If I'm not mistaken, the 9 games only pertains to the first year of an ELC and whether it costs you a year off that contract. It does not pertain to the second or third year of their ELC. I could be wrong though but that is how i understand that rule.
While our young guys are super talented and look great at the AHL or JR level, the NHL is still the NHL and is significantly quicker. The biggest hurdle is adjusting to the speed and making decisions at that speed.
For the younger guys, it gives them an opportunity to see what they need to work on to improve their game, but they don't get placed in the right situations to help improve as a player at the NHL level. Also, I don't think they give a team a better chance to win. Even with Tkachuk, you can see that some of his decisions aren't the best, but he has the footspeed and strength to play in this league right now.
We have been blessed with VERY skilled players who made the jump so quickly (Monny, Tkachuk) but I wouldn't count on every prospect being able to do that so quickly.
With that being said, yes Shinkaruk should be able to join the team whenever they need it but I presume management believes that it is better for his development to get some confidence in the AHL and work on whatever they have him working on in his development program. Regardless, I do see him or Hathaway getting called up should there be any injuries on our roster.
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