Flames Draft Watcher said:
So your point is that anybody who's made the NHL should be ranked ahead of prospects? That's what I'm getting out of your argument.
Actually... I'm going to go out on a limb here and say "yes"... that's true. Taking absolutely nothing away from Phaneuf - who *should* be a domininant force for the Flames and in the NHL for years to come - until they actually play in an NHL game and perform, there are no guarantees. We all know that for every Joe Thornton or Rick Nash, there's a Pat Falloon or a Jason Bonsignore.
A highly touted prospect may have the
potential to be a far superior player than say a Wade Belak, but at this point I would argue that Belak is ahead of the game because he's proved that he can hack it, albeit in a very limited fashion. The same can't be said about said prospect... yet.
As for the Chelios/Phaneuf comparison, who is the "better" player at this very moment? I don't know about the rest of you, but if I was going into the last five minutes in the third in a 1-1 tie in game 7 of the finals, I know who I'd rather have on the ice.
Now you're alll going to argue that Phaneuf is physically stronger, younger, etc. and therefore better... but there's still that matter of who most people would ice in that game 7 situation... and that's because "experience" is still a part of being "better".
My two cents...