Quote:
Originally Posted by powderjunkie
Wasn't Giordano leaving as much about playing time as anything? It's a lot harder to crack the D side of the roster - most teams have at least 4 guys in ink and 1-2 guys in heavy pencil. That season:
Phaneuf
Regehr
Aucoin
Sarich
Warrener
Eriksson (signed as UFA that summer)
David Hale (acquired by trade the previous season)
The top 4 played 76+ games each; Warrener only managed 31 and it ended up being his last season. A top 6 role was anything but guaranteed for Gio.
Different kettle of fish for forwards; the last 4-5 spots (including press box) tend to be up for grabs.
|
I thought Giordano held out because we wanted a one-way contract. His NHL experience allowed the Flames to offer a 2-way contract, which he had no interest in signing, so he went to the KHL.
At the time,, Giordano was probably a full time NHL player, but it wasn't unreasonable to consider him a bubble player not worth big minutes and that he might be better served getting more ice-time in the AHL than spot duty in the NHL. He was in that awkward position of being right on the cusp. Then in Russia, he was paired with Markov, to whom Gio credits a lot of his development. He was able to be paired with a legitimate NHL caliber talent and get big minutes.
It worked well for Gio, but I wouldn't bank on it working well every time. If Mangiapane were to go to the KHL, there is just as much of a chance that he gets on a line with sub-NHL or even sub-AHL talent. It would be a huge gamble IMO.
Gio is the exception to the rule. Most of the time a player leaves the NHL for Europe, they don't develop much after that or rarely even come back as teams move on to the next flavour of the month.