“Larsen has no balls”, is based on what exactly?? People would complain the same way if he was more outspoken and/or benched “high profile” players. Do people forget him calling out Laine on the bench, as an assistant coach??
Can anybody please explain how Sillinger’s “development” is getting ruined playing in the NHL?? It’s not his fault many people here on HFB severely overrated him and the management put him in the NHL. The Sillinger > Johnson comments were out there not very long ago. And is he not easily a top-12 offensive player in the organization?? (IMO not at center, at least right now)
IMO nothing to do with Sillinger looking “bad” or “worse” this year has anything to do with “development”. It’s that he’s playing a bigger role (and OUT of position) on an arguably as bad of an NHL team as you can get, as an “out of shape”/not physically matured human being, when talking playing hockey at the highest level in the world.
And other than physical maturity, age is also a factor regarding his “mental maturity”, or overall awareness/intelligence on the ice. This idea that he won’t (or shouldn’t) get in good physical condition playing in the NHL, is ridiculous. He has to put in the work either way, and THAT might be an actual problem, but, the only way to get used to, or “up” to NHL speed, is playing in the NHL. The issue is the “head” doesn’t work like the “legs”, you can’t simply put the work in, and get results. He’s no Jack Roslovic, but, Cole also ain’t no Mike Sillinger, that’s to say other than his physical limitations of essentially still being a kid, that could easily change in the near future, his decision making on the ice, which I think is a main concern/problem, might not change much over time, and him playing in the AHL or not, didn’t or wouldn’t impact that very much,IMO.