THN: Huberdeau Must Return To Juniors
by JDMorris on Sep 15, 2011 11:14 AM EDT
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PrintTHN's Rory Boylen lays out a great case for why Jonathan Huberdeau should play at least one more season in the QMJHL.
I'm usually not a big fan of THN's coverage of the Panthers, but I have to say that they make a few very salient points about seasoning Huberdeau as much as possible before giving him a real crack at an NHL job. One big one among them is that the Panthers have had a serious problem with bringing prospects to the NHL well before they're really ready to be there. In order for the team to truly have a great farm system they need to start grooming their young talent, and letting them learn the systems and the pro game before they start playing for the big club. Furthermore, Dale Tallon has said as much in interviews and has clearly been stocking the farm system with promising young players in the last two drafts. Based on these things I think that the Panthers are going to try to do everything in their power to be more like the Detroit Red Wings in terms of quality drafting and farm system development.
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Wait and see how he plays against men
Yes, as an overall policy, pushing players prematurely into the NHL doesn’t work. But to say Huberdeau must go back to the Q before even seeing him play one minute against NHL players is pretty absurd.
Some players develop better in the minors. The Q might help develop his scoring ability. But how much does he have to prove there after last year’s 1.6 PPG in a relatively defenceless style of hockey.
The Q offers very little in the way of defensive style, so he won’t learn that there. He won’t learn to play against the faster paced and bigger-bodied men there either.
So I think these decisions should wait until we see how he performs in camp and in the first 10 games of the year.
No doubt you make an excellent point, there’s no question that if they have the opportunity for a 9 game tryout to evaluate his performance they should use it, and if he shows he’s ready, go for it! However, I agree with what you said that in general it’s not a bad policy to let prospects develop as much as possible before having them play in the NHL.
Sometimes, there are things besides how they perform on the ice, they need to go back down and learn. Case in point, Gudbranson was thought to be throwin a subtle temper tantrum about being sent down last season. They might want to see the kid dominate the defensively lacking league at a 2.+ PPG pace. Its not just about how he looks on the ice, but also how he looks in the locker room, the weight room, and how he looks when he thinks eyes aren’t watching him.
by MrOmnipotent on Sep 15, 2011 8:15 PM EDT up reply actions
After watching him/hearing about how he played in the rookie games, the talent is definitely there. But my concern is with his durability at his size against bigger, faster opponents. He was frequently near the front of the net during the rookie games and I’m concerned he’ll get injured with how slim he is.
So by going back to the Q, it may not seem that he’ll have much to prove but what it will do is give him time to continuing gaining muscle weight. Also, people have a misconception that the Q isnt good defensively but thats not totally true. Its not a physical defense that you see played in the WHL but definitely positionally sound in the defensive zone. And from what I saw, yes Huberdeau does still need to work on his defensive game a little more.
Of course they don't want him on the big team....
He may just help lead us to the playoffs……and then they would ALL be wrong about their lowly predictions about the lowly Panthers…Screw them…….If he can help this team THIS year…Let him play !
Burning up eligibility?
The only argument I find holds any water in favour of keeping him in the Q before you even know how he plays against men is if you know already that the team will suck and you don’t want to burn up a year of his eligibility before he becomes a big time FA. So if that’s the case, does that mean you are tanking already to get Yakopov (or whoever) before the season even starts?
I’m just razzing here, or maybe I’m just bored so I want to SD. Hint: disturb something. :-}
I don’t want him to sit on the 4th line if he’s here, but there’s nothing wrong with him coming to play for 9 games and then getting sent back. If he shows he’s got some skills, he’s worth the 9-game look. I still am leaning towards sending him back, but send him back with something to fuel his desire. Plus, if he shows he’s really ready, then he can always stay.
You can assume this season is being thrown away now, more in the name of building cohesion with all the free agents signed, more than with an aim of making the playoffs, thus being justification for sending him back, cause you don’t know if it’ll take til Christmas to build enough chemistry to be serious competitors for the playoffs, or if they’ll instantly show that chemistry. If the Panthers squeak into the playoffs and are a four and done team, the kid could be brought up on the expanded roster, if his junior team’s season is over (which its not lookin to be ATM). That way, you don’t burn a year of eligibility, while also allowing whatever comes develop on its own.
So basically, its not a 9 game audition for Huby to start the season. It’ll be a 9 game demonstration of cohesion and chemistry to see if the team warrants wasting a year of eligibility.
by MrOmnipotent on Sep 15, 2011 8:22 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Yeah, just like Guds, he needs 2-3rd line icetime or his rookie year would be kinda a waste.
If you keep players in the minors until its no longer necessary, they make the transition to the bigs that much faster. Exactly how Detroit has done it for years.
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by Chris S Roberts on Sep 15, 2011 5:23 PM EDT reply actions
I agree
That Huby needs, at least, another year in junior, and yes, the article does make salient and logical points. That being said, I can vividly remember the night Huby was drafted, and I remember it being said that(the name of the commentator escapes me at the moment) it would be “criminal” if Huby didn’t start the upcoming year in junior, and not in The NHL. Now, on the surface, I can’t say that the comment was anything more than one persons opinion(like certain parts of the human anatomy, we all got ‘em), but I also vividly remember saying out loud to my wife: Criminal why? Criminal beacuse he doesn’t think Huby is physically ready, or criminal because he wouldn’t be able to play for team Canada if he stuck with The Cats?
I dunno, maybe it’s just me, but when it comes to THN and they’re “affinity” for The Cats,(and the southern locale) I think questioning the motives is something just doing due diligence, IMO.
Pierre McGuire was the one saying it would be criminal if he saw NHL time this year, I remember that really well too. My problem with it was more that I don’t put a whole lot of stock in anything Pierre McGuire has to say so that statement got filed into the “wacky crap” folder along with everything else.
As I said in the post, I don’t much care for THN’s take on our team or region for the most part, but I tend to agree with what they had to say about his situation especially as it applies to Dale Tallon’s take on our farm system.
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by Donny Rivette on Sep 17, 2011 1:20 AM EDT up reply actions
I think you’re thinking two different THNs. This is the Hockey News. The other is ESPN Canada.
by MrOmnipotent on Sep 16, 2011 5:02 PM EDT up reply actions
Yeah, but I always think of them as the opposite of ESPN in they show ONLY hockey and curling, so refer to them as THN.
by MrOmnipotent on Sep 17, 2011 6:15 AM EDT up reply actions
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