When I saw Joly play for Hartford against Hershey back in December he looked small and slow, like he didn't belong in the AHL. But to his credit he got his game together in Greenville and he's making a case for a contract. As NYR Viper says he's definitely better than MSC who had no impact in the AHL. But as nyr2k2 says if he is not offered an NHL contract he could leave for a better offer. I'm not sure offering him another AHL contract is a realistic option.
Another consideration for the Rangers is that when you look at Hartford you see a lot of smaller forwards and some of their bigger forwards do not play big. I think the Rangers signed Chapie, traded for Chris Brown and brought in McRae and Carey on AHL contracts, because they realized they needed some size up front. And if Hrivik leaves they become even smaller. Do the Rangers want to sign another small forward?
So I think to some extent the Joly question becomes an organization one of whether the Rangers feel they can sign Joly and still sign some bigger forwards as prospects. If Joly continues to score over the next seven games I think the Rangers are going to have a hard time not offering him an NHL contract but if they don't I think size may be the issue.
As would I. However if he's UFA after this year we may not have the option to sign him to another AHL deal.
