ShelbyZ
Registered User
- Apr 8, 2015
- 3,818
- 2,580
It's true that Lashoff was traded and is a UFA. But the fact the Tampa reassigned him to GR indicates to me that our brass is interested in keeping him around. I guess we'll have to see though.
Maybe I'm being pedantic here, but I'd push back on the idea that Eric Gelinas is as good as Merrill. I think there's a reason why one is one an NHL contract playing playoff hockey and the other is playing in Europe.
Biega or Lashoff I think are better comparables. I get that he's a mature face for Seider, but Seider played in GR too so he knows a lot of our roster. I wouldn't throw a fit over this move but I don't really see much of a purpose to it.
Pretty much what I was going to say. On top of Lashoff staying in GR after the trade (although he finished the season on the "unfit to play" list after being placed on it a couple weeks before the trade), Steve Yzerman seemed to like having some familiar tenured vets in Syracuse when he was with Tampa (guys like Conacher, Blunden, Angelidis, etc.), so I wouldn't be surprised to see Lashoff back captaining the Griffins next year. Either on another NHL two-way or an AHL contract.
IIRC, the rap on Gelinas was that he was an average skater that had a super hard shot and some offensive tools, but wasn't consistently physical given his size and lacked the hockey IQ to be trusted defensively. The Devils had some initial success with him using him as a sheltered 3rd pair and PP guy, but then his production dried up. Pretty much in that Marc Andre Bergeron or An y elmore ilk. Hence why he hasn't played an NHL game in over 4 years.
His value to an NHL club is probably somewhere in that Biega and Lashoff realm as you pointed out, so signing him to a two-way contract to be a solid vet in GR with perhaps a shot at getting a #7/8 spot on the NHL club would make the most sense. I highly doubt Yzerman would bring in Gelinas for the purpose of pairing him with Seider... unless perhaps he's already earmarked Seider to start the year in GR.