Quote:
Originally Posted by Byrral
This was the opposition to my view last year as well.
I could counter with what did he learn last year that will help his development at center? Nothing. He also learned a lot of bad habits playing wing on a crappy/disfunctional team and that included taking shifts off at the pro level.
Learning to be a pro should happen at the AHL level unless you're an elite talent or on an elite team that can afford that luxury. That's not the CBJ and Johansen is not an elite talent. Reality is that he was a Kindergartener trying to compete with the third graders when he obviously wasn't anywhere near ready.
But this is water under the bridge. The season in Columbus last year didn't hurt him but I don't think it helped him either. Playing in Portland might not have helped him but it wouldn't have hurt him either.
Either way I'm glad to see him developing in Springfield because that's where he belongs right now. And he scored another goal tonight as well.
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In your first two paragraphs, replace "Ryan Johansen" with "Joe Thornton". 55 games, 3 goals, 4 assists (7 points) in his rookie year, and he turned out fine.