Paul is unquestionably a better hockey player than Sabourin.
I just have to say this is really a bad take. There's no gratuitous outrage around a team like the Senators, not in 2019. You're just using a popular notion to erase the 100% warranted pessimism the organization has and continues to garner.
Sending down 2 of the few kids that ARE on the team is not a good look when literally all you have left to hold onto as a fan is the youth movement(it's literally our slogan this season). Sure they do both probably need more time in the minors but this shows just how bare the cupboards are that we basically only have two or three young players we developed on the roster currently that are good enough to stay there. That's bad and there's no glossing over it. And before you say our AHL team is stacked with talent, the jury is still out on that. There's potential, there's promise, but who is a sure-fire star in the making? None that I see. Brannstrom is good but we had to lose an elite winger to get him so he needs to become a top-pairing guy to justify the trade.
So yeah, we should always question every move management makes because they haven't proven a thing so far.
Outrage culture my butt.
I don't think its a secret that the Sens lack blue chip prospects. Aside from one guy on defense that looks to stay in the bigs the season.
What they do have are a lot of B prospects. A few have star potential, most will end up topping out as middle sixers. Those players take longer to develop, and sending them to the wolves on the worst team in the NHL is the surest way to ruin their development. Let them temper in Belleville for another year or two.
The Senators need top 5 picks in the next two drafts to get those bluechip guys. Hell they need a first overall if we're going to be real about it. They need those kinds of prospects who can burst into the NHL for their first or second pro season, which is about when guys like Batherson and Chaplik and Brown will be ready to join them, if they're ever ready. And hopefully some other guys will exceed expectations along with them.
Slow and steady here. Its not ideal, but its what they have.
Question management all you want, you have every right to. I do. But one thing I don't question is letting prospects develop in the AHL. Its the right move for the pieces they have right now.