Quote:
Originally Posted by New Era
These are players who have 3-4 years of development under their belts. They should be stepping in right now.
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Which players, specifically, are you talking about?
The Flames currently have seven 1st or 2nd year players on the roster (I consider Colborne and Byron 2nd year players, as they didn't establish themselves as full-time NHLers until last season).
11 players age 24 or under have skated on the Flames NHL roster this season. I'm pretty sure that's the most in the league.
This is already an extraordinarily young, inexperienced team. You want to throw two or three more rookies into the mix this season? When we know two or three rookies will almost certainly make the team out of camp next season as well?
Sorry, but I find it hard to imagine an NHL roster with 10 players in their 1st or 2nd season, and several more in their third season. Not when there's a salary floor to consider, and the example of a train wreck of a team up the road where too many players were given too much responsibility at too young an age.
I expect the highly skilled prospects to make the team at 20-21, and the second tier prospects to make the team at 22-24. And of course, many of them won't make the jump at all.