There are all these fantastical arguments about how the team is going to suffer for having more veterans on it, which I find problematic on a surface level, but more to the point, it won't matter in the long term. Treliving has stuck to his guns in icing a team of players that give their all. Even with the Setoguchi situation, nobody could argue that his work ethic wasn't there, it's just that he wasn't playing particularly well despite doing all that was asked of him.
There is zero reason to believe that Treliving won't ice the best team he can on a regular basis. If Stajan comes back and somehow plays so badly that a rookie looks markedly better than him, then Stajan will be given a different role in the organization, and failing that working out, will be traded or bought out. I don't see that happening though, because despite his warts, Stajan has always been a dependable jack of all trades kind of player that can play nearly anywhere in the lineup. Oh, and it's no coincidence that our PK has suffered without him.
And I should say that you know Treliving and Co. are going to happily send players back to the AHL since he's stated several times that he doesn't believe you can spend too much time there. But you also know he's not so stupid as to hold a really good player back if they've proven they belong on a full time basis. Outside of Jooris, I'm not convinced that any of them are full timers as of today. Very soon, maybe, and they've done well in their call ups, but they aren't stealing spots of anyone just yet and that's fine. It's a good problem to have.
Oh, and one last thing, I really wish people would stop wishing for David Jones to get injured again. It's classless, and he's done nothing but play his best for this team and its fans. He deserves just a little more good will than he gets.
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"You know, that's kinda why I came here, to show that I don't suck that much" ~ Devin Cooley, Professional Goaltender
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