Gallagher: Player development taking a back seat in Utica
By Tony Gallagher, The ProvinceMay 14, 2015
We’ve seen some strange things go on with the way the Vancouver Canucks are attempting to develop this bevy of good young prospects they finally have in their organization. And now, the more successful the Utica Comets become, the more bizarre player decisions become when you look at it from a developmental point of view.
We get that Canucks management wants their players to get the feel for a winning environment, and the Comets are certainly doing that, tied 2-2 with the Oklahoma City Barons in their AHL second-round playoff matchup. But when you look at Brendan Gaunce being a healthy scratch in the first two games of the first series and Nicklas Jensen being scratched for a couple as well, you have to wonder whether player development is what Vancouver ownership is paying for down there.
Recently Jake Virtanen and Jared McCann finished their junior seasons and were assigned to Utica. But for what purpose? They haven’t seen the light of day in a game and they aren’t likely to as coach Travis Green clearly wants to make this year in Utica his ticket to consideration for an NHL job rather than develop young players for the Canucks.
Ben Hutton finished an outstanding season at the University of Maine recently and was assigned to Utica at age 22, and it’s not like the guy is chopped liver. GM Jim Benning recently said he thinks Hutton, who is big and has some offensive pop to his game, “can develop into a top-four defenceman for us.” And that mirrors the thinking of at least two more people in the organization and other well-known scouts around the league.
Well, since he got to Utica he played four regular-season games — getting a goal in the process — then promptly got a seat on the bench so that such luminaries as 36-year-old Kent Huskins and 26-year-old Travis Ehrhardt can play in his stead, although, to be fair, the latter got two assists in Wednesday night’s 7-4 loss to the Barons.
Here’s my question. Can either of these guys develop into top-four D for the Canucks any time soon? And if not, why are they playing ahead of someone who can?
Even if the Comets were to promptly go out of the playoffs as a result of these decisions, wouldn’t that experience of being in such meaningful games be better for these young players than sitting there watching from the sidelines? They could learn more going to Anaheim and Chicago to ‘watch’ games. At least there they would see the pace at which they’ll ultimately have to play.
We get that the Canucks want these players to learn how to be professional players. But with all do respect to the players, we’re about to mention, is watching Cal O’Reilly, Alex Grenier and Alex Friesen get ready for a game going to be that memorable an experience for first-round picks like Virtanen and McCann? Are you kidding me? They are, in fact, entirely likely to discount what they see as simply something that will prepare them for a career in the American League, something both are trying desperately to avoid at this stage in their careers.
This is not to say it’s a total disaster down there. Gaunce is playing now and producing. Adam Clendening and Hunter Shinkaruk are getting in and so is Jensen, but perhaps not in a position to allow him to succeed. And Sven Baertschi seems to be getting a very prominent role with lots of power-play time in all nine games.
But if someone could explain to me why Carter Bancks, at 25 years of age with all of six goals and eight assists in 57 regular-season games down there, should be playing ahead of another B.C. lad in Virtanen, it would be genuinely appreciated.
Now this is not to say we’re experts on player development here in Vancouver. Far from it, and hence we’re subject to advice.
The best development process ever seen in these part other than say, Alex Burrows, might have been the Sedin twins. They were no more ready for the NHL than becoming astronauts when they first came over from Sweden, but Marc Crawford kept running them out on the second unit of every power play and on a regular shift and they developed into exceptional players despite a couple of years of caterwauling here about them not earning the opportunities they were constantly being given. It worked wonderfully well. Never did they have to sit and watch Harold Druken teach them how to be pros in Manitoba.
But hey, the game is different now. Maybe this is the way to go. We’ll know in a few years.
tgallagher@theprovince.com