i get that he's kind of average right now. but i don't get why he should be written off just yet. he has barely been coached by richardson at all yet. i'm just curious to see how he does.
Look, Richardson and our development staff are great but they aren't miracle workers. In order to "develop" a player, he has to have something to develop. If he has no stand out skills or abilities at this point in his career, then it is simply too late for Richardson and the development staff to turn him into a real prospect.
Every "project pick" has some kind of skill or ability that makes them standout. Kramer has his fighting ability, physicality and compete level. Dziurzynski is a fast skater with size, he is a good hitter, he is solid defensively and has some raw offensive ability. Claesson has solid defensive IQ and positioning and decent mobility.Stone had elite hockey IQ, was a great passer, had an excellent shot, had size, physicality and a solid compete level.
All those players, among others, have something about their game that makes them standout. We are just now starting to see with Stone, what you can do if you take a player with some raw ability and properly develop them. However, if a prospect doesn't have any stand out skills or abilities, then there is nothing really to work with. The key is to develop their strength and round out the other aspects of their game. Without a key strength the best you can do is make them into a serviceable AHL player.
Think of Culek as a bigger version of Condra, except take away the hockey IQ and penalty killing ability, add a bit of size and make him injury prone.
