"His development has kind of flatlined and that sucks...but a young player like that getting his groove back like he had early in his NHL experience, would be absolutely huge for this team."
Yup, sitting Corrado in the pressbox all that time last year, but letting him "practice with the big boys and be coached by NHL coaches" (that's what I was told all last season when I was being derided for continually posting his games missed totals) certainly did wonders to accelerate his development, didn't it? He did exactly what I said would happen and you have just posted, he flatlined. He didn't improve significantly like he could have he had been playing all that time he just sat in the pressbox with Vancouver.
I know. I know. Keep beating the dead horse. It's over and that's how it is, but now when that improved development would pay off, he is likely to head back to the pressbox, practice with the big boys, and get coached by NHL coaches once again. That worked real well the last time, eh?
The big question? When does he get the game time ice to be the effective Dman they are looking for him to be. He can't play in the AHL without passing through waivers. He may become a classic example of the NHL player who had the ability to be a productive player, but was effectively prevented from doing so by his own team's idiocy. This really ****** me off.
This one is on Willie, not Benning, although Benning supposedly has the last say and could have ordered his insertion into the lineup. Then again once the games are being played, it seems Willie has full autonomy, so the blame does lie with him.
I had been giving Benning the benefit of the doubt because he did a very good job last season providing the Comets with everything they needed from day 1, but as this summer has gone both in Vancouver and Utica combined with the idiocy employed with Corrado and Sanguinetti last season, he's moving way down on my list of the brightest lights.
Yeah. I'm really hopeful that Corrado has a strong enough camp to force his way into the lineup more nights than not...but i'm not sure how that's really going to play out.
There are 3 "locks" Edler/Tanev/Hamhuis in the 1/2/3 holes. After that, it's a bit up in the air...presumably Sbisa will end up playing "#4/5" minutes again, and the way they talk about Bartkowski...it certainly sounds as though they're expecting him to be a regular at least, and contribute to our transition game.
That leaves Weber...who you'd imagine they want to keep in the lineup for his PP utility, if nothing else. Kind of leaves Corrado on the outside looking in.
Which as you've said...a young player sitting in the press box is not helpful for his development. Something seemingly went awry and flatlined in Frankie's development prior to last season and the somewhat confusing press box shuffle. But that stint of sitting around not learning much, not playing a lot...certainly not very beneficial for a young player on the cusp. Hopefully it's not more of the same this year.
Ideally, if Corrado can show something with his RH PP point shot...maybe he can usurp Weber's role as a RHD. That seems his most likely bet for regular lineup time (outside of inevitable injuries obviously). But that's not going to be easy...WillieD is not quick on the uptake with a lot of these things, and is probably going to want to go right back to the well with the Weber configuration that went on a bit of a hot streak on the PP.
I do still think that having one more
solid and
established #4D would have made for a massively better situation to break Corrado in with. Either in playing with Hamhuis to make that a more robust pairing, or in anchoring a 3rd "solid pairing" allowing Corrado to play with Hamhuis, or even just have a solid proven Vet to drop in alongside Corrado on the 3rd pairing.
Instead, we kind of have a smattering of #5/6/7/8 type guys...some with a bit of "upside" as a good #4 maybe, but it really crowds that portion of the depth chart that Frankie falls into. Gonna make it hard to get into the lineup. That he
can play a bit of his off side may help...but it's still "crowded" with "maybes" any way you slice it.
Gimme 1 "lock" and 1 "maybe" along with Corrado and a vet to sit out any day, over 3 "maybes" and then Corrado on the sidelines.
They talk a lot about the idea of "getting older" to "get younger". You bring in a Prust...so you can bring in a Baertschi or whatever. That makes sense. But i don't think they've really done that with the blueline as it stands right now...and appear set.
