Some quick and not so quick thoughts.
BT is not going to be bullied into giving a one way contract to a guy who hasn't proven he's deserved it. Whether or not Egor was primed to take the next step is debatable but that's a different topic.
The discussion about the young guys earning their time at the NHL level. My view on prospects and how they develop or make it to the NHL.
1. You have a player with undeniable talent and makes it out of camp in their draft year. Usually elite players but others have made the leap. Benson in Buffalo was one last year if I have my timing right.
2. Guys who spend a year or two in college/juniors and then make it to the big club. There are usually a handful more of these but it's done. Power in Buffalo is another example.
3. Guys who get drafted who don't make the jump right away, whether it's a couple of years in college or the juniors, they then go to the AHL. If the player is an impact player, they may spend a whole or half season in the minors, get called up and never get sent back down. There's also those that get called up, get a good taste, have a thing or two to work on, play another 20 or so games and then make the leap full time. These guys are usually putting up a ppg from the get go but you can usually see the trend to them making the leap.
4. You then have guys who may take a second year to fully get it and in that second year, they take an exponential leap due to physically getting stronger but also having a better grasp of the mental side of the game. You will still have impact guys out of this batch, it just took them a little longer to get there.
5. Then there are guys that take the overcook to get there but eventually do and find themselves a spot on someone's roster.
6. Then you have guys that are the tweeners, too good for the AHL but not good enough for a nightly NHL roster spot.
At some point, there are plenty of places to lay blame. Could be the scouts and the players we drafted. Could be the development. Could be the view from the GM and coach that the road to Nashville is thru Milwaukee, no matter how good you may be. So many things here to digest.
I think in the past Poile was looking for really well rounded players, to his and the team's detriment.
I think may be we put too much stock in how good or bad Taylor is as a coach. While he has success winning games in Milwaukee, is he preparing the kids to take the next step to make it in Nashville? Is that truly up to him, the development staff or the player or a bit of all three.
I truly believe, if you want to be great at this level, it comes from the player, their drive and their mental/emotional capacity. I see a guy like Evangelista and the kids continually gets better. He's a sponge. He's got a swagger about him. He will continue to soak in knowledge from guys like Fil, ROR and Gus and become a mainstay in our top 6. I see what ZLH did in Milwaukee this year and then flipped a switch in the playoffs. Once again, this isn't something you teach, you either have this trait or don't. Remember Colin Wilson, the maligned regular season player who we expected so much from and the playoffs hit and he turned into a different player. From what I've read about Svechkov, he is trending in the right direction too.
The downside is, I see glimpses of greatness in Tomasino yet he hasn't found consistency. Glass has great offensive tools but can't put it together. Parssinen could go either way at this point. Do these guys have that extra drive to get to the next level and make an imprint? I'm honestly not hopeful because Tomasino and Parssinen haven't lit up the AHL and if they haven't done it yet, I doubt they do. Glass at this point is a wild card but I doubt he has many lives left with this team.
All this to say, we get our hopes up for these kids to make it. It's mostly on them to take that leap. No amount of coaching/development can help if they don't do the work.
We'll see what happens but my guess is Egor finds himself in bucket 5 or 6 from above. If he hits higher, great for him and bad decision by us. At the same time, if he were going to show he deserved a spot, he would've shown it to us by now.
