There are "finished articles", there are "players who need seasoning" and there are "projects". Waterloo's Thomas Novak is definitely the third type, but he's a project that will likely pay off the work put in.
The first round of the NHL draft is not, traditionally, a place where patience is seen as a major virtue.
If a player is to be taken in the first 30 skaters, he'll already come with a deadline, whether or not teams will admit it. A hard wall by which the drafting team expects him to be an NHLer. "Projects" are rarely found this high up in the order anymore - and when they are taken it's seen as a brave move indeed - remember the shock and surprise when Calgary selected high-schooler Mark Jankowski 21st overall in 2012, for example?