Quote:
Originally Posted by dobbles
Why even bother keeping him under contract if you aren't going to play him??? I'm not even being hyperbolic here. Dude has over 6000 minutes in the AHL where he has shown he is the best at that level. So if you send him back down, why? What is the point? What will he learn? That no matter how much he succeeds that he is not good enough to crack the tandem that had the 8th worst save percentage in the league????
You leave people in the AHL to grow and develop. To get used to playing in a mens league. To get used to the travel. To get used to the longer seasons. Wolf has learned all that and destroyed everyone while doing it.
Let's be honest here; there isn't a whole lot to be excited about for you guys these last 12 months. But you could have a franchise goalie in your midst and are too afraid to give him a try. Is he a sure shot? Of course not. But lets go ahead and hold him back because we are worried about asset management of Dan frickin Vladar??????? I really feel like I am in ####oo land listening to you guys.
And great on Wolf if he has been involved in his development. And even more on him that he would be willing to keep developing. That doesn't make it a good idea. I've said his before but think about this in any context but sports. If I was a salesperson and was breaking records every year for my districts, would you keep me from the fortune 500 clients because the 2 sales people that cover those have been mediocre at best? If you keep telling me as a salesman that I need more time to improve, I'm hitting indeed to find a new gig. The only difference here is Wolf is stuck.
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What are you talking about?
Nobody is afraid of giving Wolf a shot and nobody is wanting to keep him in the AHL. It's not about learning, either, Conroy himself already said Wolf is at the point where he would have to prove he doesn't belong in the NHL rather than prove he does.
It's about getting him a lot of games, which is crucial for any starting goaltender regardless of whether they need it for development or need it to maintain their high level of play. His current contract situation makes it extremely easy to get him a steady amount of NHL games while ensuring he doesn't ever have to sit for extended periods if Markstrom and Vladar are both back to form and there aren't any openings around the league. It's no longer a matter of "if" he's an NHLer, it's how soon this season he sticks permanently. And if he plays the way he's been playing, it could be as soon as Game 1.
I don't see any reason to be overly dramatic about it or pretend this is just like some low-rent salesperson job. He's not selling vacuum players, he's a goaltending prospect.