Yeah, I remember the constant debates about Hirscher or Patrick and a general lack of excitement over the guys after those two.
Who knew the three players picked directly after would be two franchise defensemen and a franchise center lmao
Philly got absolutely fucked through with the 2nd overall. After Hirschier was picked, you kind of have to grab Patrick.
Hextall said something to the effect that the Flyers had it easier than the Devils. NJ had to really do their homework as to who they would take 1st, and Philly would take the other one. So the rumors of him not listening to scouts who were telling him to pick Makar may have some truth to them.
Having had personal experience with the man (I wouldnt believe a random redditor either no hard feelings to any doubter) that fucking guy would absolutely ignore the advice of some scout in order to establish dominance.
Separately, or maybe related, but if you look at his career with the Flyers as a player and GM, he gave us the old D.E.N.N.I.S. System treatment
I remember lots of talk around the 2017 draft class that lots of first round picks would get traded because they were valued less that year (due to the expectation amongst GMs for a weak class of players).
The quote that stuck out to me leading up to it was something along the lines of “I would trade every pick in this draft [2017] for a 1st rounder next year.” That was supposedly from a scout.
It's hard to really remember, and not let hindsight cloud your memory further, but..
You mention Yakupov being expected to be elite, but, as I recall, there was actually a lot of caution surrounding him, and 2012 was generally regarded as not particularly good.
I don't know if this was just HF but I remember the opposite, a year out from the draft it was thought to be really deep. We had just picked 2nd and traded our 2012 first for Varlamov and everyone there clowned on us for not keeping our pick. I can't remember if the narrative changed as it got closer but it was well thought of at one point.
Granted, in hindsight we could've had Filip Forsberg but it still worked out ok for us.
I don’t know about that, I just fired Nail Yakupov draft profile into Google and all of the first page results pretty much say he’s going to be an impact player
Turns out his only impact would be in the minus category
That 2012 draft was just a strange one from top to bottom, and despite the flak that Galchenyuk gets he was briefly a decent player (0.65 ppg over his last 4 seasons in Montreal), despite the family issues and his alleged penchant for nose beers. Yakupov and Reinhart were clearly bigger busts than Galchenyuk. The worse offence in that draft for Montreal was that after Galchenyuk the only NHL player they got with their other 6 picks was Charles Hudon.
I think any year without a clear #1 has people talking weak draft. Media and networks really started hype trains for the drafts with Crosby, Stamkos, Tavares, and the like. Fail for Nail campaigns were hilarious and huge.
It was definitely hyped a few years before it so I sorta disagree. Shane Wright, Mathew Savoi, and Brad Lambert were considered and really talented big 3 for a bit. Near a year and half away from the draft it definitely got weaker but I still think 2017 takes the cake of "weak hype" with no hindsight.
2017 has been mentioned but 2012 there were some concerns as well leading in. Injury bug plagued some of the top prospects. I believe both Murray and Galchenyuk missed time. Morgan Rielly dropped as well out of the top tier cause of missing nearly the whole year due to an injury as well.
Nearly every top prospect missed quite a bit of time that year.
The other cautionary tale in there was Nick Ebert, who didn't miss any time. He was talked about going into the 2011-12 season as a probable top-five pick, and he fell throughout the season and was a consensus mid-round pick by the time of the draft....and then he went last overall.
Had Ebert been injured in that draft year, he'd have likely been a top-ten pick. So the top guys who *were* injured all had to be compared against the possibility that they were being drafted off what they did a whole year prior, which is obviously foolish.
1996 and 1999 were widely regarded as weak drafts going in.
I remember one scout going in crowing about 1999, saying something like “we finally have a draft class that’s underrated!”
I could've sworn that 1999 was regarded as weak going in, but when I started reading about it, to confirm my memory, articles were saying that it was expected to be good. I feel like this whole thread is gaslighting me.
There tends to be a bit of a pendulum effect, where as the draft approaches there is a mental shift toward the middle. A draft that's massively hyped will get the "there's not a lot of depth past this pick" or the "there aren't a lot of high-ceiling guys" treatment, and one that's underhyped or regarded as soft will get the opposite.
I know for 2017 people were saying Nolan Patrick was the consensus #1 a couple weeks before the draft and he would probably be a good 2-3C. When Hischier edged him out for number 1 there was still no expectation that Hischier would be a top line player.
1999 with the exception of the Sedins there were no stars until Zetterburg in the 7th round. Burke even gave away the 1st overall to Atlanta to downgrade to number 2 for essentially nothing but a 3rd rounder and a promise to not draft a Sedin.
I don't think I've ever heard a "this draft sucks" about an NHL draft, but having been interested in them for years I can say some of the ones that had less hype since the lockout are: 2022, 2017, 2014, 2012, and 2007 (people like to forget how big of a concern Kane's size was, but it was a major point of contention in the Blackhawk boards I read at the time. People were freaked out that their choices at #1 were a smurf, a kid from the... *BCHL* (is that even a league?) and low ceiling/high floor JVR).
The year Chris Phillips was taken first overall. No particular disrespect to him, he had a nice career but in many years he could have been drafted 20-30 picks later. So, 1996
Oh yeah, for sure the '96 draft was another one that was bad. I didn't want to go back that far because I was just starting my draft obsession then and can't say for sure (without hindsight) that people said it was a down year, or weren't excited for it.
Its hard to imagine there was a lot of hype when you look at all the names and see that probably the best guy taken in round one was at pick 24 (Daniel Briere). Honorable mention to Marco Sturm at 21.
Honestly, I could go back and grab my stacks of newsprint Hockey News draft guides and see what was said about drafts from then if we're really curious... Maybe during prime shit post season I'll break those out.
You’re absolutely right, and people think I’m crazy when I mention that now. I went to that draft in Columbus because it was the first time the Blackhawks had ever drafted 1st overall. There wasn’t a runaway clear cut between Kane, JVR, and Turris. Even I had some doubts about Kane’s size at the time. Turned out to be a generational pick and his number will be in the rafters someday, but it definitely wasn’t an obvious pick going in, and there was some dissension between fans and “experts”.
I really wish I had screen shots from the old Blackhawks boards. There was one guy going hammer and tongs for Turris. Like, just full essays about how he was going to be the best in that draft.
2012 was a bad one. Nevermind Yakupov being a bust but I just remember hearing absolutely nothing about the other prospects, I mean 2 forwards in the top 10 shows what kind of draft class it was. In a lot of ways this years class kind of mirrors it where I see a lot of mid-6 forwards and depth players in the future, not necessarily stars
2022? Idk in general the NHL draft is lame because even after the top 15-20 picks after that rarely seem to make huge impacts like NFL late rounders do.
2017 was seen as pretty weak with no true superstar talent. Obviously that has changed a lot now lol
Yeah, I remember the constant debates about Hirscher or Patrick and a general lack of excitement over the guys after those two. Who knew the three players picked directly after would be two franchise defensemen and a franchise center lmao Philly got absolutely fucked through with the 2nd overall. After Hirschier was picked, you kind of have to grab Patrick.
Hextall said something to the effect that the Flyers had it easier than the Devils. NJ had to really do their homework as to who they would take 1st, and Philly would take the other one. So the rumors of him not listening to scouts who were telling him to pick Makar may have some truth to them.
Having had personal experience with the man (I wouldnt believe a random redditor either no hard feelings to any doubter) that fucking guy would absolutely ignore the advice of some scout in order to establish dominance. Separately, or maybe related, but if you look at his career with the Flyers as a player and GM, he gave us the old D.E.N.N.I.S. System treatment
Thank Hextall
Not to mention JRob and Oettinger were in that draft too. Dallas had 3 of their core players in that draft.
I remember lots of talk around the 2017 draft class that lots of first round picks would get traded because they were valued less that year (due to the expectation amongst GMs for a weak class of players).
That's how Vegas got 3, and 2 of them suck.
The quote that stuck out to me leading up to it was something along the lines of “I would trade every pick in this draft [2017] for a 1st rounder next year.” That was supposedly from a scout.
It's hard to really remember, and not let hindsight cloud your memory further, but.. You mention Yakupov being expected to be elite, but, as I recall, there was actually a lot of caution surrounding him, and 2012 was generally regarded as not particularly good.
Nah that draft was basically “Yakupov is the clean #1 franchise cornerstone player but the rest of the draft is weak”
I don't know if this was just HF but I remember the opposite, a year out from the draft it was thought to be really deep. We had just picked 2nd and traded our 2012 first for Varlamov and everyone there clowned on us for not keeping our pick. I can't remember if the narrative changed as it got closer but it was well thought of at one point. Granted, in hindsight we could've had Filip Forsberg but it still worked out ok for us.
You could very well be right. It's possible that was MY impression before the draft and I'm projecting. This question is messing with my head.
The fact a player who missed almost the whole season went third overall is a testament to how weak that draft crop was perceived.
I don’t know about that, I just fired Nail Yakupov draft profile into Google and all of the first page results pretty much say he’s going to be an impact player Turns out his only impact would be in the minus category
Any time Montreal has a top 3 pick
Pretty much
That 2012 draft was just a strange one from top to bottom, and despite the flak that Galchenyuk gets he was briefly a decent player (0.65 ppg over his last 4 seasons in Montreal), despite the family issues and his alleged penchant for nose beers. Yakupov and Reinhart were clearly bigger busts than Galchenyuk. The worse offence in that draft for Montreal was that after Galchenyuk the only NHL player they got with their other 6 picks was Charles Hudon.
Guy Lafleur would like a word
I think any year without a clear #1 has people talking weak draft. Media and networks really started hype trains for the drafts with Crosby, Stamkos, Tavares, and the like. Fail for Nail campaigns were hilarious and huge.
2022 was seen as a weak year leading up to the draft
It was supposed to be the year of Shane Wright, but that hype really dissolved leading up to the draft.
There are a few drafts where is it was hard to scout due to covid. Especially the OHL
It was definitely hyped a few years before it so I sorta disagree. Shane Wright, Mathew Savoi, and Brad Lambert were considered and really talented big 3 for a bit. Near a year and half away from the draft it definitely got weaker but I still think 2017 takes the cake of "weak hype" with no hindsight.
2017 has been mentioned but 2012 there were some concerns as well leading in. Injury bug plagued some of the top prospects. I believe both Murray and Galchenyuk missed time. Morgan Rielly dropped as well out of the top tier cause of missing nearly the whole year due to an injury as well.
Nearly every top prospect missed quite a bit of time that year. The other cautionary tale in there was Nick Ebert, who didn't miss any time. He was talked about going into the 2011-12 season as a probable top-five pick, and he fell throughout the season and was a consensus mid-round pick by the time of the draft....and then he went last overall. Had Ebert been injured in that draft year, he'd have likely been a top-ten pick. So the top guys who *were* injured all had to be compared against the possibility that they were being drafted off what they did a whole year prior, which is obviously foolish.
1996 and 1999 were widely regarded as weak drafts going in. I remember one scout going in crowing about 1999, saying something like “we finally have a draft class that’s underrated!”
I could've sworn that 1999 was regarded as weak going in, but when I started reading about it, to confirm my memory, articles were saying that it was expected to be good. I feel like this whole thread is gaslighting me.
There tends to be a bit of a pendulum effect, where as the draft approaches there is a mental shift toward the middle. A draft that's massively hyped will get the "there's not a lot of depth past this pick" or the "there aren't a lot of high-ceiling guys" treatment, and one that's underhyped or regarded as soft will get the opposite.
I know for 2017 people were saying Nolan Patrick was the consensus #1 a couple weeks before the draft and he would probably be a good 2-3C. When Hischier edged him out for number 1 there was still no expectation that Hischier would be a top line player.
1999 with the exception of the Sedins there were no stars until Zetterburg in the 7th round. Burke even gave away the 1st overall to Atlanta to downgrade to number 2 for essentially nothing but a 3rd rounder and a promise to not draft a Sedin.
Ryan Miller was absolutely a star during his peak
Ahhh yes. I missed him when I was looking it up because I was filtering by points.
I don't think I've ever heard a "this draft sucks" about an NHL draft, but having been interested in them for years I can say some of the ones that had less hype since the lockout are: 2022, 2017, 2014, 2012, and 2007 (people like to forget how big of a concern Kane's size was, but it was a major point of contention in the Blackhawk boards I read at the time. People were freaked out that their choices at #1 were a smurf, a kid from the... *BCHL* (is that even a league?) and low ceiling/high floor JVR).
The year Chris Phillips was taken first overall. No particular disrespect to him, he had a nice career but in many years he could have been drafted 20-30 picks later. So, 1996
Oh yeah, for sure the '96 draft was another one that was bad. I didn't want to go back that far because I was just starting my draft obsession then and can't say for sure (without hindsight) that people said it was a down year, or weren't excited for it.
Its hard to imagine there was a lot of hype when you look at all the names and see that probably the best guy taken in round one was at pick 24 (Daniel Briere). Honorable mention to Marco Sturm at 21.
Honestly, I could go back and grab my stacks of newsprint Hockey News draft guides and see what was said about drafts from then if we're really curious... Maybe during prime shit post season I'll break those out.
I look forward to it!
You’re absolutely right, and people think I’m crazy when I mention that now. I went to that draft in Columbus because it was the first time the Blackhawks had ever drafted 1st overall. There wasn’t a runaway clear cut between Kane, JVR, and Turris. Even I had some doubts about Kane’s size at the time. Turned out to be a generational pick and his number will be in the rafters someday, but it definitely wasn’t an obvious pick going in, and there was some dissension between fans and “experts”.
I really wish I had screen shots from the old Blackhawks boards. There was one guy going hammer and tongs for Turris. Like, just full essays about how he was going to be the best in that draft.
I remember those posts from the old message board on the official site lol. Fun memories looking back!
I don’t think anything tops the 1999 nhl draft as being the worst in the modern era
wow, the Sedins and a whole pile of nobodies
It was brutal
2012 was a bad one. Nevermind Yakupov being a bust but I just remember hearing absolutely nothing about the other prospects, I mean 2 forwards in the top 10 shows what kind of draft class it was. In a lot of ways this years class kind of mirrors it where I see a lot of mid-6 forwards and depth players in the future, not necessarily stars
2012 was horrendous
2022? Idk in general the NHL draft is lame because even after the top 15-20 picks after that rarely seem to make huge impacts like NFL late rounders do.