ULF_55
Moderator
Seems to me like a pretty typical number of under-25 players to let go for any organization over a 2-3 year period. There's always tons of turnover at those ages, particularly with ELCs expiring or players having a brief window to show they're up to it after Junior or the NCAA... You usually have a pretty damn good idea of a player's trajectory by the time they turn 22. (Yeah, yeah, there are exceptions... but I'm mainly talking about tweener prospects) This 'Detroit' model people often refer to only makes sense in the context of players who are actually producing in the AHL.
And as you said, that's not even getting into whether any of those listed players was worth keeping around or did/will turn into something... With a brief, superficial skim of that list, I literally don't see a single player where I have any inkling they'll turn into a solid NHLer worth rooing over their departure someday. Harrington could be a 3rd-pairing guy someday, for example, but that's not the type of player you should ever be missing... We're trying to build a championship squad, not a collection of dime-a-dozen, competent NHLers (or as you said yourself, 'minor assets')
(I have a general pet peeve about every 'prospect' seemingly being given infinite time to 'develop' on these boards, though I suppose we all do root for them to develop if we're on here. I honestly don't know what age posters think isn't "too soon" to evaluate a prospect. It seems it's only not "too soon" once a player's literally become an NHLer or their contract expires and no other NHL team picks them up.)
...
I digress, apologies for my mini-rant!
I would think the same scenario will play out with the Hunter picks as well.
They're always world beaters until they aren't.
But then look at one of today's star prospects, Hyman. How old is he?