Quote:
Originally Posted by Alberta_Beef
For the last 2 years Arnold seemed to regularly play 3rd-4th line minutes at ES and was very heavily relied upon to play a pure defensive role. When injuries happened other players were used at centre in the top 6. Strangely despite having little offensive time at ES Huska would often put him on the PP. I can't imagine that it would be easy to be successful on the PP when that is the majority of your offensive time. The only way he was used ocrrectly IMO was as the teams top PK guy.
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Considering Arnold was anchoring the top line for his championship team in the NCAA, I'd say Huska definitely under utilized him offensively. Gaudreau and Hayes didn't seem to be struggling offensively by having Arnold on their line.
Yes he's got a solid defensive game, but that doesn't mean you need to restrict him from developing his offense further. If anything a coach SHOULD be putting players in a position to develop weaker parts of their game while in the AHL. Not decide they should be defensive specialists at 22 years of age.
If you have a Forward prospect who is great offensively, the Flames insist on teaching them to play in their own zone effectively. Why should it be any different for a Forward prospect who is great defensively?