Quote:
Originally Posted by Royle9
Was a bit odd having to listen to Lou this morning on 960 talk about Coronato.
Guys were asking him if he thinks Matt should get into the lineup, and I wont quote verbatim but Lou basically says:
"The thing is where does he fit, the team is in a playoff hunt and unless you think he gives you a better shot of winning than someone on the roster in the top 6 you cant get him in"
"He has to prove he deserves to be there, you cant just give him a spot, who do you take out that doesnt deserve to be there"
"I think you should give him 1 game and have him use that to be better for next year"
"There's no guarantee he can come in and in 2 shifts show you hes ready like Cale Makar did"
"But there's no way to know unless he shows you he can"
"But you cant just throw him straight in and let him play"
The whole time I was puzzled.
Like throw the kid in, give him a game and see what you have, its not that hard. Dont play him on the bottom line, give him some good linemates and let him get some experience.
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Not sure if it's that easy. What does that say to guys to Pelletier, Zary, Duehr, Phillips and some other prospects who've been riding the bus and paying their dues the last few seasons if they just haphazardly throw Coronato in? It's kind of a crap situation that we almost have to sign Coronato just because he's an NCAA player and we don't want that flight risk if he plays a 3rd year. If Coronato chose the CHL route, it'd almost be a certainty based on how we've developed our prospects for the last decade that he'd be in the AHL for at least one or two seasons.
Take Zary for example. A 1st rounder a year before Coronato, in his 2nd season in the AHL and putting up close to PPG numbers (57pts in 64gp).
Why don't we "throw him in, give him a game, don't play him on the bottom line, give him good linemates and get him some experience". I don't think anybody can say that Coronato deserves a shot in the NHL over Zary at this point. He'll probably draw in because "reasons", but it definitely will not be merit based.
As an aside, it seems like Coronato's entire line (Farrell and Laferriere) signed ELC's with their NHL teams. Will be interesting to see how they all pan out relative to each other the next few years. Surprisingly, Coronato has the lowest PPG of the three players while being the highest drafted.