BagHead
Registered User
Being sure doesn't mean you're going to be right for a fact. Nobody can know the future, so you just make yourself as sure as you can by waiting until they're developed to a degree you think will translate to the NHL.But how are you ever sure, until you actually see them play? Some players simply can't make the transition immediately, while other like Brodin, Faber, and the like make it look easy. Dumba spent quite a while going up and down, as did Zucker, and countless others.
Getting a player in the organization allows you to move them up and down as they develop and learn to adjust to the NHL. Keeping them over in the KHL doesn't allow that to happen.
If they need AHL time after that, you're going to have to either make them tough it out in the NHL, or risk their flight from the AHL. While I love the Wild scooping up skilled Russians later in the 1st and 2nd round, the Russian factor is a factor for a reason.