EHM The Blue Line

I would be thrilled if someone could help me with this problem I'm having.

The problem is, how I know which prospect to promote from juniors into my NHL team? For example I have 5 players I could promote. My scouts say on each one of them that they are ready to make an impact. The prospects are Vincent Regier (drafted 2016), Kasperi Kapanen, Nikita Korostelev, Mitchell Marner and Jeremy Bracco. I just don't have space on my roster for each one of them. Kapanen is the only one who could play in the AHL but I'm not really sure is that right place for him at the moment. I don't wanna put those other prospects back to juniors and waste their development, if I'm not completely sure that won't happen. So my question is how I know which league is correct one for them? Do I check their average rating from last season or what? Also I'd like to know at which point prospect no longer develop in their WHL/OHL/QMJHL teams?

Thank you in advance!

Dont' pay too much attention on their average rating. In my experience it's not really telling you a lot. Scout them often and conpare them to the other prospects. I recommend to add a GM to take control of your AHL affeliate. This way you can better oversee and enhance the development of your prospects. Be sure to have them get a decent measure of ice-time. Having them on the 4th line in the AHL doesn't do a lot (at least in my observations. My AHL 4th liners are usualy AHL-contracted, undrafted players. If you're not sure that they're ready for the AHL, let them play another year in juniors (as 19yo), then they should be ready for the AHL. Plus if you contract them and they play less than 10 NHL games in a season, their ELC-contract will slide (be prolonged for another year). Mostly I'll have my 18yo prospect playing 1 year of junior, 2 years in the AHL and then they should be ready for the NHL in their last year of the entry level contract.

I don't think there's any harm in keeping them in the major juniors for another year.