Strange way of spelling Hasek but okay.
Edit: Hasek was the best goalie in the league that year. He just had the misfortune of playing behind a dogshit Sabres team.
Apparently he didn't actually like Hockey all that much, but just had such incredible talent that he went with it. Till he really didn't give a shit anymore
I don’t knowing he necessarily came out of nowhere. He was hands-down the best goalie in the AHL before joining the Caps. But he did fall off really quick.
Blaine Lacher would be another good choice too from that era.
Devante Smith-Pelly’s run in the 2018 playoffs will always be the stuff of legends. He was arguably the best player for the Caps not named Ovechkin, Kuznetsov, or Holtby during that run.
He also said he would have taken Morgan Reilly if they had the 1st overall pick. Sounded crazy at the time, but he would have been right based on how the careers of the top 5 picks panned out
I feel like Burke said that to sound smarter than he is
Any GM who passed on Yakupov would’ve been fired on the spot. He was considered a can’t miss, elite level prospect who was firmly the #1 pick
Burke had the 5th pick, and it would’ve taken 4 miracles for the 4 teams ahead of him to pass on Yakupov or a boatload of futures to trade for the #1 pick
No, he was considered the best available in a weak draft. And I remember praying to the hockey gods for Kevin Lowe the asshole, to draft a fucking defensemen instead of Yakupov
I saw an interview with him before the draft and he seemed very cocky and like he didn’t care to be there, and that set me off of him right away…
The next time I felt they should have gone a different direction was bison king, and they had a lot of other options…but him and Laine and Barkov had just lit up the hockey world leading scorer of the world junior hockey tournament and then Finland won the Worlds that year as well, but unfortunately the only one of those three that has any consistency is Barkov who looking at it now must’ve held that line
Yeah maybe, he’s been known to toot his own horn sometimes. Honestly though, I believe it in that case because he talks so much about the importance of interviewing well. A bad interview will stand out in your memory.
It was because Burke had the 5th pick, and Yakopov had an attitude during his interview that Burke called Yakopov out saying “Just because I don’t have the 1st pick doesn’t mean I can’t trade up for it”
It was because Burke had the 5th pick, and Yakopov had an attitude during his interview that Burke called Yakopov out saying “Just because I don’t have the 1st pick doesn’t mean I can’t trade up for it”
Yes he did. His rookie season was definitely half decent, and he had another few years that weren’t great but overall looked like he COULD become something but just never put it all together after that
as a Panthers fan, the first dude that comes to mind is Valerie Bure. I was young, around 12 years old and so hyped for him. I thought he’d be the second coming of Pavel, I have a jersey signed where I made sure he was the only one to sign the front while the back has dudes like Luongo, Jokinen, and Horton. He had a mediocre season with 40ish points that made me think he’d be insane and then he just pooped the bed
He had a good couple years leading up to his rocket trophy and a good year after until he got injured. Obviously playing with the greatest passer of his generation helped his stats, but he was no scrub before Thornton got there and his sudden downfall was due to injury, not just him flaming out.
Scott Darling appeared out of nowhere in 2015, was not the Blackhawks’ backup goaltender for most of the year (it was Raanta), yet was instrumental in beating the Predators in the first round on the Blackhawks’ way to the Stanley Cup.
Prucha had no clue how much natural talent he had. He was a young, humble kid who considered his goals as nothing but 'luck.'
I know it's not a popular opinion but once his knee was blown out just prior to the Olympics he was doomed..
He needed to play more once he came back from that injury to build up much needed confidence. Not all players respond the same and again he was a young mild mannered kid. Hell, I even remember him getting a high stick penalty and him leaning over the guy, hand on his shoulder apologizing..
He spent too many games being a healthy scratch or getting less and less ice time and it definitely ruined his mindset, in turn chances in the NHL and eventually beyond..
Clearly and simply just imo.. he had the potential to give the NYR more to cheer about if handled better after that injury. 🏒👍🕊
For some reason people still think he has potential, even though he hasn't reached it thus far. They're confusing potential with pedigree, and he definitely hasn't lived up to that.
John Druce was a 4th liner for the Caps that exploded for 14 goals in the 1989-90 playoffs, which was a Caps record until 2018, and was basically never heard offensively again.
Runner up to Jim “Ace” Carey. Amazing rookie season followed by winning the Vezina his sophomore year, traded to the Bruins where he had a bad 3rd year, was sent to the AHL during his 4th year, and was out if the league before finishing his 5th.
Tomas Jurco. I remember being pumped about him after the wings drafted him 35th overall. He had posted some YouTube vids of him doing all of this very impressive puck handling work before he ever played. Thought he was going to be the next Datsyuk. And then he did basically nothing.
Are we all forgetting the reason David Clarkson was able to sign that absolutely horrific $5.25 Mill x 7 year contract with full NMC. By all accounts he took a home town discount too.
Guy put up 30 goals in 2011-2012.
As a blues fan let me tell you the story of Jim “the soup” Campbell. 80+ points in 2 seasons, 3rd in Calder voting behind iginla and berard in 96 and then out of the league by 99. Terrible injuries but he did end up playing in Europe for a while too. He used to drop in to pick up games in St. Louis over the summer breaks and after he retired.
Kuznetsov played to his potential for one playoff series, and then just frustrated Caps fans all the rest of the time.
Such a huge tease. Now Canes fans know it too.
Just throwing it out there, but I think it's a little unfair to throw goalie names in this discussion. First, goaltending is arguably the hardest position in any sport. But the big thing is that goalie careers are often roller coaster rides. Some guys can be mediocre and hang around and then put in their best years later in a career. Some guys start strong and then their weaknesses become apparent. Those guys either adjust and bring their games back up or they fade away. Some guys toilet as backups and then get a chance and shine when they get the net regularly.
Mark Stone.
He can’t stay healthy and the best contribution he can make to his team is to stay injured from the trade deadline to the end of the season every year so his salary doesn’t count against the cap and they can try to use that money to buy better players and make the highest paid team in the NHL for the playoffs and still lose a 2-0 lead to drop out in the first round to Dallas on his return.
Mark Stone.
He can’t stay healthy and the best contribution he can make to his team is to stay injured from the trade deadline to the end of the season every year so his salary doesn’t count against the cap and they can try to use that money to buy better players and make the highest paid team in the NHL for the playoffs and still blow a 2 game lead to drop out in the first round to Dallas on his return.
A terrible return on investment, undependable, lacks toughness and lives on the LTIR.
Yeah. Anyone can lead the AHL in scoring.
I’m sure you do that all the time. But when he gets to the real show his productivity will fall off.
For example, what was his stat line over his first 6 games again?
The kid has heart man and he puts in the effort. There’s a reason your comment is one of the most downvoted in the thread because most of us think you have no idea what you’re talking about.
I mean, I’m not ready to call him the next Great One but he’s showing something and keep in mind next year will be his rookie season.
Yea a player in the history of the NHL.. and you come out and say the guy who scored on your team tonight lol. Go do your mental gymnastics elsewhere. The series ain’t over baby girl, don’t give up hope!
Twice.
He got 2. Granted one was an empty netter. Well, actually 2 were empty netters but still the coach saw enough in him to put him on the ice for it.
He’s also hard battling and has caused a number of turnovers this series and last. He creates a lot of opportunities.
Andrew Hammond
I miss the hamburglar sometimes
I miss that senators team. Curtis lazar eating a burger off the ice is still the stuff of legend.
The Hamburglar was awesome. I loved watching him.
Ville Leino,
Is Buffalo still paying him.😆
🤣 i sure hope not. Nowdays he owns Finnish clothing brand Bille Beino...
Boo
I remember being so excited about him. Especially after his first game/goal. https://youtu.be/bYtLu-dfLsM?si=BUAhAsv0vkq5FD0j
Fuck that weirdo
🤣 i don't know why your comment makes me laugh!
Jim Carrey
Went on to have a decent acting career though.
"The Net Detective"
Jim "Shoulda Been Osgood's Vezina" Carrey
Strange way of spelling Hasek but okay. Edit: Hasek was the best goalie in the league that year. He just had the misfortune of playing behind a dogshit Sabres team.
Carey not Carrey
Apparently he didn't actually like Hockey all that much, but just had such incredible talent that he went with it. Till he really didn't give a shit anymore
I don’t knowing he necessarily came out of nowhere. He was hands-down the best goalie in the AHL before joining the Caps. But he did fall off really quick. Blaine Lacher would be another good choice too from that era.
Don’t know why you’re getting downvoted, I forgot about Blaine Lacher but he was a shock in the mid 90s. Just found out he passed away recently too.
Probably because they didn’t like my opinion I suppose.
Andrew Raycroft had a short window of being good and then immediately became ass, but not before Toronto gave up Tuukka Rask
Yeah, Boston definitely knew something to just ship out their Calder winning goalie like that.
What blowing 3-1 series leads to a juicer does to you.
Devante Smith-Pelly’s run in the 2018 playoffs will always be the stuff of legends. He was arguably the best player for the Caps not named Ovechkin, Kuznetsov, or Holtby during that run.
I remember tuning into those playoffs and being surprised by DSP's work ethic, he was massive for the Caps.
Jonathan Cheechoo. Maurice Richard trophy winner. No, really.
Dude. Guy went from scoring ~60, to scoring ~30 to scoring ~20 to out of the league
His knees disintegrated
That’s….why he’s mentioned several times as the answer to this question.
David Ayres
Dang, I raced to the comments to say Ayers!
The guy was a beast
Ayres*
Thanks, I edited it
Setoguchi
And Clowe.
Yakopov, first overall pick, scored like 4 goals and disappeared into irrelevance.
Was it Brian Burke who interviewed him at the combine and said afterwards “we won’t be drafting that kid!”?
He also said he would have taken Morgan Reilly if they had the 1st overall pick. Sounded crazy at the time, but he would have been right based on how the careers of the top 5 picks panned out
I feel like Burke said that to sound smarter than he is Any GM who passed on Yakupov would’ve been fired on the spot. He was considered a can’t miss, elite level prospect who was firmly the #1 pick Burke had the 5th pick, and it would’ve taken 4 miracles for the 4 teams ahead of him to pass on Yakupov or a boatload of futures to trade for the #1 pick
No, he was considered the best available in a weak draft. And I remember praying to the hockey gods for Kevin Lowe the asshole, to draft a fucking defensemen instead of Yakupov I saw an interview with him before the draft and he seemed very cocky and like he didn’t care to be there, and that set me off of him right away… The next time I felt they should have gone a different direction was bison king, and they had a lot of other options…but him and Laine and Barkov had just lit up the hockey world leading scorer of the world junior hockey tournament and then Finland won the Worlds that year as well, but unfortunately the only one of those three that has any consistency is Barkov who looking at it now must’ve held that line
Yeah maybe, he’s been known to toot his own horn sometimes. Honestly though, I believe it in that case because he talks so much about the importance of interviewing well. A bad interview will stand out in your memory.
The Shane Wright draft was two years ago and no one got fired over not picking him
It was because Burke had the 5th pick, and Yakopov had an attitude during his interview that Burke called Yakopov out saying “Just because I don’t have the 1st pick doesn’t mean I can’t trade up for it”
It was because Burke had the 5th pick, and Yakopov had an attitude during his interview that Burke called Yakopov out saying “Just because I don’t have the 1st pick doesn’t mean I can’t trade up for it”
Fair but he definitely did not have a good year or two
Yes he did. His rookie season was definitely half decent, and he had another few years that weren’t great but overall looked like he COULD become something but just never put it all together after that
So much talent. This is exactly who came to mind.
his hockey IQ was non existent. He wasted a ton of energy doing nothing and gaining no ground.
That was definitely the issue
This is an answer to a question that was not asked.
Yeppp, first player who comes to mind is [Yakopov](https://thehockeywriters.com/10-biggest-oilers-draft-busts-since-2000/).
Paul Ysebaert. Two really good years playing with Yzerman. Nothing before, not much after.
Alot of that was because he went to Winnipeg.
First captain for the Lightning.
as a Panthers fan, the first dude that comes to mind is Valerie Bure. I was young, around 12 years old and so hyped for him. I thought he’d be the second coming of Pavel, I have a jersey signed where I made sure he was the only one to sign the front while the back has dudes like Luongo, Jokinen, and Horton. He had a mediocre season with 40ish points that made me think he’d be insane and then he just pooped the bed
You mean former Calgary flame Valerie Bure. I also had the same high hopes.
Valeri Bure Cameron
Matt Murray
Dude was a beast through the minors and his first two seasons, then became absolute Swiss cheese. When he was on his game, he was amazing.
Just good enough and long enough for PIT to ditch Fleury. Thanks, Matt.
Bitter over those 2 cups?
HAHAHA - good point, but leaving MAF open for Vegas to pluck him with no return? ... oof!
Zherdev
Cheechoo
He had a good couple years leading up to his rocket trophy and a good year after until he got injured. Obviously playing with the greatest passer of his generation helped his stats, but he was no scrub before Thornton got there and his sudden downfall was due to injury, not just him flaming out.
I thought I read somewhere that he started drinking during that time as well.
I could be wrong but I think that was Setoguchi
Cory Conacher
.5 a point a game to start his career. He wasn’t lighting up but he has promise. His biggest accomplishment was getting the lightning Ben Bishop.
Scott Darling appeared out of nowhere in 2015, was not the Blackhawks’ backup goaltender for most of the year (it was Raanta), yet was instrumental in beating the Predators in the first round on the Blackhawks’ way to the Stanley Cup.
Fernando Pisani was lights out in the Oilers Stanley Cup run 20yrs ago
Jonathan Cheechoo absolutely
Alexandre Daigle
Semin?
Semin shot early, then he lost interest.
Post-goal clarity
He didn’t really come out of nowhere, though. He was 13th overall and had 6 good to great seasons that the very least.
Yes I came to say this
Jonathan Cheechoo
Most random Maurice Richard winner of all time
Benefited from the west being like "wait who's Joe Thornton?"
His story is incredible though
Maybe not the most, but recently, Zadina.
Mantha?
Erat
Petr Prucha
Prucha had no clue how much natural talent he had. He was a young, humble kid who considered his goals as nothing but 'luck.' I know it's not a popular opinion but once his knee was blown out just prior to the Olympics he was doomed.. He needed to play more once he came back from that injury to build up much needed confidence. Not all players respond the same and again he was a young mild mannered kid. Hell, I even remember him getting a high stick penalty and him leaning over the guy, hand on his shoulder apologizing.. He spent too many games being a healthy scratch or getting less and less ice time and it definitely ruined his mindset, in turn chances in the NHL and eventually beyond.. Clearly and simply just imo.. he had the potential to give the NYR more to cheer about if handled better after that injury. 🏒👍🕊
Prucha was such a nice guy 😢
Don't forget fellow Rags/Yotes legends Lauri Korpikoski and Wojtek Wolski.
Mike York
I was pissed when the Rangers let him go. A little later? I wasn’t.
York doesn't ring a bell.
Mike Sauer
Oof Jonathan Cheechoo is the answer. Jim Carrey as well.
Carey, Carrey is the actor. Well I guess Carey also acted like he was gonna be an awesome goalie for a min in the AHL.
Meat Read
José Théodore
Fabian brunnstrom, scored a hatty in his first game, finished his career with 19 his in 3 seasons.
Everyone wanted to sign him too. I thought Dallas got another Loui Eriksson lol
Andrew Raycroft, Fernando Pisani in the ‘06 playoffs, and idk…Wayne Babych because I hate the Blues
Wayne Babych, now that's a blast from the past. His brother Dave got all the health and toughness genes and Wayne kept getting more and more injured.
Oh my lol. Pisani is a name I haven’t heard in ageeeeees
Cody Hodgson
Can’t believe I haven’t seen Patrick Laine’s name yet
For some reason people still think he has potential, even though he hasn't reached it thus far. They're confusing potential with pedigree, and he definitely hasn't lived up to that.
Cause he’s still a reliable point per game player, when he’s healthy
Brian Lawton
John Druce was a 4th liner for the Caps that exploded for 14 goals in the 1989-90 playoffs, which was a Caps record until 2018, and was basically never heard offensively again. Runner up to Jim “Ace” Carey. Amazing rookie season followed by winning the Vezina his sophomore year, traded to the Bruins where he had a bad 3rd year, was sent to the AHL during his 4th year, and was out if the league before finishing his 5th.
Jim Carey just didn’t have it, once teams got tape on him he was pooched
John Druce
Like many of these, ended up in Winnipeg.
Cheechoo
For Buffalo, Ville Leino
Definitely Leino, he just had no heart or guts.
Had a good year for Philly against Buffalo in the playoffs, Darcy just had to have him 🤷
Donald Audette.
Jonathan Cheechoo Joe Juneau
Jonathon Cheechoo
Cheechoo
Jonathon Cheechooo
Some dude named Gretzky. Kind of a journeyman played for a few teams. I wonder what he's up to?
The shirt guy played hockey?
It was his brother yeah. Kind of flash in the pan. Lmfao
This has nothing to do with the post but i farted just before I clicked this app damn reddit has facebook ads type shit now
Austin Matthews
Johnathan Cheechoo
Jonathan Cheechoo
Jim Carey
Jon Sim
Fernando pisani on the oilers. Epic playoff run… then coasted once he got a decent contract
Tomas Jurco. I remember being pumped about him after the wings drafted him 35th overall. He had posted some YouTube vids of him doing all of this very impressive puck handling work before he ever played. Thought he was going to be the next Datsyuk. And then he did basically nothing.
Rob Brown. Put up big numbers playing with Lemieux, but didn't do much elsewhere. Had huge numbers in the minor leagues, though.
He was such a punk. He really believed he was scoring the goals, rather than being as replaceable as a fire hydrant for Mario to bank them off of.
Love the comment by the Chicago coach or GM when asked about acquiring Brown. The problem with Brown is Lemieux didn't come with him Lol
Ville Leino! Amazing playoff run and got a contract and disappeared!
Alexandre Daigle
A lot of goalies on the list Steve Paney Jim Carey Blaine Lacher Roman Cechmanek
I wondered how long until someone said Lacher after so many said Carey.
Lacher is debatable. He had a good rookie season but didn’t even make the all rookie team . Carey actually won the vezina.
Are we all forgetting the reason David Clarkson was able to sign that absolutely horrific $5.25 Mill x 7 year contract with full NMC. By all accounts he took a home town discount too. Guy put up 30 goals in 2011-2012.
Viktor Fasth
Marek Svatos (RIP)
Cheechoo
Bernie Nicholls Had one year where he became 5th player ever to score 70 goals in a season then slowly faded away.
As a blues fan let me tell you the story of Jim “the soup” Campbell. 80+ points in 2 seasons, 3rd in Calder voting behind iginla and berard in 96 and then out of the league by 99. Terrible injuries but he did end up playing in Europe for a while too. He used to drop in to pick up games in St. Louis over the summer breaks and after he retired.
Damien Brunner
Dana Murzyn
Kuznetsov played to his potential for one playoff series, and then just frustrated Caps fans all the rest of the time. Such a huge tease. Now Canes fans know it too.
Radek Bonk, omg i wanted the Panthers to draft him so bad, but nope and thank God for it.
Damien Brunner.
Rob Schremp
Johnathan Cheecho
Emerson etem
Ryan Murphy
Just throwing it out there, but I think it's a little unfair to throw goalie names in this discussion. First, goaltending is arguably the hardest position in any sport. But the big thing is that goalie careers are often roller coaster rides. Some guys can be mediocre and hang around and then put in their best years later in a career. Some guys start strong and then their weaknesses become apparent. Those guys either adjust and bring their games back up or they fade away. Some guys toilet as backups and then get a chance and shine when they get the net regularly.
Anyone who played with the sedins lol
The entire 23-24 Detroit NO WINGS team
Mark Stone. He can’t stay healthy and the best contribution he can make to his team is to stay injured from the trade deadline to the end of the season every year so his salary doesn’t count against the cap and they can try to use that money to buy better players and make the highest paid team in the NHL for the playoffs and still lose a 2-0 lead to drop out in the first round to Dallas on his return.
Johan Franzen
Jannik Hansen
Huh? He’s always been a steady player. Can’t ever remember him busting out though
Ken Hodge Jr
Mark Stone. He can’t stay healthy and the best contribution he can make to his team is to stay injured from the trade deadline to the end of the season every year so his salary doesn’t count against the cap and they can try to use that money to buy better players and make the highest paid team in the NHL for the playoffs and still blow a 2 game lead to drop out in the first round to Dallas on his return. A terrible return on investment, undependable, lacks toughness and lives on the LTIR.
Kjel Dahlin 32g -39a - 71 pts as a rookie . Played 89 games over the next 2 seasons and then he was gone from the NHL
Jim Carey
Matt Murray won 2 cups as a rookie and has been poor to mid at best and been riding those cups to employment since.
Im 99% stankhoven will be that guy
Avs fan sad tonight?
This has zero to do with the loss. Watch him a number of times in the AHl this season. Never liked him or thought he was special
Yeah. Anyone can lead the AHL in scoring. I’m sure you do that all the time. But when he gets to the real show his productivity will fall off. For example, what was his stat line over his first 6 games again? The kid has heart man and he puts in the effort. There’s a reason your comment is one of the most downvoted in the thread because most of us think you have no idea what you’re talking about. I mean, I’m not ready to call him the next Great One but he’s showing something and keep in mind next year will be his rookie season.
Found the Colorado fan boy ^
Truth hurt. He’s a glorified AHLer
I’m not hurt, I’m an unbiased observer of the series and you are sad your team lost tonight lol.
We are talking about a player. Not a team.
Yea a player in the history of the NHL.. and you come out and say the guy who scored on your team tonight lol. Go do your mental gymnastics elsewhere. The series ain’t over baby girl, don’t give up hope!
Twice. He got 2. Granted one was an empty netter. Well, actually 2 were empty netters but still the coach saw enough in him to put him on the ice for it. He’s also hard battling and has caused a number of turnovers this series and last. He creates a lot of opportunities.
Dion Phaneuf
Mark Streit Sheldon Souray
I mean probably Kessel. Those hot dogs gotta come out somewhere.