How can a guy that has played in the NHL be a bust? I could see the point when it was a 1st round pick but outside of that, playing in the NHL is automatically a success. The number of games and the strength of the player's impact on the team will decide how much a success it was.
Dreidger, G (Journeyman depth goaltender, between 50-100 NHL games) ~ David LeNeveu
Stone, RW (Industrious top-6 forward, 50-60 pts per 82 games) ~ Nik Antropov/Glen Murray mix clone
Guptill, LW (Scoring winger, 20-25 goals per 82 games) ~ poor man's Rick Nash, a bit similar to Chris Stewart
Puempel, LW (Top-6 left winger, 20-30 goals per 82 games) ~ Matt Moulson
Prince, LW (Quality 3rd line winger) ~ Josh Bailey
Hoffman, LW (Journeyman depth scoring winger) ~ bigger Ryan Shannon?
Paul, LW/C (Too early to tell, not enough info/viewings. Prediction = late bloomer). Bigger & more physical Chris Kelly?
Lazar, C/RW (Top-6 versatile 2-way forward with leadership) ~ Slightly lesser version of Gabriel Landeskog
Pageau, C (Bottom-6 forward, great defensively) ~ Maxime Talbot
Grant, C (Journeyman depth 4th line Center) ~ bigger Tom Pyatt
Ceci, D (#2 two-way D-man, 20-25 mins per game, 25-35 pts per 82 games) ~ Slightly lesser version of Drew Doughty
Borowiecki, D (6-7th physical depth defenseman, ~ 200 NHL games) ~ Lesser version of Alexei Emelin
Claesson, D (Top-4 D-man, around 20 mins per game, 10-15 pts per 82 games) ~ Slightly lesser version of a Hjalmarsson/Gorges mix clone
Wikstrand, D (Top-4 D-man, 25-35 pts per 82 games), ~ Lesser version of Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Harpur, D (Journeyman bottom-pairing D-man, 200-300 NHL games), ~ Christoph Schubert
Dzingel wasn't on the list, as well as a few more interesting prospects but it's incredible. I'm really confident in saying that almost all those guys will make the NHL. Obviously, some will have to play for other teams as there is a limited number of spots available
Also plausible is they don't like him on the wing, and liked Spezza, Turris, Zibanejad and Smith better than him.
Lots of possibilities why a capable, young 4th or even 3rd liner could be held out of the lineup.
Another thing I'll never understand with HF, is why a young guy with potential and great showing so far is likely to bust if he doesn't have a regular spot on the team right away
Absolutely. He's already 21, clearly there's no chance for him to get any better. I doubt any team would want him anyway. Might as well leave him by the dumpster behind the CTC.
This right here is exactly what's wrong with HF (I would like to believe that it's a bit less ridiculous on other message boards...). 20 years is the minimal age you can turn out pro and play in the NHL. There is NO "he's already 21". That's the kind of thing you can start to say at 23-24.
But I'm thinking you are being sarcastic. In that case, we just made a point.
