The thread right below this one has Jeremy Bracco as a key piece in Toronto acquiring a top four RHD. At Puljujarvi’s age, Bracco had 6 goals in 50 AHL games.
Not saying you have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about, but I’m absolutely inferring it.
Well, the argument could be made that one player is being properly developed while the other has been completely mismanaged.
The argument could also be made that Bracco’s production was affected by his ice time, playing on a very deep Marlies roster, that included 2 guys who graduated to be 20+(on pace, anyway) goal scorers the very next year in Kapanen and Johnsson.
You could also argue that using only goals and ignoring assists is pretty disingenuous, and that .6ppg for a 20 year old rookie getting limited minutes in the AHL is pretty damn good.
Putting up a ppg pace in his sophomore season is also pretty good for Bracco, and something tells me if he had played 46 NHL games this year, he’d likely have more than 9 points.
From a GM’s perspective, on one hand you have a guy who could be very good in the NHL, but has been a failure to date, and can’t be placed in the minors next season... so your coach will need to factor in developing a guy while trying to win games. Ok for a team rebuilding, but many contenders won’t want that.
On the other hand, you’ve got a guy doing very good things in the AHL, who’s only shown positive progress, and who can be left to develop for a couple more seasons.
I’m not saying for a second that I would take Bracco over Puljarvi... but I can see why some GMs might want to stay away from giving up assets for Jesse, while being willing to accept Bracco as part of a package.
