You know some players actually play better in the nhl than ahl and last I checked the Grand Rapids lineup is full of 30 yr old ahl hacks, there’s hardly anyone for these kids to play with, probably the reason zadina struggled most of the year as well
Better check again as the Griffins only have 2 players 30 yrs old or older (Camper 30 & Ford 34). Sure you have players between 25-29 yrs old on the roster, but they are battling to impress (Wings or another NHL team) to take a look at them. See so many NHL scouts parading through Van Andel Arena checking players from their own AHL team as well as ours.
Zadina struggled most of the season because he found out (like others Mantha for example) that a player who dominated in juniors (playing against players his own age) comes up to the pro game and learned the hard way that playing in the pro game (playing against men not boys) is much harder and more difficult to adjust then people think. He had to learn that you have less time to make a decision here in the pro in creating space for yourself and the pace of the game is much faster. Plus you are playing against players fighting to get to the NHL like he was, playing against players who has been around the block for years (both in the NHL & AHL) to where an 18 yr old coming to his first pro season and these "30 yrs old hacks" as you call them, pretty much know what he is going to do on the ice. It was a learning process for Z and it was not easy to watch. After he came back from WJC, Z improved and now he has figured out what he can do and what he can not do as a player and his production shows it. His skating is much better as well as his defensive play, and his confidence is at the highest that I have seen.
You may laugh at Turner Elson, but last season he was injury prone. This season he is having his best season as a pro, can player any forward position, play in all types of situations, and he is above average skatingwise. Why would the Wings sign him to a 2 yr NHL deal about a month ago when he was only here in GR on a AHL only contract. Not too often that a NHL team would sign a player on a AHL only contract this late into the season. But the Wings like what they see in Elson and it would not surprise me if he gets a brief look in the NHL before the season end. What a difference a season makes. Same could be said about Hicketts, Turgeon, Holmstrom, and others here in GR.