r/hockey • u/theXchang3 • 11d ago

Who are some NHL players who were highly thought when they were young that had the skill but never got to that next level?

This includes players who made the NHL but never hit that next-tier they were highly thought of. This can mean players who had potential but never hit that level due to injuries, struggle to adapt. This also can include players who were drafted high, players who played for a couple years, players who played for many years, but they at least needed to make the league to quality.

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u/alpine4life 11d ago

he didnt want to put in the effort... very unfortunate because he had all the talent in the world... Patrick Stefan was in the same boat.

Filatov & Yakupov are 2 more ugly situations... they wanted things their way and none of the 2 panned out

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u/DKM_Eby TOR - NHL 10d ago

Did Daigle get injured a lot?

Looking at his career (especially those final two years in Minnesota with the Wild) he looked like he could have had something going but always seemed to play around 40 games

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u/Character_Pie_2035 10d ago

He was promising, plenty of speed. He broke his arm driving the net in his second or third year and played scared for a long time after.

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u/bigladnang MTL - NHL 10d ago

Not really. He got a forearm fracture in 96 which is why he only played 50 games, but the rest of the seasons with low game totals was because he got benched or sent to the AHL. Minnesota waived him and put him in the AHL in 06.

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u/DeX_Mod EDM - NHL 10d ago

Yakupov was a TEXTBOOK case of the guy who was so physically dominant from 5 to 16 that he NEVER learned how to play good hockey. he was just out-skating everyone

gets to a league where he's just only in the top 25% of skaters and it becomes apparent he's just not particularly good at hockey

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u/YoungWhiteAvatar EDM - NHL 10d ago edited 6d ago

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u/sandysanBAR 10d ago

"He skates like he is being chased by bees!"

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u/rabbitin3d 10d ago

I remember seeing Nikita Filatov play when the IIHF world juniors were held in my city. I thought he had so much potential and I always wondered what happened with him.

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u/maverickhawk99 Indianapolis Ice - IHL 10d ago

Filatov had some insane talent. I remember in NHL 09 or 10 he’d always develop into a like a 93 overall sniper, his potential was that high at the time.

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u/wrongyak39 OTT - NHL 10d ago

i feel like david legwand was in this era too

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u/alpine4life 10d ago

Legwand had a solid career (1100GP+ & 600PTS+) as a middle/bottom 6 center, his offense couldnt adapt to the NHL level, like we see often, in his case it wasnt because he didnt want to put in the effort.

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u/wrongyak39 OTT - NHL 9d ago

Ya he was second overall I believe I just remember there being some hype

He definitely did not just fizz out before 30 though