I want to be positive, but I am pretty afraid of were this rebuild is heading looking at the threatment of ADA. We are rebuilding and have a kid come in and play fairly well.
Any experience of developing kids in the NHL should tell you that there is only one way to make a NHLer of a young kid, especially at the blueline. That is to give them as good as possible environment to succeed in. Odds are that alone won’t be enough.
I definitely think odds are that we already put the nails into ADAs coffin. Like he is behind everyone and face a tough task just to catch up, would probably take a month. Let alone take the necessary steps.
I think Brooks piece on how Quinn should see what he got in ADA is just mindboggling. What does he mean — that ADA now could hit the ice running and get the job done lol? It bloody have to start tomorrow if that is going to even remotely be possible.
But who cares about that, if Brooks pitches some dumb idea, but what really would be scary is if Gorts still had some delusional belief that it would be possible for a kid to somehow rescue his game and get it back on track even if you screw them. That is what EDM always have done. They have never asked what is best for a kid not being a FOA pick and a great one of them, but simply made available the best they could offer and thought that would suffice. It has never even been close, Draisatl got a perfect situation due to McD and McD has of course been supported well. But nobody else — NOBODY really — have developed well for them, during like 8 years.
The only lesson learned, not just looking at EDM but all over the league, should be that you must do a perfect — spotless litterary — job developing a kid to get any kind of results from it. Ice time, linemates whatever, conditions must be really good.
I won’t pass judgement at this point if Gorts and the organization made a call on ADA and game up to the conclusion that he isn’t worth investing in. I am sceptical of such a decision in light of what I’ve seen from ADA whom I like, but it’s not easy. But if we believe that we are just letting him mature and that he will get his chance 1-3 months into the season and then will — if he has “it” — he able to hit the ice running and become a NHL PMD sure it’s really a complete joke. Let’s say Erik Karlsson helps out in a contract dispute and we got him in early December, god what a mess he would be the first month playing cold for a new team etc. Look at how hard he and SJ are working to get him going there.