I'll third Dov Grumet-Morris. He was incredible for Harvard, and the Flyers didn't even offer him a contract which caught me by total surprise. Goes to show what watching games can do for scouts.
Ryan Sittler... but I never liked him. 1992 wasn't billed as a deep draft but I remember that pick being pretty much universally panned. A truly wasted pick.
What a lovely way to be introduced to Flyer fandom (Lindros having been officially acquired the same day).
I don't think some of you are getting this...Dopita? The guy was in his 30's when he got here, not really a prospect. Tertyshny? He friggin' died, hard to "make it" when you're dead. Anyway here are mine:
Francis Belanger - good mix of physicality and skill, potential 3rd,4th line energy guy. Tragic story.
Len Barrie - sick numbers in junior
Jason Beckett - another wasted 2nd rounder. Solid, tough, defensive d-man in junior
J. Timonen - hoped he would turn out half as good as his bro
Rob Bellamy - hyped as a skilled, physical energy guy
I was also going to mention Juhlin and Beckett. Regarding Juhlin, the Olympics he played in and dominated were very impressive. Disappointing that things never worked out for him here. Regarding Beckett, I recall Clarke commenting on him, while he was still in Juniors, that he was at the time good enough to play in the AHL. That seemed like a precursor to him moving quickly through the system.
Ryan Sittler... but I never liked him. 1992 wasn't billed as a deep draft but I remember that pick being pretty much universally panned. A truly wasted pick.
What a lovely way to be introduced to Flyer fandom (Lindros having been officially acquired the same day).
Sittler was called the "safest pick in the draft" by THN at the time.
Maxime Ouellet--Really thought he was going to be our answer in goal for the next 15-16 years after we drafted him. i remember how pissed I was when the Flyers traded him to Washington in the Oates trade. He was last seen in the LNAH a couple of years ago and is now out of hockey as a player anyway.
hes probably the reason why we dont draft goalies high anymore.
For the record he started for the Trenton Devils last season.
For me, it's Francis Belanger, Mikhail Chernov, Tomas Divisek, Artem Anisimov and Par Styf.
I had hopes of Belanger evolving into an NHL power forward. Chernov had a good rookie season for the Phantoms. Neither player was ever the same again after the Dmitri Tertyshny tragedy, and Belanger also had substance abuse issues.
Anisimov, who formed a dominating young defense pairing with Oleg Tverdovsky in Russia was the defensive-minded half of the duo. Sometimes compared to Darius Kasparitis, he was once ranked a four-star prospect by THN (1995 draft preview) but he wrecked a knee, missed most of two seasons and was never much of a player thereafter.
With Divisek, it was shoulder woes that took him down. He needed to be involved physically to be effective -- and he was before the shoulder issues -- but he turned into a perimeter player and soon ended up back in Europe.
Par Styf has made a decent career in Elitserien but has never been a star. When he was coming up in the Modo system, he was known for his howitzer of a shot from the point but he never panned out as much of an offensive D because of his subpar skating. Interesting trivia note on Styf -- he changed his last name from Jonsson to Styf in his draft year.
I was also going to mention Juhlin and Beckett. Regarding Juhlin, the Olympics he played in and dominated were very impressive. Disappointing that things never worked out for him here. Regarding Beckett, I recall Clarke commenting on him, while he was still in Juniors, that he was at the time good enough to play in the AHL. That seemed like a precursor to him moving quickly through the system.
Juhlin was expected to come in and duplicate what Mikael Renberg did, and that was perhaps an unfair expectation. Terry Murray didn't quite know what do with Juhlin -- he wasn't bad defensively but he wasn't an ideal checker, and he wasn't scoring enough to stay on the second line.
When Juhlin spent a season with the Phantoms, it was clear that he was too good for the AHL. After that, he went back to Europe.
Had Juhlin been given a shot in another NHL organization, I think he would have had a decent career over time. Just didn't work out that way.
Really? for some odd reason i remember people saying he was a reach. That draft set the flyers back further at the time imo. bot 1st flamed out.
One of the classic Clarke quotes about shane kenny: " he ate his way out of a contract". He was another dman they hyped up.
Sittler's blood lines had people convinced he would be a late bloomer offensively, but scouts praised his all-around skills and said he was a safe pick. Of course, he didn't come close. The eye injury and other injuries set him back and he just didn't develop.
I remember seeing an article a couple years ago that Sittler had a lot of off-ice stuff with prescription painkiller abuse, and that he'd finally worked through it.
Can't believe i haven't heard much of nittymaki. Guy was hyped to be so much, and injuries got to him. Never seemed to be able to cope with NHL ice though.
This is very recent, but I liked Danny Syvret and wanted him to make it as a regular NHLer. He clearly can be at least a number 6 guy, because was doing fine last year for on the team for 21 games, till he got hurt in that 21st one versus Dallas.
I don't know why I like him, I think part of it is I just feel bad for guys who can't stay in the NHL. I also just get excited about getting a newer player on the Flyers for some reason.
Gilbert Dionne - I thought he was going to be the best player in that trade for us. (Desjardin & Leclair)
Max Oulette - I too thought this cat was going to be a solid starter.
Jiri Dopita - All the talk of "Best player not in the NHL" had me caught up in the hype
Jean-Marc Pelletier - Another pipe dream between the pipes...never panned out.
Dionne was a phenom in Montreal, but the bottom dropped out and he never regained his touch.
Ouellet should have had a much better career-- strong junior pedigree, scouts leaguewide liked him, made his NHL debut very young -- but he never developed for whatever reason. Too many rebounds, butterflied too soon, and once his flaws were discovered, shooters adapted to him and he never made the next steps.
I've written before about my take on Dopita. My view is that he really didn't want it badly enough. He had his success in Europe and international hockey, had turned down the NHL numerous times (Bruins, Islanders and Panthers) and only came over for the money and because he was friends with Cechmanek. I will never forget standing in the locker room after he scored his first NHL goal. Asked what it meant to him, he shrugged and said via translation by Jan Hlavac that the goal didn't really mean anything special to him because he'd scored big goals before, and he wasn't keeping the puck. It didn't come off as arrogant, just honest and (unfortunately) pretty revealing.
Pelletier was one cocky dude. He thought he was the second coming of Patrick Roy, and was resistant to even constructive criticism.
I mean, we kind of forget because he is what he is now, but he really had the talent to be an all-world player.
Really not any weakness in his physical gifts, big, strong, a great skater, good shot, good passer, good instincts, etc. He really had a hell of a year in 05-06, even with the injury and at that time he was 22 and looked like he could be heading towards stardom.
Then 06-07, rough year for us and I think mentally Pitkanen got exposed a bit, just didn't want it badly enough and didn't have the mental strength to deal with the situation although I still blame some Philly fans for riding him so hard. But the rumors of him not being coachable didn't help.
Just a sad story, I mean, he's still an above-average player at the NHL level, but he could have been a top player in the league with his talent.
Just hope we don't relive the same thing with JVR.
