Quote:
Originally Posted by FanIn80
I dunno what you guys are on about right meow, buuuuut... I'm now starting to wonder if another year in the AHL would actually be detremental to him.
Here's last year's goalie stats: https://theahl.com/stats/player-stat...fied=qualified
It's crazy how far ahead of everyone else he is. Is a third season there really going to challenge him at all? Is there not a concern that his development will stagnate or that he'll get too used to a lower quality of hockey?
Like the goal in developing a player shouldn't be to have them "hone their game at a lower level." It should be to contiuously challenge them to become better and better. Shots and harder, faster and more accurate in the NHL. Cross-crease plays are snappier and are much less bobbled. Breakaways are faster with quicker and more creative moves.
Like think about who plays in the AHL... players who aren't good enough to play in the NHL. There are players on every team in the NHL who haven't never played a single game in the AHL. I just feel like goalies are much more reflexive and muscle memory oriented than players are, and if he's down there for a third year of his reflexes and muscle memory tuned around players who aren't good enough to play in the NHL, what's gonna happen when he plays in the NHL?
Edit: Also, I didn't mean this to sound as panicky as it does. It's just conversation (but also a bit of "ruh roh", if that makes any sense). |
That is why I keep coming back to this thread. It just makes no sense to me that Dustin Wolf's growth isn't more important than the return you might get for Vladar. Last year they were really conservative with using Wolf. They had a great chance when Markstrom had a baby. And I would hate to see it continue this year where Wolf is sent down at times because there isn't room for him.
He has shown the last 2 years that he is too good for the AHL. So if you send him down there just because its convenient, you are telling him, and the team, that not matter what you do to earn your time, its never enough. Wasn't that a big thing around here? Always earned?
And if the worry is getting enough starts, as long as you give him chances and he earns more, I doubt there will be a problem. Again, its not like the goalie situation is great right now.
And you guys love to bring up the mental side of it. That the organization has been open about a plan and communicated it to Wolf. That is well and good, but what is the organization telling him by sending him down after he accomplished everything in that league? What is the organization saying when he gets his weekly AHL check instead of an NHL one? Are they really showing him that they believe in him? I challenge all of you think think if you were in a position in your career where you have killed it and your organization doesn't put any faith in you. Doesn't give you the shot you have earned and deserve. Most of us would start looking for a new job. At the very least we would have a pretty sour opinion of the organization.
Last bit... I truly hope all of this is hypothetical and he gets a true chance this year and never goes back down. Most of my argument is against all the posters that say "hey the AHL team is here too and he's waiver exempt so we can send him down whenever". I think that is a silly attitude to take with the best prospect you have for the reasons above.