Because it is easier to pretend that the delusions about the quality of a prospect or their 'NHL-readiness' are the reality than it is to accept that maybe, just maybe, these guys aren't the super stars they were expected to be or aren't quite ready yet.
And the people *****ing about putting these players on the 3rd and 4th line have not a clue/zero patience. You don't develop a prospect by gift wrapping 1st line minutes for them. It takes time. You give them plenty of experience in the AHL or euro leagues. Eventually, if they have proven themselves there, you call them up to the NHL. But you don't immediately throw them on the first line. Start them in a limited role on the 3rd or 4th line. This gives them experience as well as the breathing room to learn the game at this level -- they aren't asked to do too much and don't feel the pressure to light it up. If they show they deserve it, then and only then do you move them up the lineup. Sometimes they stick, sometimes they don't and get sent back down. Look at the teams that consistently develop great home grown talent. They do all of these things.
Rushing prospects before they are ready is how you ruin them. They don't learn basics, try to do too much, develop bad habits, get in their heads, etc.
Playing Miller on the 4th line is not the end of the world. If he proves himself, he'll be moved up. For ****s sake, MacKinnon, 1st overall pick, started the season on the 3rd line and has stayed there... getting 10-15 min per night. This guy has proved more in 5 games than either Kreider or Miller has so far and he's still only slotting in at Colorado's 3rd line. This is how you develop prospects. Give me a break with the hysterics.
Really don't agree with much of this. You can't have a blanket rule that treats all prospects the same.
For every player who might have been brought up before he was ready and disappoints, there is another, who some might have thought of as not yet ready, who thrives when put in a challenging situation where they can learn and grow. That disappointing player would likely have disappointed even when he was "ready."
Sometimes you have to push young players to succeed and put them in positions where they might have success.
I'm OK with Miller getting 4th line minutes but I'd be much happier if he were getting 3rd line minutes. If there was an opening, I won't even mind 2nd line minutes. 1st line minutes...probably not as I don't think that even at his best, years from now he will be able to play there consistently (maybe like Dubi, occasionally).
I'll say what I said earlier: if you want to develop young players at the NHL level they have to be free to know that a mistake or bad shift or bad game will not get them yanked and sent to the minors or to the pressbox. A young player of talent and ability will learn from their experience, internalize it, and add it to their mental toolbox.
It's a rare player who is "ruined" by getting some NHL time when they are young, especially with forwards. If you are talking about Dmen, you perhaps have a better argument.
We're not talking hysterics here, we're talking about different philosophies of player development. Each player is different. To paraphrase (I don't remember the exact quote) that eminent philosopher from Vulcan in a Star Trek movie when a barely ready crew is forced to become the primary crew on the Enterprise and he was asked how they will respond, he said something to the effect that "each according to his own gifts."
Only a movie I know but the basic tenet is the same. It's time, as our veteran players fall by the wayside from age or poor play, to push our young players.
Some will rise and some will fall (sound like a quote also, perhaps from a Grateful Dead song, probably Terrapin Station) but that's what makes it so fascinating.
Push'em!
