Stu's first non-1st rounder worth a damn?
Good thing for us is Gernat has a better skillset than Marincin....remains to be seen how he transitions to the NHL in a couple of seasons.
Could make a strong argument that our young kids on the backend matchup with any organization with Ekblad.
Ekblad, Nurse, Klefbom, Gernat, Musil, Marincin.
Dillon Simpson is a better player than Musil. Much, much better chance of being a NHL player.
I will say that given that most later round players end up, if they're going to help, not as top pairing defenders or first line forwards but middle six forwards and 3-5 defencemen, that's it's worth bearing in mind that it takes some time to get those players to arrive.
If you're a future star or first line player, then you're much more likely to be able to handle second or third line duties immediately before you fully arrive. That's why Hall plays right away, Eberle arrives at twenty. Granted, it took Hall a couple years to become a star and Eberle established himself fairly quickly as a first line player, but those players arrive early.
But when you're picking a player like Lander, well, it takes some time for the guy to get his foot in the door when his upside is a third line player. There's less margin of error for him to still be a NHL quality player before he fully develops. I think he's going to be a third line centre, and I think he's a worthy fourth line player now. But this is coming up on his fifth year after his draft. It... takes some time.
This is a roundabout way of saying... it's not like they're off-track. They aren't. But I think we're so used to a new hot-shot prospect arriving immediately, or close to immediately after the draft, that we have unrealistic expectations for timelines for prospects chosen in the second round or later.
