A History of Hockey Prodigies

Mar 31, 2013; Dallas, TX, USA; Los Angeles Kings fan Robbie Romeo shows off his Wayne Gretzky jersey before the game between the Dallas Stars and the Los Angeles Kings at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

There have been many hyped prospects in the history of hockey. Some enjoyed success in the NHL, however, many failed to make a significant impact. It is not easy to live up to extremely heightened expectataions as a teenager, especially in a sport as competitive as hockey. Despite the huge expectations as a hyped prospect, there is no doubt that most of the best players in the history of the game were at one point highly-touted prospects. By looking at the top four players in The Hockey News’ Top 100 Players of All-Time (Gretzky, Orr, Howe, Lemieux), it is clearly evident that these players were all hyped prospects at one point.

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There are some exceptions, of course. We all know the stories of Niklas Lidstrom, Pavel Datsyuk, and Henrik Lundqvist. However, now that there is better scouting in Europe, those players would have been drafted higher today. Go to the next page to take a go through a history of the most hyped hockey prodigies of all-time!