- Jan 22, 2007
- 14,588
- 7,631
Well, just my opinion, but...Maybe? I mean, for a massive, elite #1D with so much potential, he was the last of the bunch picked.
There's two reasons for that (size isn't even one - as I mentioned, a similarly sized d-man was also drafted before (well before!) him).
1) He is not as good as we think
2) He used some leverage to indicate his preferred teams.
The 1st one, we'll find out. GMs are wrong regularly, of course. But so are we (i.e., media, fans). We're just not in the spotlight, and we have far less information than they do.
The 2nd? GMs don't manage teams long enough to deal with high risk maybes. There are other factors of players that do matter, and that are important. The good GMs balance it well. The bad ones don't.
It's nice, in a theoretical world, to normalize a players profile to just peak, top of the lineup potential or down to one stat moneyball style, but even when that happened, it only really happened once.
If Buium told the Flyers (FYI: I'm not saying he did) that he wouldn't sign with them, why in the world would you draft him?
I mean, CG said he would love to play for the Flyers, and then just didn't, right? Flyers clearly misread that one.
1. We never know 100% if a prospect will live up to the hype. But, all we can go by is how Buium played this year, and he surpassed the scoring totals of recent Norris winners in the same program. And, the thing is, Buium isn't a one-trick pony...
This is directly from an NHL scout, "He was given some significant assignments on Denver's top pair, playing against the best college players on a nightly basis. Whether it was Cutter Gauthier, Will Smith, Macklin Celebrini, you name it, Buium stood tall. Teams sent every weapon they had at him and he deflected it with ease. It was like watching Quinn Hughes all over again."
The fact that every single draft authority had Buium in the Top-8 (as low as 2nd overall) and Luchanko's average placement was 31 (with 18th being the highest and 45 being the lowest) speaks volumes. So does the eye test. And, yes, you are right, NHL teams repeatedly make terrible decisions. And the ones that do often pay the price. That doesn't excuse repeat offenses.
2. Possibly. Only he (and the clubs) know that. However, it's all speculation. There were no whispers at all about Buium hand-picking his teams. As for Gauthier, that is a more complex situation but it's being discussed on the Flyers board. There was a possible "bait and switch" between the Flyers and Gauthier that may have cost the player close to a million dollars. Admittedly, I don't know all the facts, but I refuse to believe passing on Buium because he shared an agent with Gauthier is a smart idea. Hell, draft him, watch his value rocket up, and trade him for a massive haul if that's the case. As I said, the Ducks turned Drysdale into Gauthier. You can never have enough elite assets and "drafting to need" is a short-sighted Cardinal Sin that all failing organizations make.
If the Flyers were a team like the Avs and Luchanko was NHL-ready and could step in next season as a 3C and help them win a Cup, then maybe you pick him over Buium, considering you're on the doorstep and have Makar, Toews, Girard, Gulyayev, and Behrens in your D org. But the Flyers?! Crazy decision.