Quote:
Originally Posted by AR_Six
If you think everyone under 25 is a prospect, then I don't know what to tell you, because that bears no resemblance to the common usage of that term in hockey parlance. Hockey's Future is extremely liberal with their definition of a prospect and even they set the cap at 65 games: http://www.hockeysfuture.com/whatmakesaprospect/
Generally people talk about a "prospect" being not yet established at the NHL level and under 23 years old. |
My terminology is strictly based in physiology. A person (usually/normally/typically), isn't "full-baked", so to speak, until approximately the age of 25. By that time the literal denotation of "prospect" (prospective) is no longer applicable, as the player (and person) has biologically peaked and a fully-informed evaluation can be made.
Gretzky, Crosby, etc. were all first line players their very first year of playing eligibility, but they got better as time went on.
Then their are the exceptions, aka "late bloomers", usually cut from the goaltending ilk.
Eberle, Hall, RNH, and to a lesser extent Paajarvi, still have yet to reach and show their full potential and thus should be technically classified as prospective, or prospects.