They're wastes and disappointments in retrospect, is my point. They're not signed to contracts with the idea that they're ECHL-caliber players and nothing more; they're signed because the organization thinks it can develop the player into something NHL-caliber. If the organization thinks they can develop Nejezchleb into an NHL player, then they ought to sign him. The fact that other fringe prospects were signed and didn't pan out has no bearing on whether or not Nejezchleb will pan out. You don't refuse to sign a guy you like just because other guys you liked at one point didn't work out. That's silly.
So, my point basically boils down to this: if the Rangers think he has an NHL future, then they'll sign him, and that's fine by me. You gotta trust your scouts and your ability to develop players. If we didn't take gambles on guys with question marks we'd have like 35 guys under contract and we'd put ourselves at a competitive disadvantage.
A true "wasted" contract spot is one that's not assigned to a player. You obviously need to maintain some flexibility--have a spot or two open during the year in case something interesting presents itself--but otherwise I'd expect the team to have no fewer than 48 guys under contract. And the reality is that guys like Nejezchleb (or Noreau, St. Croix, Kantor, etc.) will make up some of those contracts, as there aren't enough "good" prospects to go around.
