I think this is a very important thing to keep in mind, not necessarily in defense of pionk but more so about player development in general...
pionk was thrown into the fire last year, in a role that he wasn't ready for or capable of handling...and he wasn't the only guy. between lack of depth/options and the total mess in hartford the young players weren't all put in the best situation to succeed and develop and then when they struggled fans turned on them...
now thats not to say that pionk would have developed into anything special, he will be 24 this summer so he's not a 19 year old kid but this situation is what I think about when I see people looking to blow every vet off the team so we can play all the kids, it is definitely a concern that you will create bad situations for kids. I'd rather have a vet who is awful but protects the development of a key youngster than damage that youngster by putting him in over his head...
of course that being said, I'd like to think/hope that pionk's age was a factor here and as a 23 year old they were more ok with throwing him into the fire to see if he sank or swam and they would be more protective of a 19/20 year old. but his situation definitely shows that the approach of just play all the kids isn't always the best option.
I agree for sure. And remember when Rafalski was the same age, he was playing his first of three seasons in the SM-liiga. He didn't even make his debut for NJD before he was 26-27. Zucc kept growing well into his 30s. Not many believed in him. I remember making many posts about him, he is still growing, why would he stop now? He is better this year than last, what if he is a little better next season? Most declared Zucc a bust, worthless player not worth a contract.
If a player does really well in some areas, there is always hope for that they will be able to grow. I think Pionk is in a very similar situation to the one Zucc was in 6 years ago. I made this post on him back then (BTW I have no clue what I am getting at with the first para):
The biggest Pionk haters don't give him
any credit what-so-ever for what he does really well on the ice. His ability to stay with his guy -- defensively -- is fantastic. His poise and ability to hang on to the puck under pressure is also fantastic. Two different NHL coaches has taken this small undrafted college free agent and instantly thrown him onto the 1st pair in the NHL and on many nights used him as our clear No 1 D -- for a reason. The response to that is often 'these coaches are just blind and totally clueless, there is NOTHING to see in Pionk's game'. But that is wrong. I pointed out his strengths right when I saw him in camp and in HFD. Parts of his game was/is real eye-popping.
Nobody really minded it when we got back Zucc on a one-year deal. That was luck. Many were against him getting any kind of term or AAV. Many called him a bust. But he was similar to Pionk in that sense, Zucc performed tremendously well in a few limited parts of the game even when misused and not trusted by Torts.
Pionk -- of course -- need support from the right D partner. He of course need to improve in certain areas, his main problem is that he hangs on to the puck a little too long before he make that first pass up ice and that let the opponents set up and make it harder for us to break out. He of course cannot and should not be used in a role that has been waaaay to tough for Brady Skjei and co. And so forth. But I definitely don't think that there are reasons for writing him off.
