I think the CBJ were not a great run organization in its early days when it came to player development. Doug MacLean was way out of his league and I think his giant ego kept him from listening to people who might have known better than him.
On a side note, I noticed Jet is 4th in the AHL in Save Percentage @ .918 and 23rd in GAA @ 2.74. That speaks volumes about either thelack of defensive talent this team or the defensive structure the team plays with. I could not find team stats on the AHL site for things like Shots Allowed/Game.