I don't understand the decision either. Why send a kid who already has pro experience to play junior hockey? I think he would have been better off in Sweden.
I think you could argue he's been performing under expectations, but you'd have to remember this is first year on NA ice as an 18yo, and not many teams put their 18yo dmen into the AHL. Only 114 have ever played their U19 season in the A.
Sandin is also having an amazing post draft season....It is kind of a stupid comparison right now anyways.
Comparing a player playing his D+1 in the AHL verse someone playing in the CHL? It isn't a good comparison. I don't know if Sandin is better or not then Boqvist....Haven't watched Boqvist that much. But Sandin has basically blown by any and all expectations that anyone reasonably had of him this year.
I'm not going to get into which is the better development path or who is having a better year. But, 18-year-old's in the AHL don't burn their ELC's. Players signed in their draft year (so between the draft and December 31st) and they are in their first season of draft eligibility get two slide years. For example, Alex Nylander still has 2 full seasons left on his ELC after this year, despite this being his 3rd year in the AHL. Like junior players, they only burn a year if they play 10 games in the NHL, at which point the ELC activates and years burn off regardless of where you are playing.
Who knows. William almost made the Leafs out of camp in 2015 and dominated the AHL and we kept him down regardless due to the long-term incentive. Also, sometimes young guys are kept around longer due to the fact they know they are sending them back down to junior regardless, so they want them to get extra time with their developmental staff before sending them back for the year.
