Quote:
Originally Posted by FlameZilla
Erik Johnson is only 25 & he's starting to put it together. I believe he is quietly one of the reasons for the Avs' dramatic improvement this season. Last season he was terrible & the Avs were just as bad. I think there's still upside there & we will see Johnson start to get mentioned with the elite defencemen over the next few years.
We all acknowledge that defencemen usually take more time to develop. Pronger took a few years (and a couple of different teams) to hit his stride. Once he did there's no denying that he was worth the #2 overall pick.
If we are lucky enough to draft Ekblad we have to expect him to take 5 to 7 years to fully develop. Any lack of patience would be disastrous. So, to answer your question: no I wouldn't be upset if he turned into an Erik Johnson, as long as the Flames are patient enough to let him reach his prime in our jersey.
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Even if the next 3 picks turn into a Toews, Backstrom, or Kessel?
edit: I guess my point is, that you are right in that you have to be patient with draft picks, but you also need to account for what you are potentially missing out on while you wait on development.
Toews, Backstrom and Kessel have all made much more meaningful impacts to their respective teams to date than what Johnson has or arguably will ever do for his teams