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Is Luca Sbisa ready for the NHL? |
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From the "and then there were eight" files: The Flyers have sent Danny Syvret down to the Phantoms, leaving eight defensemen on the NHL roster heading into tonight's exhibition game against the Phantoms at the Spectrum.
Luca Sbisa, the team's top pick in the 2008 Entry Draft is one of the eight. Whether he starts the season with the big club or goes back to Lethbridge this week depends on whether Randy Jones (hip flexor) is sufficiently healthy to play come opening night. When he's healthy, Sbisa is probably going back to Lethbridge anyway, regardless of the status of Ryan Parent (torn shoulder labrum). Lasse Kukkonen is fine as a top six, and Sbisa won't gain much from being the #7 or even the sixth D.
Sbisa -- who would have been a shoo-in top 10 draft pick in most draft years, but dropped to the 19th overall spot because this year's draft was exceptionally deep in defensemen -- clearly has NHL skills and size. His skating, poise and anticipation jump out at you immediately. But there are very few 18-year-old defensemen who are truly NHL ready, and I don't think Sbisa is one of them.
What inevitably happens to young pro defensemen is that they hit a wall at some point, and start to struggle. Sbisa hasn't even tapped into much of potential yet (I think there's above average offensive upside there in addition to being reliable in his own end of the ice), and he's better off being a top-pairing defenseman in the WHL this year than being spotted for 10 minutes of ice time in the NHL.
Sbisa appears physically ready to compete among men, but it's going to take time to develop the mentality of a successful NHL defenseman: unafraid to make mistakes, and able to bounce back quickly when things go wrong.
Within the next few weeks, Sbisa will likely be in the WHL, anyway. I'd have rather seen the Flyers use Nate Guenin or even Danny Syvret as their eighth D to start the year and let Sbisa get his junior season going. If the rules allowed for him to play in the AHL this year, it would be an intriguing option (if he'd been drafted out of Switzerland rather than the WHL, he could have).
As it is, it certainly wouldn't have hurt for him to get cranking on his junior season. Unfortunately, the WJC isn't likely to be much of a challenge for him this year, because Switzerland was relegated to Division I, and the level of competition he'll face isn't likely to push him very hard. The Swiss should have little problem getting back to the top international U20 level, but that won't tell the Flyers too much about Sbisa's progress over the course of this fall.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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