I'm with you. No real point in using hindsight. McLeod was an acceptable pick in the moment and he had a great post draft year. Sure it would be nice to have McAvoy right now, but McLeod will be probably be a good NHL player sooner rather than later.
I don't disagree with anything here... I just take exception to the "Hindsight" part. There were plenty of people here that questioned the pick the very moment it was made... I remember a collective "What?*. When it was made. That's is simply not hindsight.
Now, a year later, we have a bit more tangible evidence to discuss that...
I think multiple issues are being conflated here. One, was it the right pick at the time and two, how good is he.
Yes, he's young, yes he can become a good player...none of that really addresses whether or not it was the right pick at the time.
That said, I don't like at all what he's shown so far. But this is another issue aside from whether or not it was the right pick. I think he plays the game like a bottom 6 player, he's shown little skill and a very poor shot...sure, a lot of things can be improved but from my point of view, those deficiencies shouldn't come from a #12 overall.