if he is trying to build muscle, I would hope they play him sparingly. Tearing muscle fiber and building new muscle isn't something I would imagine fits into a NHL season schedule. I know having him up here cost the team more money and it would be cheaper to send him down and he can do the same routine down there....but the team is under the salary cap floor and it gives Jiricek a lot more money.
I don't see why anyone involved would be upset. And the more time he can spend around the team & coaches the better. Only people who seem upset are fans of other teams and those shocked he isn't a 1st pairing dman with a .75 ppg
He’s simply not ready yet. That’s not a knock on him. He needs to be playing in the AHL. He’s still just a kid. Sending him down was the right move, if they intend to keep him. If he goes down there and sulks, then they’ve got a pretty big problem on their hands.
We’ll see how this whole thing shakes out, but something had to change before the season was wasted, and his value and development starts taking a hit. Waddell knows that. He’s a good manager who places development very highly on his list.
What’s stupid is, if he would’ve started the year in Cleveland, and been playing those hard minutes every night, he’d be that much closer to playing Top 4 minutes in the NHL. It’s not like he needed 2 more years down there. He’s within reach. Just has to clean a lot of the basics up. Hopefully he doesn’t go down and just concentrate on putting up points.
The NHL is still a black and white league. You can either play certain roles at the NHL level, or you can’t. Right now, he can’t do it consistently enough. Not to the extent he’s going to have to. That’s usually 20-50 more games in the AHL.
Who knows. Maybe the entire issue is, he really would just rather play somewhere else. I’d be angry if I were Columbus, and he goes to another team, and ends up playing a big chunk of the season in the AHL, without a chirp.
He’s gotta go down there and be 100% committed to growing his overall game. He’ll be back in Columbus soon enough. Likely a much better, more confident player.