Bowers’ waiver exemption is up so pretty much the second he gets waived he’s not a prospect anymore because there’s no value. With the others there’s the hope they get to their first real camp and the AHL and have some sort of mindblowing debut, unlikely but it’s the unknown that gives them value. Maybe the Avs plan to give Stienburg a chance, the last name doesn’t hurt.
For me situation can’t be ignored, how a player’s trajectory is going in the org matters. There has to be realistic path of what the next step is, how the org has set them up for the next step. If the year ends with them largely forgotten then there’s nothing that’s going to change suddenly in training camp. Bowers is an example of a good camp doesn’t even buy them anything.
Its easy to give the college guys a bunch of benefit of the doubt because they haven’t had to prove anything yet and also have not been tested by the whims of the org. Once a guy hits the AHL the clock starts to tick but it’s also easier to see if there’s any sort of path to the NHL emerging. Usually there isn’t but having any sort of positive result in the AHL weighs a bunch more than college success imo. But to your question Bowers is out of runway, there’s no hope left.
Oh I definitely get that he is out of runway here in a lot of ways, I think that is on him in some ways but also bad luck and the organization didn't do him any favors for development either. I would just bet on him having more of a career in the NHL than all but a couple of guys on our list so far, so to your point it isn't always about skill but trajectory, path etc.
Bowers’ waiver exemption is up so pretty much the second he gets waived he’s not a prospect anymore because there’s no value. With the others there’s the hope they get to their first real camp and the AHL and have some sort of mindblowing debut, unlikely but it’s the unknown that gives them value. Maybe the Avs plan to give Stienburg a chance, the last name doesn’t hurt.
For me situation can’t be ignored, how a player’s trajectory is going in the org matters. There has to be realistic path of what the next step is, how the org has set them up for the next step. If the year ends with them largely forgotten then there’s nothing that’s going to change suddenly in training camp. Bowers is an example of a good camp doesn’t even buy them anything.
Its easy to give the college guys a bunch of benefit of the doubt because they haven’t had to prove anything yet and also have not been tested by the whims of the org. Once a guy hits the AHL the clock starts to tick but it’s also easier to see if there’s any sort of path to the NHL emerging. Usually there isn’t but having any sort of positive result in the AHL weighs a bunch more than college success imo. But to your question Bowers is out of runway, there’s no hope left.
Oh I definitely get that he is out of runway here in a lot of ways, I think that is on him in some ways but also bad luck and the organization didn't do him any favors for development either. I would just bet on him having more of a career in the NHL than all but a couple of guys on our list so far, so to your point it isn't always about skill but trajectory, path etc
Plenty of players have been waived and still go on to good careers, even with the team that waived them. Even the Avs have waived players and they’ve ended up good NHL players with the Avs… Graves is a recent example. They aren’t worthless right away.
IMO The two biggest issues with Bowers… he just doesn’t have much skill and he’s got attitude issues. The latter is more of an issue for a 4th line sort of role and with the Avs. If he can check that at the door, he has the size and skating to claw out a 4th line role.
Yeah I can definitely see the attitude issues but can understand some of the frustration on his part. I was really hopeful last camp he looked pretty good and fit some of the things we needed for the bottom six, that got derailed by COVID and then got buried on the bottom line in the AHL, so didn't really give him the opportunity to show much.