
I'm not going to beat my chest and say "Hey, Troy Brouwer was my guy in 2004 and now he's having a career year with Chicago". Nope, not going to say that. I'm also not going to mention Kris Russell, Claude Giroux or Mason Raymond because for every hit... I've probably got a miss or two.
Some of the guys I viewed as strong sleeper picks are still bubbling under the surface and could still pan out. Guys like Calgary goalie Matt Keetley, Tampa's Dana Tyrell and Dustin Tokarski, Atlanta's Spencer Machacek, Washington's Braden Holtby among them.
But there are guys that I expected much more from than they have so far been able to produce and one of those guys is an Olympian who will be in action tonight against Canada.

Sprunger was one of the bigger guys in the event, he could skate and played on Switzerland's top line. When it came to the physical part of the game, he was the opposite of the European stereotype; Sprunger seemed to get better if the game got rougher.
What escaped me at the time back then was the fact that he was bound to stand out because his club was older than some of the other Euro teams that were there. He dominated against the younger Czech team but really impressed me when he played the Americans and Finns which included eventual NHL guys like Tuukka Rask and Joe Pavelski.
I was sold and he became my sleeper pick of 2004 (along with Moose Jaw's Troy Brouwer).
Since then, Springer has stayed in Switzerland where he's actually put up decent numbers; he's been a point per game player for the last two seasons with Fribourg-Gotteron. This year he's on a similar pace with 26 points through 27 games.
Sprunger is 6'4 and just under 200 lbs, plays RW and unless I'm mistaken... is a free agent in regards to his NHL playing rights.
That said, if I'm a NHL GM looking outside the box for cheap free agent talent, I give Julien Sprunger some consideration. I don't know why it didn't work out with Minnesota but I wonder if given an opportunity, could Sprunger still carve out a NHL career?
(Photos: EQ Images)
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