Bolt32
Registered User
On Serge - this is one of the weirdest rookie years of a player I can think of, especially at D. The number of "rookie games" - where he's making mistakes based on a lack of experience - are probably fewer than 5 all year. While he has some growing to do, he doesn't commit the mistakes that I would expect from a rookie. There aren't a lot of bad turnovers or bad reads, or even bad pinches.
Also - for the Habs fans that may be stopping by - I notice a big part of the question is "if Yzerman knew Sergachev was so good, why include the 2nd round pick as a conditional?"
Two reasons. One - you never know how a 19 year old is going to translate, even if you're over the moon for him. That's the obvious one. The second issue and one that gets overlooked: he had to beat out Slater Koekkoek for his spot. KK is not waiver eligible and is in his D+5 season. Yzerman wanted to give him a shot to make the top 6. If KK played even or better than Sergachev in camp/through ten games, he probably gets the roster spot. He didn't outplay Serge, so he didn't get a regular spot - but Yzerman was basically playing a game of "I get Serge + 2nd in the pipeline if KK does well, or I get Serge if KK doesn't impress."
To be fair. I do think KK deserves a top 6 spot in the NHL. Kid is NHL ready, just hes buried badly on our roster. Feel kind of bad for him.