Its easy to get excited about the players in the CHL that put up big numbers in their draft year. Its a lot harder to get excited about players who passed through drafts previously as it seems those players are behind in their development- but not everyone develops at the same time.
I don't think that's an accurate categorization of what I'm saying. I have very different feelings about the Korshkov pick and the Grundstrom pick and neither of those guys are "CHL players with big numbers". If that was the only pick a person would favour they'd be ruling out any picks from Europe or the USNDT.
The thing about a pick like Laberge isn't that he's a "CHL player with big numbers" because he's not really. 68 points in the QMJHL isn't a big deal. It's that there's far more consensus on him and his abilities.
http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=252492A low 1st round ranking is common, the worst he does is a mid 2nd round grade. By comparison, Korshkov has only two 2nd round grades and falls as low as a late 4th round ranking. The Leafs aren't the only team that has drafted successful Russian players and while Soshnikov is a promising looking prospect he's certainly not at the level where he himself is a justification for any Russian drafted.
Obviously there's a lot of guesswork when it comes to the draft and instant analysis is flawed no matter what but I don't think we should be limited to "The Leafs made the pick, therefore they liked the player, therefore it's a good pick". This front office group hasn't achieved enough to get that sort of credit and, to be honest, no front office really has.
