Quote:
Originally Posted by Snuffleupagus
People don't mention this enough, Yakemchuk's birthday was 2 weeks away from being in last years draft, where would he have been ranked last year, 2nd-3rd round maybe? certainly not top 10.
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I have no comment on him as a player, but I would disagree with the general premise of late birthday players.
Every player develops differently and I don't think him being born 2 weeks earlier really makes that big of a difference. Had he been drafted last year, he most likely still would of been playing junior this year. I actually think it's beneficial when scouting players with late birthdays. The scouts get an additional year of draft data and progression when looking at players from the same class.
A good example we're all familiar with is Tkachuk. He's a December birthday and played on a team with a 4th OA Marner and 2nd rounder Dvorak. Don't think anybody cared that he had a late birthday when we drafted him. Same thing with Yakemchuk, the Flames drafting/not drafting him will have nothing to do with him having a late birthday.