I think some people need to get a grip. Let's just set aside the fact he was injured--how are Eakin/Sharp/Hudler doing stacking up points thus far?--only a lunatic is giving a grade on that pick today. He's about the boom or bust-est pick we could have made and guess what? Many people thought we needed to take a big swing at somebody like that and I wasn't sad when we did.
Why did we think that? Why did we want to gamble instead of being safe? Because we've historically made a lot of safe picks and the evidence is that there is no such thing. Also, at this point we've turned 6 forwards from the 11-13 drafts into NHL players. Behind them we have Smith, Elie, Ully, Stransky, Gurianov, and Hintz in the next generation. We could afford a risk on a project because we have the depth to do so. If we have
Benn Seguin Spezza
returning
Janmark Nichushkin Dickinson Shore Faksa Ritchie
as the 11-13 class
and just the 1st and 2nd rounders left
Elie Hintz Gurianov
that's 12 forwards.
2 years from now, nobody's going to be rending their garments and smearing ashes on their face because we need a rookie scoring forward.
We have lots of depth everywhere, and #25 is never a sure thing. They'll be picks that turn out better than him that came later and probably picks that turn out worse that came before. Only a person with the brain of a goldfish could forget that is how the draft works.
No, the 1st Round of a deep draft...and last year was deep, is not the time or place to take a project forward who has yet to prove anything at any competitive-level of hockey.
I've been pretty harsh of our 1st Round selections over the years, and who wouldn't given our abysmal track record?
It's not just happenstance that we haven't had a decent defense in a decade...I put a lot of the blame for that on our 1st Round ineptitude.
I'd have rather gone Boom or Bust and traded up to get Chychrun, who had dropped to 16th, than to add to our bevy of forward prospects. If you're gonna go Boom or Bust, you might as well go big on a potential #1D or top pairing D, rather than a top 6 forward who can be acquired through trade.
I really liked Dmen Ryan Lindgren and Kale Clague, who were still on the board at our pick.
Abramov was another Boom or Bust option...my highest ranked guy that was still on the board...at least he was proven in the Q and International play vs. HS. There were many others who I had ranked above Tufte. I had Tufte at 39th due to his lack of production in the USHL when given the opportunity to compete at a higher level.
Face it...we have a problem with our 1st Round choices historically, and the jury is still out on Nill's picks. I feel that Nill is better than what we've had in the past wih our 1st Rounders, but I think we can and NEED to do more.
Unless you are in the top 3, almost all 1st Rounders are "Boom or Bust", but that doesn't mean you can't pick more wisely than adding an unproven commodity in a position of depth to our prospect pool when there are less risky, rarer commodities (like Dmen with top pairing potential), and arguably higher upside options on the table.