So then the point I was making still holds. Had they acquired another Centre, that would have pushed Pickell down to the 4th line for sure where he would not have gotten the minutes to prove capable. Then when they acquire the OA D-Man, Heyes is deleted and then what? DO they try to acquire another depth forward to replace Heyes? Having Pickell playing the top 9 minutes already and being successful means if/when Heyes is gone, they should feel comfortable about keeping him there and they don’t need to acquire another forward. This is a result of being patient and allowing existing assets to play their way into a role in the early stages of a season. THAT is my point.
This sort of thing happens often. I know you and many others felt Hopkins was ready for a bigger role but if he were on a stacked team, he wouldn’t have gotten an opportunity. MAYBE if they had the centre early, he is pushed down to 3C where he isn’t given as many high leverage minutes to develop and be more ready when the playoffs come along.
From my perspective, this is why I think being patient helps. You get to see what you have. Will it cost you points int he standings? Maybe. But it pays off bigger dividends in the 2nd half when you have more players better prepared because they received the solid minutes early. The players are more confident because they were able to achieve results early. If/when they need to step into bigger roles for injury replacement etc when the games are higher stakes as the season winds down, they are better prepared.
