Quote:
Originally Posted by Enoch Root
Are they?
The current Flames roster:
Weegar: undrafted
Andersson: late 2nd round pick that most people thought was too lazy to ever make it
Bahl: 2nd round pick thought universally to be a 5/6 guy at best
Pachal: undrafted
Hanley: undrafted
Flames' last 2 first round draft picks:
Valimaki
Erixon
Defensemen are MUCH harder to project
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Weegar was drafted, albeit 7th round. Even he was a regular for Florida at 24.
I know that NJ weren't always a fan of him, but I think him coming back in the Markstrom trade there were a lot of people that were happy. I don't think that would have been the case if he was universally thought of as a 5-6.
Solonov is the same age as Bahl (25), who has put in 150 NHL games. Kuznetsov is a year younger and still looking for something more than his cup of coffee at the NHL.
Regarding Andersson, he had his initial prospect camp where he looked like a guy that just rolled up to the other guys from the corndog booth at the stampede. I don't think at any time people people thought he was a waste of a pick. He got his first game the next year and a dozen more the following before becoming a regular. Not sure he is a good example of a late developing Dman.
I think it is a stretch to point at the model of late developing Dmen.