Quote:
Originally Posted by genetic_phreek
You look at the Avs, a lot of us here would think they are the cream of the crop of the west. They are so deep on their top 6, yet they still have Newhook (same draft as Pelletier) and Jost (same draft as Phillips) playing in their bottom 6. That is why the organization is more successful than us. I've said this before, we would rather have "proven" NHL veterans, the likes of Richardson, Pitlick, Ritchie over the Phillips and Pelletiers. in previous years the Fantanbergs, Forborts over the Kylington, Valimakis.
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Our old boy lines started out fine early in the season before the level of compete began to elevate. Now it's more obvious that they will get outplayed against the depth of any playoff caliber team.
You always have to be working a couple young guys in as you go IMO, that would be my philosophy. Have your vets, but don't rely on vets entirely. Just keep one or two of your more seasoned prospects getting NHL experience, even if the role is sheltered, and keep the guys that are up playing games rotating. Otherwise you don't know what you have in your system if you need to call upon one to be a regular for a stretch in an emergency, and you don't know where your prospects are in terms of NHL readiness. Using only camp as a gauge is a limited way of measuring the progress of your prospects IMO, because most haven't got their legs under them yet.
The way teams like Detroit and San Jose managed two decades of sustained competitiveness before they eventually ended up where they are now (and you could argue SJ is still kicking) is because beyond their strong drafting history, they always had young players getting worked into their groups being bred for NHL duty even before they really showed they were cut out for it. Eventually that paid off for them as they progressed from year to year and those young bottom six players would eventually emerge as their next top players.
Feels like a more "sustainable" philosophy for competitiveness rather than rounding up journeymen in august and september who couldn't land contracts elsewhere. If you don't have new young guys in the cooker at all times and you fail with your glut of vets, it also makes the outlook of things rather bleak. And that's been the script here for as long as I can remember.