Do you think how the team develops their players is the cause for their misery? Not the fact they have a large chunk of their cap tied to players on IR, the unstable and cheap ownership, problems with making payments or, well, anything else?
There's always a balance. It's why I have advocated against trading Kopitar, Doughty, etc. The organization has veterans where they can leverage them in the development and transition process.
That the org went through a rebuild and still leans on the veterans drafted well before it is maddening.
That's part of it, but you would think throwing all those young guys who were higher draft picks in there would have yielded more than one great player. I still think Arizona is a terrible example.
Garland turned out damn well for a 5th rounder I would say. He spent 2 years in the AHL despite getting close to 130 points in juniors his last 2 years. It paid off.
Dvorak didn't get any AHL time, late 2nd round pick. Solid I would say, but not great. In the 30 point range every year.
They brought up Fisher who was a high 2nd, put him in the A for a year then brought him up. Had a decent year when he was 20/21 but hasn't done shit since. Brought up way too early.
Hayton was 5th overall, they brought him in right away. That didn't work, so they sent him down. Then in Europe for a few games, then back to Phx. Then up and down. He's shown no sign of doing anything, they should have let him develop somewhere stable rather than try to force it. He looks like a bust at the moment.
Keller was 7th overall. Brought him up right away and he succeeded. Definitely the gem of their group. Had that great year right away, but then trailed off for a bit. Solidly in the 40 point range with a couple 60+ seasons. He's their biggest success of any player brought in right away.
Crouse was brought up right away with only a couple AHL games. Didn't do much, sent him down for half a season then right back up. 11th overall and his peak so far is the 24 points last year. He looks solid so far this year, but he didn't start scoring until after his AHL year. Had they did that right away, he'd be a much better player.
So.... bringing all those guys up early led to one really good player in Keller. That's it. Had they treated them all like Garland they would be in a lot better shape.
