So it's OK when Murray rushes prospects like Fowler, Lundestrom and Drysdale who went straight to NHL but when Verbeek let's 2nd overall pick (who would have been #1 in some previous drafts) go straight to NHL with maintenance days off it's bad ?
Carlsson wasn't really rushed, like Fantilli he had a better point per game rate as rookies than previous #1 overall picks. Both Carlsson and Fantill would have been 1st overalls over in some previous drafts like 2022, 2021, 2020 and 2019. I take him over power even with Power being 6'6 he's got a weak shot and is a gentle giant. I take them over Hughes in 2019 because of their size, skill, speed, ceiling. Hughes seems like the kind of guy who will peak in regular season and then gets pushed around in the playoffs. While Carlsson and Fantill seem more like a Barkov and Tkachuk
Mintyukov and Luneau didn't go straight to NHL, they had a year of development before debuting unlike Fowler and Drysdale. Verbeek also let Zellweger continue to develop before his NHL debut. If there is someone who rushed prospects in was Murray. He rushed soft (Fowler) and undersized(Drysdale) dmen.
Now if Verbeek let's Sennecke play more than 8 games in NHL this season than yeah he rushed someone.
Fowler played 76 games at 22:08 ATOI while scoring 40 points, which ranked 7th best in team scoring. Fowler proved he was ready as an OFD in the NHL as an 18-year old.
Drysdale won AHL rookie of the month, beating out Zegras and then played 24 NHL games in his D+1 season. Drysdale proved he was too good for the AHL as an 18-year old. In his D+2 season, Drysdale played in 81 NHL games at 19:56 ATOI, while scoring 32 points. He looked much better in his D+2 season in the NHL as he didn't look lost like he did in his final 12 NHL games in his D+1 season. Then he got into a freak accident in his D+3 season that cost him the season. In his D+4 season, he didn't get any training camp session nor pre-season games to ramp up the physical play and that eventually lead to injuries (see Z as corroborative proof of no pre-season lead to injuries).
=== You are wrong about Drysdale going straight to the NHL. He earned his way up (thanks to COVID) and was considered a rookie in his D+2 season, along with Z. ===
As for Lundy, the team actually sent him down to the AHL as well as back to Europe in his D+1 season. A huge reason why Lundy got 15 NHL games as an 18-year old was due to a number of factors: 1) mass injuries down the middle, 2) Steel wasn't ready defensively like Lundy was. Once centers got healthy again, Lundy was sent down to the AHL and eventually sent back to Sweden. With only 15 NHL games, Lundy would still be considered a rookie the following NHL season. Lundy didn't become a full-time NHL'er until his D+3 season, but that season was also shortened. Lundy's offense didn't show up on NA ice, but, surprisingly, it did on Swedish ice. Why Lundy can't translate Swedish ice offense onto NA ice offense is baffling. Lundy wasn't rushed.
I would have preferred Lundy stay in the Sweden in his D+1 season, but it didn't really matter much because he was sent back to Sweden in his D+1 season. The lack of offense appears to be a mindset of playing in Sweden vs playing on NA ice. He can produce across the pond offensively, but not on NA ice.
Lundy was denoted as one of the few 2018 prospects that could go to the NHL right away, mainly due to his skating and high-level defense.
Lundy
D+1: 15 NHL games
D+2: 17 NHL games
D+3: 41 NHL games (COVID season)
D+4: 80 NHL games
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Carlsson
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I don't know why you'd carry water for Carlsson not being rushed when Verbeek put him on "load mgmt" program b/c he wasn't ready for full-time NHL status. That alone disproves your notion that Carlsson wasn't rushed.
But if you keep harping about being #1 overall talent, then let's compare Carlsson to the smaller statured Connor Bedard.
Bedard: 68 games, 22g + 39a = 61 pts (0.90 ppg rate), 19:47 ATOI
Carlsson: 55 games, 12g + 17a = 29 pts (0.53 ppg rate), 18:07 ATOI
Carlsson didn't perform like Bedard and Carlsson's ppg rate probably would have been worse if he were not forced onto the "load mgmt" program b/c he'd probably get injured early into the season like most of our other youths.
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Minty
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Minty should have taken the Zellweger path to the NHL. Once Minty was exposed into a 2nd pairing role, then his defense was exploited. His +/- rating would be worse than LaCombe's if Minty was put into a top-pairing role to start the season.
NHL rookie season
Minty, D+2: 63 games, 4g + 24a = 28 pts (0.44 ppg), 18:51 ATOI
Fowler, D+1: 76 games, 10g + 30a = 40 pts (0.53 ppg), 22:08 ATOI
I think you're barking up the wrong tree about Fowler being rushed when he outperformed Minty offensively, ATOI, and being more durable to play more games while being a year younger than Minty.
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Luneau
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Luneau was rushed to the NHL in his D+2 season because he didn't qualify to go to the AHL due to CHL/NHL age restrictions. He was also put on a "load mgmt" process because Verbeek wanted to develop Luneau's body faster. That's code for "body not ready for full-time NHL". In doing the "load mgmt", Verbeek stalled Luneau's skill and in-game development by a year due to the load mgmt and knee infection at the WJC-20.
Luneau should have just been kept in the CHL for his D+2 season to continue to develop his skills.
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Zellweger
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Zell was a Murray pick. Murray let Zell stew in the CHL in his D+1 season. Zell didn't even get a 9-game preview in his D+1 season like McTavish did. Pretty sure Murray would have let Zell develop the same way under Verbeek b/c Zell needed more bulking up on his small frame. Plus, Zell couldn't qualify for the AHL in his D+2 season he just turned 19 in Sept of that year.
Sorry, but you can't attribute Murray rushing Zell. Murray was a defensemen when he played and they (Murray and Madden) kinda know what they're doing with defensemen. Plus, if Murray remained GM, then he would have retained Lindholm. LD1 = Lindholm, LD2 = Fowler. LD3 = Benoit, Mahura, or possibly Thrun. The team could afford to take it's time on Zell.
