Player development is a funny thing. Some folks here seem to think that if a player doesn't reach the potential ascribed them by scouts that they have been improperly developed, and if they do they have been properly developed.
The reality is that many of these players simply reach the potential that they actually have. A scout may see potential in a player that they just don't have the skill set to reach in the end, and no development strategy would have helped. Given that we cannot watch an individual player take more than one development path there is no solid evidence that can be use to show that an individual would have become a better player had they played an extra year here or there. This is a myth that's used to slam management decisions, and in our team's case is effective on a surface level because you have a player that doesn't reach the potential set by someone else (often scouts, ironically that many think they could do better than anyways) and a management staff that is a lightening rod for criticism already.
Ceci and Lazar are good examples of folks claiming that they were rushed, while at the same time these folks argue that they don't have the hockey IQ to be more effective NHL players anyways. Cowen as well was mentioned and while he never reached the potential ascribed him, he suffered from development stifling injuries that had nothing to do with his development deployment.
A year in junior, a year in the AHL, a year in the NHL, none of it guarantees the best development for a player on it's own, nor is the players potential that we read about an actual guaranteed level of play that the player COULD reach if developed properly. Sometimes we have to accept that players are what they are. The development plan for a player has to be crafted for the individual based on who they are and what their strengths are. Our team drafts and develops a lot of players that end up in the NHL, many from later rounds; that's good development. Sometimes our first and second rounders bust, but they only have a 50% chance of making the NHL anyways so we should be expecting half to bust based on skills that weren't good enough to make it regardless. Remember potential is a massive maybe, not a guaranteed attainable level like in a video game.
From looking at them play, I don't think our first round busts are guys that would have made it to the NHL had they played for another team, they just didn't have the skill sets to meet the potential heights projected for them.
Personally, what I like to see is the varied development plans that we seem to have for every individual player. Some play longer in lower leagues, some progress quickly because they are that good. BT is the highest pick we have chosen in a long time, and has a character, at the very least, that one needs to have to make the jump right away. We'll see what his development plan looks like, but given the way our top prospects have been brought along, whatever the path is, it will be crafted with the goal of maximizing BT's potential at the heart of it.
I'd love to see him crack the big team's roster, because if he does he'll have earned it. This is the first year in a long time that we will see a bunch of younger players on the team since we're rebuilding/retooling. It really will be a development team to some degree since we will undoubtably be focussing on building our team over squeezing out points from every game with grizzled vets at the helm. It should be really fun to watch.