Juicer said:
Trevor Daley was playing regularly near the end of the year in Dallas, Ehrohoff in SJ.
Neither fit the description of mid to late first rounders.
But Carlo played opening night with the Baby Leafs, the same night Max opened the year with the big club.
Colaiacovo's injuries during camp (10 days or so) gave Kondratiev enough time to leave an impression.
I don't agree that he made a serious bid this year. His time will come, but it was not last year.
He was the last cut from the blue line last year, considering he had a pretty bad injury, Carlo made a serious bid for that spot.
They have had plenty of problems developing their young players. McCauley, Modin, Johnson, Smith and Sullivan all had break out years after leaving Toronto under Quinn. Antropov has been hurt by injuries a bot, but I am sure people expected more after he made the team at such a young age. Kaberle came over from his Czech team and made the leafs right away, and really he hasn't improved in quite a few years. Quinn and his brass have not done a good job developing their young players/prospects, which is why I said it was debatable. If the players they drafted had played for a team who did a better job deveoping their players, those picks might not look as bad.
Sullivan was really good NHL player at the age of 25, Pat Quinn messed it up and let him go. That had nothing to do with development.
Modin was doing well in his first 3 seasons as a NHL player and was traded away because he was far too inconsistent and could have gone two ways, up or down... and from the looks of his play from night to night, it was impossible to predict he'd be a really good top 6 forward.
Mike Johnson... same guy the Leafs plucked out of the NCAA as an UFA? Same guy that was a ROY candidate? Same Mike Johnson that had 120 points in his first two and a half years as a Leaf? I'd say the Maple Leafs developed him from nothing to a NHL top 6 forward.
Jason Smith was a top 4 defenseman in Toronto, Pat Quinn didn't stunt his development, but he had a personal problem with Jason and decided to trade him. That wasn't poor player development, it was poor management.
Alyn McCauley would be the only guy that was developed poorly. The coaching didn't help his game and the players infront of him in the lineup affected his growth.
A couple years ago there was no way the leafs would have considered trading Boyes, now like you said he was traded twice in the last 18 months. Does that not sound like a player who's value has gone down? That would be an example of a player being considered better prospect a couple years ago than he is now, which would mean he had not developed as the leafs had hoped in their system.
He had 51 points in 65 games as a rookie in the AHL, the Leafs traded him when his value was high. When he was the top prospect. The fact that he's managed only 1 NHL game during his departure has nothing to do with Toronto. He may have been hyped a lot more following his draft, but that's natural. Many folks like you overhype new players and when they're not in the NHL at the age of 20, you automatically assume they were "better prospects" a couple years ago.
Antropov will never be a 1st line player with his skating ability. Nieuwy carrried that second line, and it is arguable Poni was the better player last year.
He has the potential to be a first line forward, but I'd say it's unlikely. He's more likely a good 2nd liner to a great 3rd line player, especially on top teams in the NHL. I also agree, Joe Nieuwendyk carried the line and Ponikarovsky was the better of the two last season.
I don't think they have drafted well, which is why they brought in JFJ who is probably a little more involved with the Baby Leafs and propects in general than Quinn is/was.
So you admit they haven't drafted well, I guess that contradicts your argument about player development being the major weak spot. Because how can you develop players when you start with little talent?
Since 2001 the drafting has been very good. Since 2002 it's been top notch, atleast compared to what we've seen over the last 25 years.