Making a Case for Hoodlum
Helene St. James has an article in today’s Free Press that suggests the Wings could trade Jiri Hudler. He’s a talented first-year player but he plays the fewest minutes on the team.
I suggested Hudler could benefit from increased ice time due to the injury Mikael Samuelsson sustained a little over a week ago. Head coach Mike Babcock was quoted in the media as saying that the younger players are going to have to prove that they deserve more ice time. Hudler has not been the defensive liability he was early on in Grand Rapids and he puts the puck on net, which is something Babcock drives home to his players nearly every chance he gets. He’s also scored some goals, which is something the team has struggled to do.
And even if the team wants to trade Hudler, wouldn’t it make sense to give him a little more ice time? He is one of the more skilled offensive players on the team and you’d think the added ice time would help him boost his prodcution, thus increasing his trade value.
If the second line was generating offense then I could understand making Hudler continue to prove he deserves the ice time. But given how cold that scoring line has gone and how effective Hudler has been in limited time, I’m not sure it isn’t worth it to give him some shifts on the second line and see what he can do.
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