Just gonna say Brett Connolly so there’s another answer in here besides Drouin lol
GatorBolt
It’s Drouin, this was always Drouin’s category
Basil_Normal
Cal Foote. Shitty player, shittier person
Mountain_Anywhere645
Instead of saying who first came to mind (Drouin) I’ll go a different route and say Alex Barre Boulet. Had plenty of opportunity and never amounted to much.
strokesoflightning
A lot of votes gonna go to Drouin, but I’m going with Slater Koekkoek
Hypercutter
Jake Dotchin
2ndprize
Svitov or Mike Smith
Scrubosaurus13
Does Sean Day count? He obviously had the exceptional status, but did we really think he was going to end up being that guy?
TampaJayLightning
Drouin for sure
itsyaboikawaiidesu
Sean Day might be the biggest wasted potential in hockey tbh.
He was one of 9 players to ever be granted ‘exceptional status’ in the CHL, aka the same reason why Connor McDavid and Connor Bedard were talked about for years before being drafted. However, he’s only ever played 2 NHL games, both of them with us. Technically should be the most wasted potential, but he declined hard way before even drafted by NYR and since he has only played 2 games with us, idk if he even counts.
Btiel4291
I’d say Verhaeghe. Drouin wasn’t necessarily wasted potential. The dude went OFF when we went to the ECF against the Penguins. The rest of the team wasn’t up to par. Verhaeghe has sick skills but our team was too stacked to let him shine.
TodayOk4239
Any answer that isn’t Drouin is purely to be contrarian
Stinky5hole
2001 #3 overall Alexander Svitov – 179 career games and 37 points
anonymousmouse17
It’s hard to watch Verhaeghe going off the last 2 years….
usfice6
Chris Gratton, #3 overall pick in 93 draft. He hung around the NHL for a decent career but never put up the numbers people thought he would. To make it sting even more, the #4 pick was future HoF’er Paul Kariya and a number of all stars were picked him as well, Saku Koivu, Adam Deadmarsh, Jason Allison, and others.
Drouin27Gaming
Drouin is the obvious answer due to how Coop deployed him with the likes of Brian Boyle, Ceddy Paquette, and Brenden Morrow on the 4th line and then the whole demotion to Syracuse and then him throwing a hissy fit. he had all the makings of franchise and perennial 100 point winger that went to waste because Coop had an ego and so did Drouin
The-Machinist-
Paul Ranger, hands down, wasted. He just didn’t want to play anywhere.
Baub2023
Alexandre Daigle
croutons_for_dinner
TyJo is the first that comes to mind but his potential was wasted due to injury so IDK? Also, Drouin.
TrogdorStrikesAgain8
Drouin is a good choice but he was given plenty of opportunity and never amount to much. If we want to talk true wasted potential it has to be Verhaege, who has gone on to be an all-star and didn’t play here due to us been too deep.
Dont-concentrate-556
In terms of potential wasted by Tampa, definitely Verhaege. More a byproduct of our depth at the time but still wasted sending down to the kitty Kat’s.
Thndr_Wolf
Gretzkys brother
Necessary-Service174
I remember being pretty hyped on Chris Gratton and him being a let down
frockinbrock
I’ll go with 2 non-Drouin answers: **Jonathan Marchessault and Carter Verhaege**
they turned out really well elsewhere. Don’t know how we would have kept them, but they clearly had more potential with us than what we saw in their limited time.
Maybe they’ll fit better in another category, I dunno
Allen_Koholic
Paul Ranger
Single-Fortune-7827
ABB
Ol_Man_J
Is there still time to put Matt Carle in here somewhere
30 Comments
We can’t pick Jo again?
This was Drouin
Just gonna say Brett Connolly so there’s another answer in here besides Drouin lol
It’s Drouin, this was always Drouin’s category
Cal Foote. Shitty player, shittier person
Instead of saying who first came to mind (Drouin) I’ll go a different route and say Alex Barre Boulet. Had plenty of opportunity and never amounted to much.
A lot of votes gonna go to Drouin, but I’m going with Slater Koekkoek
Jake Dotchin
Svitov or Mike Smith
Does Sean Day count? He obviously had the exceptional status, but did we really think he was going to end up being that guy?
Drouin for sure
Sean Day might be the biggest wasted potential in hockey tbh.
He was one of 9 players to ever be granted ‘exceptional status’ in the CHL, aka the same reason why Connor McDavid and Connor Bedard were talked about for years before being drafted. However, he’s only ever played 2 NHL games, both of them with us. Technically should be the most wasted potential, but he declined hard way before even drafted by NYR and since he has only played 2 games with us, idk if he even counts.
I’d say Verhaeghe. Drouin wasn’t necessarily wasted potential. The dude went OFF when we went to the ECF against the Penguins. The rest of the team wasn’t up to par. Verhaeghe has sick skills but our team was too stacked to let him shine.
Any answer that isn’t Drouin is purely to be contrarian
2001 #3 overall Alexander Svitov – 179 career games and 37 points
It’s hard to watch Verhaeghe going off the last 2 years….
Chris Gratton, #3 overall pick in 93 draft. He hung around the NHL for a decent career but never put up the numbers people thought he would. To make it sting even more, the #4 pick was future HoF’er Paul Kariya and a number of all stars were picked him as well, Saku Koivu, Adam Deadmarsh, Jason Allison, and others.
Drouin is the obvious answer due to how Coop deployed him with the likes of Brian Boyle, Ceddy Paquette, and Brenden Morrow on the 4th line and then the whole demotion to Syracuse and then him throwing a hissy fit. he had all the makings of franchise and perennial 100 point winger that went to waste because Coop had an ego and so did Drouin
Paul Ranger, hands down, wasted. He just didn’t want to play anywhere.
Alexandre Daigle
TyJo is the first that comes to mind but his potential was wasted due to injury so IDK? Also, Drouin.
Drouin is a good choice but he was given plenty of opportunity and never amount to much. If we want to talk true wasted potential it has to be Verhaege, who has gone on to be an all-star and didn’t play here due to us been too deep.
In terms of potential wasted by Tampa, definitely Verhaege. More a byproduct of our depth at the time but still wasted sending down to the kitty Kat’s.
Gretzkys brother
I remember being pretty hyped on Chris Gratton and him being a let down
I’ll go with 2 non-Drouin answers: **Jonathan Marchessault and Carter Verhaege**
they turned out really well elsewhere. Don’t know how we would have kept them, but they clearly had more potential with us than what we saw in their limited time.
Maybe they’ll fit better in another category, I dunno
Paul Ranger
ABB
Is there still time to put Matt Carle in here somewhere
Vladislav Nemestnikov