Agreed, but IMO this season is the first in which MG should be taking heat over it if none his prospects can make the team, or at least be first in line as legitimate injury replacements. And I don't think Arnott or Doan would be permanent or insurmountable obstacles to that.RoyalDude wrote: Well, we can say that every year can't we? Eventually we are going to have to roll with them. Let them get some hours in, gain that valuable experience in which in the end we are the benefactors. The Arnott route is just the same old safe route that really doesn't make your team better. There is something to be said about having a presence of youthful enthusiasm in the line-up, like when Bieksa, Kesler and Burrows were buzzsawing around the ice when Naslund and Bertuzzi were running the show here.
Between Hodgson/Kassian and Tanev, this is a technicality, and you know it. As I'm sure has been discussed ad naseum elsewhere on this board.But according to you guys, ya don't mind Gillis continuing on after 5 drafts and having zero representation from kids he has drafted in the starting roster come next season. Worst in the league in this category, btw.
Can't argue with ya there, I sure as hell don't want the Canucks to be more like the Flames. But do we know for a fact that they blocked the path of their own draft picks with guys like Amonte, Friesen, Nolan etc? Or were their prospects just not good enough to outplay those scrubs when given the opportunity? Remember that Sutter used a lot of his higher picks on limited-upside kids like Pelech, Chucko, Prust, Ramholt and Wahl, then expected them to push for spots. He drafted a bunch of grinders and when it came time for them to try to out-grind the vets, the results were predictable.Anyhow, we can say that every year regarding the kids, "they are not ready"? When are they ever ready? Never. We have to throw them to the wolves otherwise why bother drafting? Teams have to evolve every year, signing weathered journeyman every year has been the Calgary Flames model since forever, another not so friendly rookie environment, in the end it gets ya nowhere.
Again, up to this point I don't believe that MG and AV deserve to take too much heat over failing to create a development-friendly environment, but this season and next will be very telling. I'm on the fence at this point, but if 2013-14 rolls around and Kassian+Schroeder (or some other combination of young guys) hasn't pushed out the likes of Raymond, Ebbett, Malhotra, etc then I will be right beside you in the lynch mob.
But for now Arnott and/or Doan could fill a pretty big need on a contending team. That's good enough for me.