Roster being pared down

According to the Puck Rakers blog, Derrick Brassard has been sent to Syracuse. I like the idea, give the kid some ice time. He got his taste of the NHL, and will likely get a call-up during the season, but by sending him down with the #1 center spot still up in the air you're basically saying, "Not yet, kid, go work your butt off."

In the past, Brassard may have hung around a few games, or the whole season. May have been touted pretty hard to be the #1 center, and to be honest the kid might have the skills to pull that off during camp. But, we don't want Derrick Brassard to be a work-in-progress #1 center of right now, we want him to be the definite #1 center in the years to come. So, off to the AHL to hone those skills...welcome to the new regime.

For the hypocritical flip-flop, it appears Kris Russell is here to stay on the blue line. I wish I had seen more of him in the pre-season than I did, but all accounts in the paper and online are that he may have been the best defenseman overall in training camp. That's a pretty strong vote of "keeper." Of course, if he gets overwhelmed, the opportunity to send him to the Crunch still remains, but I'm guessing he doesn't get overwhelmed.

So, six days from training camp, everything appears to be shaping up nicely. Jared Boll is still in camp, and rightfully so. The whole #1 center mess continues to rear its ugly head, and the current center du jour is Malhotra...um, OK. If the roster as it stands can get off to a good start, the inevitable return of Foote, Modin, and Peca should make it better.

I hope...