A saying you sometimes hear in discussion of prospects is that prospect development isn't always linear. Which, in other words, means that there's no one single path for a player to make his way from "prospect" to "NHL player", and that some players take different leaps forward in their development at different times. Some make a huge statement at 19 years old, some are late bloomers, some land anywhere in between.
As for Flyers forward prospect Taylor Leier, he's certainly hoping that his development ends up being linear. Because another step forward for him could be the difference between a third straight year in Lehigh Valley and a spot on the Flyers' roster.