Well Y ****ed up when he picked Connolly he could have had Fowler. Think about a Fowler/Aulie pairing for years to come..
Anyway rookies are rookies for a reason some take longer to develop others don't.
Blaming Niederreiter for being up when he should clearly play in the AHL is not fair.
Niederreiter had to play NHL or CHL he could not play in the AHL. He came play in the AHL next year or later this year once his team is done in their playoffs.
A lot of teams messed up with Fowler. Which seems so ridiculous considering how good he looked prior to the draft, and how obvious it was how good he was. And yet, teams still avoided him. It was bizarre.
Teams just underrate defensemen. A lot of it stems from long development time. How do you know this kid is going to give you an effective 7 years? Contrasted to a forward a lot of GMs get scared and pick the offense instead. Stevie Y along with a number of GMs took forwards over D. Look at Murphy and Beaulieu last year, both fell kind of far in the draft. Murphy was a top 10 pick and Beaulieu a top 15.
Oh hai there bitter Flames fan, u still mad? Erixon would have definitely stuck on your team, but it's a bit different when you're in first place.
Nobody could have predicted the monster years we've had from our young defensemen. Erixon has looked just fine in his callups and is spending most of the year exactly where he will benefit most from developing - the AHL.
3 years after being drafted Ryan McDonagh got called up to the NYR midway through the 2010-11 season and never looked back. Erixon is following the same development path, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him called up midway through next season, or start with the team in October, and never see the AHL again.
I for one am still bitter. Our D is brutal, would have been great to have Erixon next season.
Oh hai there bitter Flames fan, u still mad? Erixon would have definitely stuck on your team, but it's a bit different when you're in first place.
Nobody could have predicted the monster years we've had from our young defensemen. Erixon has looked just fine in his callups and is spending most of the year exactly where he will benefit most from developing - the AHL.
3 years after being drafted Ryan McDonagh got called up to the NYR midway through the 2010-11 season and never looked back. Erixon is following the same development path, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him called up midway through next season, or start with the team in October, and never see the AHL again.
It was a question, hence the question mark.
But the kid made a big deal about how on the Flames he wouldn't get opportunities and then he only gets 18 games in the NHL when in Calgary you saw Chris Butler play on the shutdown pairing, Derek Smith steal a job out of camp and TJ Brodie become a full-time NHLer. Seems to be that would be disappointing.
As for being bitter, nah, Horak who most considered a throw in spend 3/4 of the year with the Flames in his first pro season and looks to have at least 3rd line potential. Granlund is having one of the best rookie seasons in the Finnish elite league in recent memory and Wotherspoon looks to be settling in as a shutdown guy on a memorial cup contender. I think the trade is looking pretty good for the Flames.
A lot of teams messed up with Fowler. Which seems so ridiculous considering how good he looked prior to the draft, and how obvious it was how good he was. And yet, teams still avoided him. It was bizarre.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Edgeworth
Teams just underrate defensemen. A lot of it stems from long development time. How do you know this kid is going to give you an effective 7 years? Contrasted to a forward a lot of GMs get scared and pick the offense instead. Stevie Y along with a number of GMs took forwards over D. Look at Murphy and Beaulieu last year, both fell kind of far in the draft. Murphy was a top 10 pick and Beaulieu a top 15.
That is true, the current CBA dictates that it is usually advantageous to draft forwards over defensemen, all else being equal. Still, Gudbranson was taken 3rd overall that year, and McIlrath was taken 10th, both ahead of Fowler.
The main reason why Fowler fell was because there were concerns at the time, valid or not, over him being soft, lacking physicality, and having a poor shot.
Not absolutely crazy about the Murphy and Beaulieu comparisons. IIRC, teams were all over the map with both players, especially with concerns about Murphy's ability to defend 5-on-5 in the NHL. Both were taken about where they were expected to go, I would say.
Oh hai there bitter Flames fan, u still mad? Erixon would have definitely stuck on your team, but it's a bit different when you're in first place.
Nobody could have predicted the monster years we've had from our young defensemen. Erixon has looked just fine in his callups and is spending most of the year exactly where he will benefit most from developing - the AHL.
3 years after being drafted Ryan McDonagh got called up to the NYR midway through the 2010-11 season and never looked back. Erixon is following the same development path, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him called up midway through next season, or start with the team in October, and never see the AHL again.
Flames fans are just bitter about the whole deal - it was clear he wanted to play for the Rangers and used the excuse of the Flames never giving rookies a chance. Ironically he would have had a much better chance of sticking in the NHL had he gone to Calgary.
I just think it's too bad he wasn't shipped to Columbus as part of the Nash deal. Would have been poetic justice.
I have to agree a bit about Erixon, I'm a bit disappointed he couldn't nail down at least a bottom pairing spot, but I think there are a couple of factors.
The Rangers could afford for him to spend some time developing in the AHL and it's probably better than forcing him into the lineup, and while he has shown good vision and the ability to make some nice passes, he has some things to work on, namely his strength.
The strength thing is probably why he isn't playing, and that's because the Rangers wanted some tougher players like Bickel on the third pairing
As he gets stronger he'll have a much better chance of sticking on the team
But the kid made a big deal about how on the Flames he wouldn't get opportunities and then he only gets 18 games in the NHL when in Calgary you saw Chris Butler play on the shutdown pairing, Derek Smith steal a job out of camp and TJ Brodie become a full-time NHLer. Seems to be that would be disappointing.
As for being bitter, nah, Horak who most considered a throw in spend 3/4 of the year with the Flames in his first pro season and looks to have at least 3rd line potential. Granlund is having one of the best rookie seasons in the Finnish elite league in recent memory and Wotherspoon looks to be settling in as a shutdown guy on a memorial cup contender. I think the trade is looking pretty good for the Flames.
It was a huge piece of **** move by Erixon, and Flames fans have a right to remain bitter for as long as he's a Ranger.
However in his recent call-up he looked very good, he's a very cerebral player. Can't call him a disappointment however because he's been in the AHL all year, albeit tearing it up.
He makes boneheaded decisions all over the ice. He roams in his own end, makes poor pinches and constantly loses his man in the defensive zone. For a shutdown defenseman who provides little offense, I expected solid defensive play at least. These issues can be worked out, so there's potential in the kid, especially when he bulks up (he's still very skinny), but as of right now he's just plugging a spot on the roster.
Really? This surprises me considering how much Sens fans were raving about him at the beginning of the year.
