than Ladd (63 points)
- by NO means projects to be a 3rd liner
- wouldn't trade him straight up for Drouin
- Drouin has maybe a little more talent than Dano (but not much)
- has waaaay more pure skill than a Gallagher
- Danos iq and skillset is elite
- his vision is top notch
- his skill set is phenomal
- he is a very elusive player with great stick skills and vision
- will have a Marchessault like revival

 

[PositiveCashFlow]

Surprised Schremp and Omark haven't been mentioned yet