Boyd played one year in the AHL, lit it up (60 points in 66 games at 20 years old), and forced his way on to the NHL team. If you play really well in the AHL they don't leave you in the AHL.
In the last 7 years of drafting most teams have made what, 50 draft picks each? To pick a few that skipped the AHL is not that hard, especially when many were still top60 picks in their draft years. Furthermore, the better teams in the NHL are not the ones letting lots of 18-19 year olds onto their roster, although some like Colorado have seen some progress because they did -- however we dont know if it will burn out some of those kids early or ruin their long term potential just yet.
Also, a player like Renaud or a more.... focused Ryder, could have been those players for the Flames/Sutter, now we will never know.
Claeren.
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