This news is over a week old, but I didn't see any mention of it here. Alex Plante is
demanding a trade from the Hitmen.
Quote:
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"He wants to play hockey but not for the Hitmen," admitted general manager Kelly Kisio, while explaining why the six-foot-four, 225-pound rearguard from Brandon had not reported for the Western Hockey League club's first day of training camp on Saturday.
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Quote:
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"You sit back and scratch your head and wonder what you have to do to make kids happy," sighed Kisio, considered to be one of the premier GMs in the league. "We played him with Karl Alzner so he could have a big draft year, then he gets hurt and has trouble getting back into game shape and we're getting blamed for it."
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Part of me wishes to see him sit out for a bit just to set his development back even further, which would mean the Oilers might not get much out of a mid-1st round pick.
However, I would rather see the Hitmen get some value out of him. His trade value right now is probably fairly low with him not reporting. Kisio might have to wait at least a few weeks to wait for a good offer. It is hard for me to imagine this being a good decision for Plante.
I am not a fan when superstars pull this type of stuff. I really don't expect this from a good player that struggles with injuries. A lot of mid-1st round picks end up as journeymen minor leaguers. Without knowing the intimate details of what is going on, I get the feeling that Plante has a sense of entitlement. If there are any more issues with his development, he may end up going nowhere other than the AHL with a few injury filler games in the NHL.
It will be interesting to see how this develops.