Too early to panic or say that he's not going to pan out or whatever. But I agree that it's stupid to have kept him up and not give him a fair shake. He's an offensive-minded player. Fourth line minutes (and linemates) won't work and sitting in the press box routinely isn't going to help a ton either.
If they let him play -- and by that I also mean on a line and in game situations that cater to his strengths -- I think he'll be fine. Obviously with some growing pains here and there. But let's face it, the Sabres aren't going anywhere this year regardless. There's very little harm in starting to view this as an extended preseason instead of a shortened regular season campaign and to allow the kid to get some quality experience.
It's not as though he's been totally overwhelmed out there such that it might be detrimental to let him learn by doing. It's the half-pregnant approach they're taking that is the absolute worst for him in my opinion.
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14 Team H2H Dynasty League (14 keepers, 21-man roster, no farm)
G, A, PPP, SOG, BS, +/-, GAA, W, SV%
C: Giroux/B.Richards/Ennis/Cullen/Grigorenko
W: Ovechkin/Neal/Nash/Skinner/Eriksson/Silfverberg/Samuelsson(IR)
D: Doughty/Boyle/Faulk/Seabrook/Martin(IR)/Seidenberg/Brodin
G: Fleury/Markstrom/Lehner/Khudobin
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