Quote:
Originally Posted by Adam B
I'm not going to get into the specifics on everything here, because we have discussed this before and some of it can't be discussed, but let me dispel some notions here:
(1) As Sebastian has explained in previous threads, 23 as the default age is set like that for a variety of reasons. However, each players individuals career path is different. A top prospect is not going to hit his stride at 23. Each players is unique. And each player is tune differently.
HOWEVER, the average length of a professional hockey players career in the NHL is about 3 years. Many players never make it, some do for a short time, and very few have lengthy careers. This is becoming even more apparent in the Salary-Cap era where middle-men are falling to the way side and if they wish to continue their careers are going to different leagues across the world. So the age of 23 is set as a basis for often where a player has developed is kind of going to be at. You can push him past with additional training or keep him at that level with training, but at some point, but at some point he will start to regress, although often that is delayed into his 30s.
(2) Jeff mentioned this on a Stream for sure, and I'm pretty sure it was mentioned on here as that one of things he was working on was a better "Happiness" system. Players in 2 are quick to anger and slow to let go of their anger, because no matter what, players personalities dictate where they think they should play. A top prospect/high pick isn't going to be happy if he feels he's wasting away in the minors. Finding a balance is something we've been working on. But they will develop on the Reserve team. If it's a recent pick and you don't intend to play them, you may also want to consider not signing them and letting them continue to develop with their invisible minor league team as well before signing them.
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I want to digest your message and type a longer reply later, but something you said hit me as being very important. I always assumed that the "reserve" was the invisible minor league, albeit as an abstraction and not a functioning league, so I never considered leaving picks unsigned. Of course, the other issue is that since I usually start in the early '70s leaving your picks unsigned often means losing them to the WHA. I think what you're saying though is that, except for the relatively short period the WHA is around, it is safe to leave players unsigned and they'll develop on their own better than in the reserves. Is that right?
I think this will change how I play the game quite a bit.