Quote:
Originally Posted by Wraparounds
The only ones I'm interested in seeing back this year are Del Zotto and Newbury.
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Really? I have no interest in seeing Newbury at all. Completely replaceable player.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NYSportsfan6230
Really hope they give Grachev another look. I think he didn't really get enough time on a line with Stepan and Wolski tonight and I think after a little bit more playing time with good players like that then his confidence, along with his production, would start to show some.
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Agreed. But, I also agree with the move to send him down. My assessment of him in his two games is this:
He looked really good against Washington - in fact, I thought he was one of the six best forwards playing in his limited ice time. And I think that Torts obviously saw it as well, since he got moved up in the second period. Tonight he was more tentative, but when he was shifted up to play with Stepan and Wolski in the third, they had a great scoring chance and he drew a penalty. Not nearly enough to keep him up in the pros, but again a sign of what'll be there eventually.
Seems like we're seeing the natural ups and downs of a player on his way to becoming a full time NHLer. (And I personally still think one with a chance to be a 30+ goal scorer.) Next time he comes up (or perhaps the one after that), we need to see a couple of games like the Washington game strung together, then he'll start to get time with more talented players, start scoring and eventually stick. In the meantime, he needs to go back down to CT, resume his good play and force the organization to make that next call-up sooner rather than later.