NHL NEWS: A.H.L stands for what? (Aww Hell, Let's keep him up) Nolan Patrick, Jake Virtatanen and how prospect development is at an all time low.
NHL prospect development is at an all-time low. Yes, I said it, and I mean it. Never before has the NHL been so youth-obsessed, never before have the expectations of top 10 drafted players been so high, In these days of guys walking straight out of Junior and into the elite ranks of NHL scoring, GM's seem to have forgotten that there is a whole lot of middle ground between a prodigy savior (Connor McDavid) and, (prematurely labeled), BUSTS (Micheal Dal Colle) In the eyes of the fans, and it would seem league proffesionals, you fall into either one of the two categories. Look no further than the A.H.L to observe a curious makeup of minor league journeymen and NHL disappointments, where are the "Developing" picks we hear so much about? NOT in the A.H.L, that's for sure, what is supposed to be a development league is now a place to park emergency call up 4th line "Warm bodies" and a "Naughty room" punishment zone for players who failed in ...