I don't necessarily buy that Bylsma is bad with or hates young players. His best coaching tended to be when injuries forced him to go with call ups. I think his issue here was a) becoming overly partial to certain vets (though their presence on the team wasn't his fault and we saw this year that it wasn't simply a Bylsma problem) and b) very rarely having genuinely talented young players. Despres is arguably the only young guy who deserved to play more than Bylsma used him. (Beau Bennett, for all his talent, should have spent most of those years in WBS.)
Basically he could do good work in Buffalo regardless of the roster's average age. If he's accepted that he needs to adjust to the game more, he could do great work. If he hasn't, he might really set them back by messing with the confidence of the young guys they need to develop right.
That's the most interesting destination for him. I hope he goes there because it'll be fun to watch.
Right. I don't know where the narrative that "Bylsma can't coach young talent" came from, but it's a myth.
Well, I know where the
origin was (Tangradi, Caputi, Jeffrey, Johnson) but I don't know why
it persists after those guys all ended up as nothing due to flaws in their game that had nothing to do with him.
The only "prospect" near the level of a Ristolainen or an Eichel that he got his hands on in 6 years was Olli Maatta and I don't see a lot to complain about in how he was handled. These "skilled youngsters" he supposedly "can't coach" are vapor for the most part.
There's Despres, but that strikes me as a textbook coach's vendetta (they all have them) and 1 guy doesn't form a pattern by himself.