Training Camp - Sept 11

[Deebo]

A valid point, but keeping him up runs the risk of his getting burned over and over and developing bad habits in order to compensate.

I think he's more likely to develop bad habits when he can get away with his mistakes with little consequence because of how much faster he'll be than most of his competition.

 

[LuncheonMeat]

I think decision making will improve here and he'll be able to predict outcomes of plays/overcommitting D partners more accurately once he has more experience at the pro level.

I think the only way to improve this aspect of his game is experience at the NHL level. Going back to junior where he'll have more time to make decisions won't help IMO.

A valid point, but keeping him up runs the risk of his getting burned over and over and developing bad habits in order to compensate.  As we all know, the ideal would be to season him this year in the AHL.  Since because of stupid rules that can't happen, it's a real dilemma.  I still haven't seen anything to make me change my mind that he should be sent back to junior with no NHL games, suboptimal though it would be.

Is there any way we could send him to Russia or Sweden to play on one of the top teams for a year?

He'd make some nice coin over there and would get the experience playing against pro's/men that he probably needs now.

The only down side might be the ice surface size confusing matters, but with his skating, more room to wheel might be an advantage.

With our luck, it would be so good that he wouldn't come back! 

 

[Joe S.]

I'm not trying to start anything... But isn't this how the leafs 'ruined' schenn?

 

[93forever]

I'm not trying to start anything... But isn't this how the leafs 'ruined' schenn?

I think it was more Wilson and how he ran the defensive system than anything else.  Schenn was fairly decent when he started playing, but as his time wore on, he became more liable.  Not sure of how others think about Carlyle and his system but I honestly believe last season was the best the defensive corps played compared to any season under Wilson.

 

[L K]

I'm not trying to start anything... But isn't this how the leafs 'ruined' schenn?

I think it was more Wilson and how he ran the defensive system than anything else.  Schenn was fairly decent when he started playing, but as his time wore on, he became more liable.  Not sure of how others think about Carlyle and his system but I honestly believe last season was the best the defensive corps played compared to any season under Wilson.

Also a year where Jake Gardiner played the whole year in the AHL to work on his defensive game despite playing the previous season.  I kind of agree that Wilson wasn't great for player development with the Leafs.  I also agree that his system didn't work with the players the Leafs had.  I also don't really buy that a player can be "ruined" by playing in the NHL early.  You just need to be patient with their play and let them work through mistakes.  I'm not convinced that this is a great year to have that happen.  The Leafs need to develop players, yes, but they also have to build off the success of last season and continue to move things in the right direction.  Part of that development means having the younger core of this team winning games.  Rielly could probably play adequately well this year in the NHL, but I think the Leafs as a whole benefit from him going to junior with a directive to improve his defensive mindset, eventually getting Franson back in the fold to either show he deserves another contract or be traded for assets at the deadline meanwhile creating a roster space for Rielly next year.