Repose en paix Johnny et Matthew Gaudreau. On peut dire sans se tromper que Johnny était le meilleur joueur à sortir de notre état, j’aurais aimé qu’il puisse atteindre des sommets encore plus élevés si sa carrière avait progressé.
J’ai changé le titre de meilleur défenseur en celui de meilleur défenseur après mûre réflexion, très excité de voir lequel des deux favoris assez évidents gagnera, le débat devrait être magnifique, mais nous franchirons ce pont quand nous y arriverons.
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Imsorrymanyt
39 Comments
MacKenzie Blackwood
I’ll throw a controversial one out there with mike mcleod. Guy had all the tools to be one of the best fourth liners in the league and… well…
Michael McLeod is certainly in the discussion for wasted potential.
Wasted potential definitely Blackwood. I’d argue Michael Ryder being the worst though.
Michael McLeod. Was a >PPG guy in juniors, wasn’t anywhere near that good offensively with us, but was pretty solid in his role when he got going and now it’s all gone
Maybe McLeod?
Alexander Semak
Most potential…Jack Hughes 100 upvotes vs. Nemec with 70…make it make sense.
Pavel Zacha
Zacha?
Pavel Zacha
Nikita Gusev
Cory?
Cory Schneider
Mcleod
Jacob Jofesson. Pretty sure he was first round pick and was only good at one thing – Shootouts
I’ll throw out a very old one but Rocky Trottier was basically a nepo pick
I took this from a different angle and thought of Schneider. More in that the team in front of him squandered all his elite potential and instead of backstopping the team to playoff wins he ended up having to valiantly hold down the fort for underwhelming teams during his entire prime.
Alexander Holtz
Blackwood. He’s an athletic freak but for whatever reason his concentration at times during games just becomes blank and he gets blindsided with shots that he could have easily saved.
Holtz
Reid Boucher was nearly setting records in juniors, and seemed like we landed a late-blooming surefire sniper good for 40+ goals per year in his prime. He was a complete bust, unrelated to terrible off-ice issues. And if we are also now counting off-ice crimes with McLeod, then Boucher has that going for him too…
Joe Blandisi
Reid Boucher
I’m only saying Boucher because McLeod hasn’t been found guilty yet.
Mike Danton
Neil Brady, picked 3rd OA in 1986, was a horrific whiff.
Any of the Swedes (Tedenby, Josefson, Urbom, Bergfors). Holtz is right there with the rest of his countrymen, too, but he’s already selected as the most overrated.
Severson has star skill level but a 2 cent head
Zacha, Tedenby, Holtz, Eric Gelinas all clearly had high skill levels they didn’t come close to living up to
Guys like Josefson should’ve been better than they were but eh
My answer goes to Alex Holtz
I voted for Blackwood for overrated, so this is my take.. we drafted him pretty high w the 7th overall pick. We drafted him to be Jack’s wingman, w the potential to be a bonafide sniper and offensive minded forwarded.
With the phrase “most wasted potential” I’m including both player and franchise. Franchise too because of how the Devils developed him. I don’t think he was gonna succeed w that coaching staff placing him on the third and correct me if I’m wrong, fourth line? He needed better centers to play with and a longer leash. I wouldn’t scratch him over a mistake or take away his minutes. He’s developing still.
He didn’t see much power play time. The other team is down a guy. We’re in offense mode. Just put Holtz out there. He needed to be put in situations where he could succeed not the bottom six. You don’t draft 7th overall for a bottom six.
With the return we got from him, how he was scouted and where he was drafted, how the staff handled him and how the trade market viewed him… just seems like wasted potential.
Scored 16 goals w terrible minutes and linemates. Prob had better matchups out there versing the other teams bottom six. Was a minus fifteen. Just don’t know what to make of him or what to do with him. Let some other team figure him out.
Let’s go back to Ahonen or Damphousse
To goalies taken high with no chance at getting regular NHL time the minute they were drafted.
Has to be zacha, 6th overall pick that never really panned out for us but has turned into a pretty decent pickup for the bruins. Wish we were able to unlock what the bruins did for him
Scotty Gomez
Nobody has said Wlll Butcher yet, I’ll throw him in
Pavel Zacha because of the significance of the draft and where we saw him in comparison to those drafted after him. Add in what Boston has been able to do as well it’s definitely a shame.
Haula was a decent outcome for sure but if he was meant to be top 6 of that draft class…. That’s seriously missed potential
Schneider
Ty Smith
Brenden Morrison.
Will butcher
Definitely Cory. Dude was in his prime while this team was in the doldrums and there were many 1-0 or 2-1 games we lost because the offense was nonexistent. There were also a lot of games he stole for us. I still remember him going on a tear after he got snubbed by team USA. Then as we started to turn a corner as a franchise he got older and injuries started to rear their ugly heads.
I’m one of those people who gave him shit as his play took a turn for the worse but looking back I’ve realized we really wasted an amazing heir to Marty. Now we’ve been struggling to find someone remotely close to Cory ever since.
In terms of potential while on the Devils, I have to think it is Zacha. Aside from his draft position, he had the most tools *at the NHL level* out of everyone being discussed and just could not put it together here no matter what he was trying on or off the ice.
I’m glad that the change of scenery has been good for him because I have nothing against Zacha, but he literally: jumped 20+ points per season after being traded, went from a negative +/- player to positive, and broke 20 goals both seasons he has played for the Bruins which he never had with us – not to mention he is playing basically full seasons with them unlike us as well.
I know playing with some better forwards helps, but it isn’t like Zacha didn’t have time with some good players while in NJ either, and I don’t think anyone who watched him play in NJ would lay his struggles at the feet of his linemates… more like the opposite that he was the anchor, if anything.
Sure, some guys might have lit up the minor leagues but that doesn’t mean they ever had the tools (or the complete toolkit) for the NHL. So it is hard to vote for Reid Boucher. And others… you hope they do better, like a Tedenby or Josefson, but I wouldn’t say they *wasted their potential* rather than just hit their ceiling. Zacha though was legitimately not playing to his potential the entire time he was here.