There is no question that the young guys are making large contributions to the team at this point.
However, those guys are mostly not 1st year rookies. Backlund is 24 and in what - his 5th season? Brodie is 23 and been here for 3 years. Russell is 26. Bouma is 23.
All of these guys (other than Monahan) have been developed to the point where they are now making full-scale contributions.
And they are surrounded by vets. You might argue that they are playing better than the vets, but you can't discount the stabilizing contributions that those vets are making.
Take some of those vets out and insert more 1st year rookies and the team is not going to be as good. It just isn't fair to expect it to be.
The team is going to continue to get younger. Next year is going to be tough.
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