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Originally Posted by Textcritic
So, how rampant a problem is this? You present the "overcooked" prospect scenario as a league-wide problem, and this would then suggest that there are dozens of bonafide NHL prospects who have been ruined or stunted by their organization's refusal to allow them to develop. please tell me who all these prospects are.
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I can't give you a concise list as it is going to vary from team to team and be very subjective. I will say that there are certainly players from every team, at every position, who are never given a chance because of the numbers game. A hanger-on with a one-way contract puts an end to the opportunity that a minor league player needs to show what he's got. A great example was Mark Giordano and opportunity not being there. We were exceptionally lucky the way that whole scenario played out. If he had not gone to the KHL and played against better players he likely would have plateaued and we would have wasted a player with the potential to be something special. You really never know what you have with some of these guys until they are given opportunity.
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I will say that there is a grain of truth to what you are arguing, but it is something that will literally always be a problem, and it is this: players not only need to be incredibly good to carve out a NHL career, they must also be very lucky. I don't doubt that there will always be players in the AHL who could play in the NHL, but there will never be enough open roster spots to satisfy every individual need. Every team will undoubtedly fail to develop all their prospects to their full potential, but that is because there is simply not the space and time to do so. And here is where I do not believe this is a significant problem: the best players will always play, and the difference of the impact made by those players who are less fortunate and those who are mores is fairly negligible. What we are talking about here is the missed opportunity to develop more bottom line, bottom pairing players.
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I agree with what you're saying here. Luck does play a big part in things. Imagine if Wally Pipp never got beaned in batting practice? The opportunity for a tall lanky kid to begin the most epic playing streak that took a debilitating disease to end may have never presented itself. We may have never seen one of the greatest players in history because veterans rarely lose their spot to a rookie.
I don't think where a player slots in is necessarily the onus here. Giordano was originally bottom filler, as was Brodie. Players come in and, given opportunity, can show what they can do. What they need is an environment where they can play their game and make mistakes without worrying about being dispatched to the minors. This is the Flames biggest challenge. They have always been bad at doing this. And before you throw out Monahan, Bennett or Tkachuk as an example of otherwise, let me remind you those guys couldn't be dispatched to the minors. If they were demoted they were gone for the year. There was some significant incentive to keep them, which is why opportunity was afforded.
I'm just glad the team appears to finally be holding a few spots open and letting the prospects see that path to the NHL. I sometimes wonder how our prospects feel looking at the history of the team and knowing what is before them. Makes you see why guys will give up the game or turn to other things to help them get through the grinder. Can't wait for camp this fall.