Beaulieu is doing real well. He's been solidifed as a top-4 dman.
Leblanc was doing real well in the NHL, his problems began in the AHL under Lefebvre.
Tinordi was doing real well as well. Not sure what happened there, could be the injuries.
You can't wait until a player makes no mistakes, that never comes and it shouldn't actually.
I never said you have to wait till a player makes no mistakes, far from it. It's when they are repeating the same mistakes over and over. If they are repeating them, that means they aren't learning from them. So if you have first/2nd year pros and they are struggling to learn from their mistakes, why would putting them in the NHL be a good way for them to learn. Unless you think the AHL coaching staff can't get the job done but then that would mean you think the NHL coaching staff could do a better job, in a much more pressure fueled environment.
Beaulieu is not doing real well and he's not solidifed as a top-4 dman. He's making the same mistakes as he did in his first few years in Hamilton. He can't be trusted not to make mental mistakes, poor positioning at times. Yes he's a great skater, yes he can move the puck, but the holes in his game have never been fixed. It took to playing with Gonchar to even get him to play a more consistent level and even now he's still struggling. Now of course you should expect some issues since he's still young and learning his job but at 20 and 21 when he was struggling with this issues, they should have gotten someone to work with him back then to fix the issues instead of putting him in a place he wasn't ready for. His skills mask his weaknesses but they have been there and remain so now.
I agree to an extent on Leblanc, he's the one that is more opposite of Tinordi/Beaulieu in that he was looking like he was ready in the AHL at 20 to play in the NHL other then his clear lack of strength/size. But that year was a mess, so it's hard to say what impact it had on him by playing in the NHL in that circus and then having to go to the AHL and play for Lefebvre. Personally I think management shoulders some of the blame here as they should have taken better care of our 1st round pick.
Tinordi was not doing real well. In Hamilton he had a major issue with consistency. People would see a highlight reel where he would crush someone with a huge hit and then they would go crazy about how we have the next Chara. I said then people would be disappointed as he would have that big hit and play a really good game especially on the PK, but then you might not notice him again for a week or two. He struggled making decisions with the puck, he struggled with his reads/reacts, the more pressure he was under, the worse things would get for him. He couldn't handle the puck that well. If he's doing all these things wrong in the AHL, why would it be any different in the NHL when it's even quicker.
Saying Leblanc was ruined instead of just being a bust is a bit of a stretch
It's not. This is an endless debate but was he a bust when he was rookie of the Year in the USHL and led his team in scoring at 17?, was he a bust when he was named Ivy League Rookie of the Year and led his team in scoring as a Freshman, a team that included NHLer Alex Killorn. Was he a bust playing for Team Canada at the WJC's where he was something like 4th on the team in scoring? Or in the Q when he led his team in ppg? Was he a bust when he was on pace for 20 pts in the NHL as a 20 year old rookie? Was he a bust when he was one of the top players in Hamilton as a 20 year old?
I just don't get how anyone can see a prospect that is on a clear path and then the path totally gets blow to **** and somehow the only fault is on Leblanc. Lefebvre has nothing to do with it? Management for calling him up too soon has nothing to do with it? Timmins picking him when he clearly had a weak frame and lacked lower body strength, and don't give me that French hometown crap, as they could have traded down and take Despres. I understand that Leblanc holds his share of the blame, he was skinny and never filled out his frame, didn't get stronger, took a very strange development path, and I also know that sometimes 18/19/20 year olds just peak. They were great at 15, 16, 17, etc.. but when others around them physically matured and they didn't, they no longer progressed. It happens a lot, but to me for him to show enough progress each year in watching him play since his USHL days, and then all the sudden his game goes to crap just seems to me that there's more to blame then just the player.
