None of those players even played an NHL game til 2 years AFTER they were drafted.
Subban even spent a year in the AHL, and got a 2 game look mid-season.
Caufield 2 years @ NCAA
Price 2 years WHL
Suzuki 2 years OHL
Gallagher 2 years WHL then half a year of AHL (mostly due to lockout)
Subban 2 years OHL, 1 year AHL.
You can add Markov, 2 years Russia.
Plekanec, 1 year Czech League, 3 years AHL (albeit lockout gave him his 3rd year).
In fact, the 2 players who were put into lineup at 18 (Chucky & KK) had the worst development by far.
Draisaitl played 2 years in WHL post-draft
Getzlaf 2 years post draft
Rantanen, 1 year AHL then a 38 pt rookie NHL season.
This was a deep draft for top 9 forwards & top 4D, but isn't a McDavid, Matthews, Stamkos, Tavares, type draft.
All these kids need time to develop, but Slafkovsky has a really good chance of becoming the type of impact player that we'll need. He's part of a future core with Suzuki, Caufield, & our
2023 #1 pick.
Then we hope 1-3 players among Roy, Farrell, Mesar, Beck & Ylonen, and our 2nd 2023 #1 pick, can step into impact top 9 roles to fill out the roster upfront.
Guys like Dach, Heineman & RHP will also have opportunities to grow with the team.
We have no need to rush Slafkovsky, and about million reasons to keep him away from NHL especially this year.
As far as I'm concerned, he's looked good. He's strong on boards, is bullish on his skates, controls the puck well, and is learning quickly on how to play NHL D.
He's shown a hard shot, but needs to disguise his release a little more.
It took Pacioretty 4 years post draft to get his 1st 30 goal season.
Players who step into league and dominate right away are not normal: Crosby, Matthews, McDavid, Patrick Kane are superstar level players.
The reality is Hughes, Lecavalier, Thornton et al, all had struggles their 1st year. MacKinnon had a decent rookie year as a #3 center, but then struggled his next 3 years after that on bad teams. People thought he was a bust.
We've shown no patience with any of our #1 picks taken in top 10, so I disagree with you there too.
It's best for Slafkovsky to grow his game outside of NHL this year.