If you're going to seriously scout a player at that level, you need to watch 10-20 games, one or two isn't going to tell you much, especially if you aren't familiar with the league and can benchmark against opposing players.
Not saying it was easy, just that it's possible. Plus, like Deadhead said, you can attribute a lot of their success to the goalie they drafted.
Except for one problem, at the CHL level, a 17/18 year old can make substantial progress from October to April, you're not going to see the same improvement at say the AHL level from a 22 year old prospect.
Hextall started right, then stopped. Had he continued to rebuild in 2015-16, by 2018 they would have been a competitive team, instead he stopped for two years, then traded Schenn in the summer of 2017. Then Holmgren ran out of patience.
Hextall's entire strategy was to acquire draft picks.Flyers draft history, aside from the last 2/3 years, would get a solid D from me. It's depressing going on hockey db and reading their choices
I.e. the most talented offense players. The elite offense producers tend to show up earlier, b/c speed, agility, body control, vision, etc. will tend to show at an early age and almost always by 18-19.
It's hard to predict what an eighteen year old will be three years down the line. Not only physically but mentally and emotionally.
Signed Poehling, traded for Drysdale, drafted Ciernek, Luchanko.
That's why I see him as a high floor center, at worst an above average, two way 3C.
This kid has the “it” factor. I’m recalling that some evaluators had him neck and neck with Bedard going into the draft year. He may be that good. He has hands, moves and vision that few have. It’ll more than make up for not having elite speed.
Rookie camp is less about evaluation than giving the kids a sense of NHL facilities and play.
Hextall's last couple drafts didn't arrive until 2022-2023.
