Quote:
Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe
2 rookie defencemen is a lot to be developing at once. Any more than that would border on intentionally tanking, plus it would create an environment in which defencemen don't really develop as the team runs around in panic mode, and the team gives up high-danger chances against. Tough for Wolf to develop too. 2 for me is the max a team can legitimately develop in a season, and keep in mind that Bahl isn't exactly a seasoned vet either. This will be the first time in his career that he is the experienced leader on a pairing.
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The Canadiens are running a young D. Hutson, Guhle, Xhekaj, and Struble are all under 25 and now they've added old man Dobson who is 25.
I'm not saying that we should necessarily copy them but they made the playoffs while running a very young D group. It doesn't have to be a "tanking" strategy. Also, even if Kuznetsov, Solovyov, and Poirier came in as "rookies" they are all 23-24 years old with ~5 years of development in the Flames organization. They are not going to be as raw a 19yo Parekh.
I would rather see us load up on these young guys and have them split the spots:
LD Rotation - Weegar
Bahl - RD Rotation
LD Rotation - Pachal
LD Rotation: Kuznetsov, Poirier, Solovyov, Hanley
RD Rotation: Parekh, Kuznetsov
That could get each of those guys ~50 games in the NHL instead of having them play 0 games in the NHL and have Bean and Miromanov get those reps.
If you move Bean and Miromanov to the Wranglers (and they do not get claimed) then you can always call them up if any of Kuznetsov, Solovyov, or Poirier show that they are simply not ready or capable.
However, I suspect that if Weegar can make Hanley, the 34 year old undrafted waiver claim, look like a top 4 D then he can likey do the same with Kuznetsov, who is 23 and a more promising draft pedigree (mid 2nd).
I mean really, being 23 is like a magically power on this forum... unless you are a Flames prospect.