TJ Hensick

[Reddawg]

Is TJ Hensick considered to be a viable NHL prospect at this point, or is he pretty securely saddled as a career AHL stud?

Got some tough decisions to make over the summer with my farm club, and keeping or dropping him in favor of new talent is one of them.

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[madman]

He's the new Arnason.

 

[Reddawg]

He's the new Arnason.

The 40+ NHL point version or the playing in Finland version?

 

[Marc the Habs Fan]

He is now 25...AHL stud only.

 

[Harks]

Would his style of play transit well to Europe?
Were some romours about him coming to SEL before this season started.

 

[shadow1]

AHLer. He's awesome there, but blows in the NHL. Safe to say he's never going to turn the corner.

 

[Dogkota]

I will never understand how a guy can absolutely tear apart a decent pro league like the AHL and then look like a fish out of water in the NHL.

How does Alexandre Giroux post 60 goals and 97 points in 69 games in the AHL but not warrant more of a look than 30 games spread across 3 NHL seasons? Same for Darren Haydar, Jason Krog, Keith Aucoin, etc.

Hensick has 59 points in 50 games in the AHL this season and overall his NHL totals are actually somewhat respectable (0.35 points per game). Surely he could warrant a job on a struggling team's 3rd line.

I know this point has been beaten to death, but it still astounds me that there could be such a disparity between being an absolutely elite AHLer and being an average NHLer.

 

[Professor John Frink]

I will never understand how a guy can absolutely tear apart a decent pro league like the AHL and then look like a fish out of water in the NHL.

How does Alexandre Giroux post 60 goals and 97 points in 69 games in the AHL but not warrant more of a look than 30 games spread across 3 NHL seasons? Same for Darren Haydar, Jason Krog, Keith Aucoin, etc.

Hensick has 59 points in 50 games in the AHL this season and overall his NHL totals are actually somewhat respectable (0.35 points per game). Surely he could warrant a job on a struggling team's 3rd line.

I know this point has been beaten to death, but it still astounds me that there could be such a disparity between being an absolutely elite AHLer and being an average NHLer.

There is a simple answer to this. Ice time and opportunity. These players would get ample ice time in the AHL then be held to 3rd or 4th line duty when they got to the NHL. Rare top 6 opportunities and rare PP time.

Most these players who dominate at the AHL level then falter in the NHL are undersized as well which leaves coaches not trusting them on defense.

Look to a guy like PA Parenteau to see what happens when one of these smaller skilled guys is given ample opportunity to produce at the NHL level.

 

[Marc the Habs Fan]

I think most of those guys would put up 40 points if given 17-20 minutes a night in the NHL, it's just that they would not anything else to the table.

 

[STL fan in MN]

I will never understand how a guy can absolutely tear apart a decent pro league like the AHL and then look like a fish out of water in the NHL.

I don't know about other players but regarding Hensick, he's a very useful guy in the AHL but he's not skilled enough to earn a top 6 role in the NHL and doesn't bring the intangibles to be successful in a bottom 6 role in the NHL. He has good skill and has pretty good speed, yet in the NHL he always seems to be a step behind. He's also small and plays even smaller as he's not very physical at all. He's also not very good defensively. If he brought more intangibles to his game he might be able to make it as a decent 2nd or 3rd liner but...he doesn't. I eventually see him taking his game to Europe. I could see him doing well in either the KHL or SEL.

 

[darthvader]

The Blues called up three AHL forwards to fill in their forward positions after deadline deals and Hensick wasn't one of them. He got a couple of looks this season and didn't do much with them. That's probably it for him.