Same old nonsense, there are no favorites, look how many so called "favorites" have been discarded.
What really happens is fans fall in love with a prospect who hasn't done anything, and note all the warts of a veteran who is less talented, but more experienced.
Hextall has a different approach, he'll grind his teeth over a limited veteran, but he doesn't want to see a prospect struggling at the NHL level, regressing due to his struggles, when he can be developing in the AHL. For every player who works through his struggles, two regress to the point where they have to be sent down (Sanheim last year, as Ted showed, he was terrible his last month before he got benched).
AMac came back too quickly, but the only alternative is Folin.
Myers has already showed that fans exaggerated his NHL readiness, you could see that in preseason if you didn't have blinders on.
Not a surprise, Myers didn't get big CHL minutes until his post-draft season, then lost a bunch of time to injury, so we're talking a late bloomer with limited experience - waiting a half-year or so is not the end of the world.
Friedman, not Myers, is the obvious callup to replace AMac if he doesn't get his legs back, but he's only in his 2nd AHL season, and most defensemen take longer to mature than forwards.
When Hextall decides that Morin, Myers and/or Friedman are ready to start in the NHL, AMac will quietly move on.
Next year in his eyes, Ghost, Provorov, Gudas and even Sanheim and Hagg in their 3rd seasons should be enough of a veteran core to carry a couple kids.
