While Martin has been with the team all year, he has only played in 28 games (38%). With this year under his belt, he'll be ready to assume a larger role on the team than a depth defenseman.
Ward obviously likes dmen with experience (Tuzzolino, Piskula, Testwuide) and the transition from junior hockey to pro is the most difficult step to take (McGill and Scotty Allen always preached this with the Knights).
The unexpected play of Derek Smith with the big club and the full time promotion of Brodie likely threw a wrench into the plans for the Heat on d this year. They have been working with ECHL guys all year. Next year I would predict a Heat D grouping that looks like:
Breen-Wilson
Carson-Connelly
Piskula-Martin
Lamb-Leach
Connelly may not be back and if not I could see the Heat signing another experienced AHL dman to solidify the top4 until Martin, Leach, and Lamb prove themselves.
|