From Humble Beginnings, Jacob Trouba Shines

Predicting what a player will be like five years down the road is no small task, but it gets a little easier at the top of the draft. These are the players who, after countless viewings from scouts and interviews by front office executives, appear to be safe bets.

A common assumption is that a player with first round talent would have dominated each level of hockey that they have played, breezing through season after season as a proverbial man among boys. While it is true that every early first round pick seems to be a safe bet to develop into something special in the future, not all took the same path to hearing their name called on draft day.