I also would have kept them all in the AHL, a la the Wings model. I probably don't need to remind people my opinion on what league Sillinger should have been in or where I think Jiricek belongs right now.
Regardless, however, Carlsson and Foudy didn't have the genetics to get strong while keeping their playing form. Foudy wasn't going to get balanced and Carlsson wasn't going to get an upright posture. Playing a few NHL games here or there isn't going to change someone's physical progression over the long run, only over the short run. Those guys were showing up after long offseasons just as meek as the year before. Maybe
@stevo61 can correct me on this but I think someone with the genetics for it would get in peak form by age 25 regardless if you played them too much at age 21 and didn't give them enough gym time at that earlier age. It would just take longer to get there. And those two never got there.