Quote:
Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy
They need to do something. It's not so much a problem with the higher profile, higher picked guys. They usually don't need a ton of development time and are ready to turn pro before the 4 years is up. It's more the later round guys that take a while to develop. Late picked, late bloomers are such a bonus for teams that used a valuable pick to select the player. It's always a shame when that player says after three years "heck, one more year and I can go wherever I want, and get a college degree to boot".
No junior player can say that.
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If you want to wait four years to play pro hockey, that's your right.
The Flames managed to get Johnny, Janko and Gillies under contract. They've signed other NCAA free agents, and yes, they have lost two recent college D. They lost them for the same reasons, and those reasons are too many bodies on the blue line.
They probably look at a guy like Wotherspoon and think it's better to simply try and catch on somewhere with less depth.