Quote:
Originally Posted by New Era
There was a time when that was an unknown as well. Or were you such an amazing judge of talent you knew Toews was a first line player when he was a 2nd liner at UND?
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Really? Toews was drafted 3 overall in a pretty deep top 5 and was a 1.35 PPG producer in his +1 draft year (and putting up close to a PPG in the NHL in his +2 year). Not much of a comparable.
This debate isn't going to be solved. One side is going to continue to say that Jankowski was a project when he was drafted and we won't know for a few more years if he was a good pick. The other will continue to point out that Jankowski is way behind where most successful 1st rounders are (even if you consider this season his first), that the comparables (project or no) to Jankowski that found success in the NHL are few and far between, and that there were many other great options available.
My take is simple and it has nothing to do with the player that Jankowski may or may not end up.
Calgary did not have the luxury to roll the dice on a long term project given our position at the time. Not with the number of quality prospects that were available to the Flames at the time. Our cupboard was too bare, we were on the fringe of a rebuild, and our drafting record to that point was atrocious.
This is all aggravated by the fact that many of the prospects that were in range are developing very good players/prospect while Jankowsi is proving he is VERY much a project. Personally I see so few examples of players that were a project like Jankowski that ended up as top end NHL players. Keep in mind, for Jankowski to be a successful pick he can't just be a competent NHL player. He has to be better than players like Hertl and Maata. If not, why did we take the risk and suffer the extra development time?
The Jankowski supporters argument is being made by people that have rarely seen the kid play and boils down to "it is possible he could be good" and "Feaster told us he was a project". I agree it is possible that he could be an NHL player at one point. I agree that as fans we should be cheering him on and we shouldn't be writing him off. Long shot or no he is a Flames prospect.
But unless he truly ends up as "the best player in the draft" this is STILL a bad decision because taking a high risk to get normal results is a bad decision. And there is NOTHING in Jankowski's game to suggest he is going to be a high end player in the NHL.