Flames will not rush him. Weisbrod has made mention of that already prior to the selection being made.
If he makes the team, it will be because he earned it and because he has put some size on. He has been out of hockey for a while and had a head-start on his off-season training, so perhaps he will be closer to being ready physically than we assume.
Going back to the OHL for him only makes sense if he is physically not ready for the NHL. If he does, I would imagine he would be quickly traded to another team gearing up to take a shot at the memorial cup, and thus would be surrounded by much better talent.
If he stays on the Flames, I think he will get mostly 3rd line duty to start with. Backlund should be the 1st line center, and at this point, is miles ahead of Monahan developmentally. Tough to figure out how the next 3 lines get broken up though now. I think Stajan gets the 2nd line, Monahan the 3rd, and Knight the 4th. Knight is physically more mature to handle 4th line opposition, and Hartley can shelter the 3rd line a bit easier.
Will be interesting to see how it shakes out.
|