Dread Clawz
LAWSonic Boom
Seriously, did you not read what i wrote or something? I didn't say I'd stick a bunch of 18 year olds in the line-up, that's absurd. I clearly metioned how I rather have our young guys in the AHL such as Howden, Shore, Trocheck, Petrovic, Robak, etc. on the roster rather than the garbage vets we have right now.
You said you were disappointed in Tallon signing all those free agents in 2011 and thought that signaled that he had veered off course from his blueprint. Well, who were the prospects you would have inserted into the lineup instead then? Bjugstad, Petrovic, and Howden were only 19 at the time. And as you point out, Howden still isn't ready 2 years later. Grimaldi and Trocheck were only 18 and putting them in the lineup back then would have been completely ridiculous. You said it was smart of Tallon to send Huby back to junior for another year. So who then?
Maybe I should clarify this a little bit. The reason I'm upset with what Tallon did this off-season is because he started off the summer with the "we're going young" attitude, and changed his mind three weeks before the season. Buffalo is awful, but at least Darcy Regeir committed to going young and piling young assets. They'll be much better off for it in the future, as you can see their young core guys in Risolainen, Zadorov, Girgensons, and Grigorenko making strides.
He only said "we're going young" because ownership wouldn't let him spend any money. He wanted to spend money all along, which was evident when he splurged at the end of free agency once the purchase by Viola and Cifu went through. He never wanted to go the Buffalo route. And, Buffalo isn't really rushing any kids. Grigorenko was a 2012 pick, he should be in the NHL right now with his skillset. Girgensons is a big physically developed kid. Same with Risto and Zadorov, that's why they are playing at 18. If they were smaller, they would have been developed slower like Mark Pysyk, another Buffalo blueliner who is playing well for them. He's a 2010 pick, that was 3 years ago. They aren't rushing any kids. Unfortunately, a lot of their kids are ready, and most of ours are not. 2014-15 is "our year". Our kids are still one year away.
When it comes to the draft, I undersand it's a bit of a crap shoot. I just get the sense of a pattern with Tallon taking college bound kids in rounds 2-4 and taking over agers in rounds 5-7. I'm not saying none of these guys are going to work out, as Josh Brown has been good for Oshawa this year and Mackenzie Weegar was my favorite pick Tallon made all draft. It just seems to me that Tallon tends to avoid CHL player early, when he should be taking them. I mentioned the Trocheck, Shaw, and Racine picks. Those guys were all very good finds, and are already playing their first pro season. Meanwhile, some of the college guys from Tallon's first draft such as Connor Brickley, Joe Basaraba, and Ben Gallacher are still in college and none of them look like NHL prospects at the moment. Again, not saying I expect the team to hit on every pick, but I'd like to say him take more risk, especailly with a prospect base considered as deep as ours.
You can't draft all CHL kids, because every team is only allowed 50 pro contracts. So you have to have some kids sitting in the NCAA for 3-4 years to space things out. It holds especially true for us, because we have so many prospects. Tallon has still taken several CHL/Euro kids in 4 drafts.