Quote:
Originally Posted by MattyC
You can argue that this is a product of the system not properly developing/teaching their young players. Would Seguin be the player he is if he was brought up through the Oilers instead of the two-way system of the Bruins? My thoughts are no. The Oilers thought that these top picks would become great on their own. They were sorely mistaken.
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There is some merit to that but the players need to accept blame here as well. The issue with Hall is that he's not supremely skilled like Crosby where he can carry a team on his back and make everyone around him a 30 goal scorer, he lacks the hockey smarts and leadership of Jonathan Toews, he lacks the game breaking goal scoring skills of Ovechkin/Stamkos where 45 -50 goals are in the bank every year. He's a classic 2nd tier star player that has some elite tools the overall package isn't elite.
The Capitals were crap for a long time even with Jagr on their team but Ovechkin just took over that team and while he hasn't finished the job he's made them a team that makes the playoffs annually and has had some very good seasons. I simply don't buy blaming it all on the organization when we have seen elite players turn around crappy organizations. Bottom line is that the Oilers (3) 1st overall's aren't elite players.