Would the Leafs ever seriously consider keeping Luke Schenn in the NHL this fall?
The answer should be no, a thousand times no, and certainly both GM Cliff Fletcher and coach Ron Wilson have been upfront with their sentiments that Schenn would have to play out of his mind to stick with the big club this season. But then, we've heard that before. The Leafs, historically, have not been very good at either identifying young defencemen through the draft or carefully sculpting those that they do take into quality NHL players. The best two defence draftees in Leaf history were probably Ian Turnbull and Tomas
Kaberle (Borje Salming was never drafted). Turnbull came to the NHL after four full seasons in junior hockey, while Kaberle arrived at the age of 20 after playing two full seasons with Kladno in the Czech elite league.To maximize Schenn's chances of being full value for being drafted fifth overall, he needs to go back to junior for a fourth and final year and play on the national junior team, then needs two full seasons in the AHL. That would have him ready for full-time NHL work for the 2011-12 season. He would still only be 21.If he dazzles before then, you could get him to the NHL for the 2010-11 season. But no matter how good he looks this fall or next fall, putting him in the NHL before 2010 at the earliest will be rushing him. It's been proven time and time again. The biggest challenge for Leaf management is to set a course and stick with it, and ignore the inevitable suggestions that if Schenn isn't in the NHL soon, he's a bust. They're already saying that about 22-year-old Justin Pogge, who still has a chance but needs more grooming and more patience.So the answer is no, there's no chance the Leafs will keep Schenn this fall. But the pressure on this franchise to prove it has a future by getting kids to the bigs fast is unrelenting, and has only rarely been resisted for very long.
No comments:
Post a Comment