Ok, so your point was that our sophomore class won't develop because Gersich didn't. I'm sorry, but that has nothing to do with if Gersich is "truly" an NHL player. And btw, sounds like he'll TRULY be an NHL player this weekend.
Assuming that an entire class won't develop based on the premise that one player didn't have a breakout year is just nonsensical.
LOL he stopped playing with two NHL players. Do you even LIKE this team? Try a positive thought every once in awhile.
We've had proven success of developing NHL and pro players over decades. Your example seems to be an outlier and a kind of silly one, I might add.
I've heard the rumors and the team seemed to play pretty well and cohesively (MM is this a word? ) despite them. Seems to me it was a bit overblown.
Losing Shane hurts this team and it confuses me how anyone could think otherwise, particularly from a message board that was CONSTANTLY whining about lack of scoring this season.
Well, he'll be playing with two NHLers if he makes the show. Shane can play. He's got the talent. He was the Caps MVP in development camp, so they obviously value him a lot and don't want to lose him to FA.
My guess on captains:
Rhett -- C, Jones -- A (would be 100% ok with Jones getting the C, but I'll defer to the 4 year UND player), Pooly -- A, Janatuinen -- A
Shane gets an A if he's back, too.
I'd guess a new signee at a hockey city like Ottawa gets just a wee bit of attention, too. Not to mention, you are getting paid to play hockey. Is this really an argument? Lol