Quote:
Originally Posted by SebC
I consider "safe picks" to be an inaccurate description of the likes of Nystrom, Chucko, and Pelech. If they were safe, shouldn't they be panning out?
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I think "Safe" means there is less of a risk of turning nothing out. Nystrom was drafted on the belief that, while he could make it up to the top 6, he would probably make the NHL in any variety because his play is still viable in a bottom 6 position. In comparison, a high risk/high reward player like (I'm not 100% if this is an accurate representation of his gameplay, just what I remember) a Jens Karlsson might not pan out into...well...anything and be a complete waste of a pick instead of a disappointment (To be fair, I don't think Karlsson ever signed an NHL contract, so that might have been an issue).
Same goes with Chucko and Pelech. The difference with these two is that major injuries have hurt their development, something that is extremely hard to predict (if not impossible) when their injury record pre-draft isn't that big. I think had their development gone as planned without major gaps for recovery, Chucko would be a 4th line or 13th forward and Pelech would be a bottom pair D.