Also a scouting report update on Pedan from a Comet fan:
That was truthfully how we saw it when he first arrived. Lately our vision is being tweaked. I really believe Benning is hoping he becomes a second pairing guy. I'm not saying he will or that he looks like that's a current career path, but he is not a bottom pairing guy in Utica any longer. He is now pulling his weight in first and second unit pairings here. At first he was being carried and protected by a top D-man. He no longer needs the cover. He is working with his partner on a fairly equal basis. He no longer has to get the puck to his partner for the breakout to begin. He makes the first pass out now when he sees it. He works give and go passes to get out. He is very good on long, hard, tape to tape stretch passes, and he skates the puck up on his own when the ice is there and passes it off when pressure arrives instead of trying to use his moves and turning it as he did when they first gave him the license to carry.
He is a project that shows progress at every level. Is he NHL ready? Not by a long shot, but in my opinion, he has surpassed the all around performance of Tommernes (there is a big [pun] reason he asked out) and Andersson already. Blain has another obstacle to get by if he ever wants back into the AHL. Any newcomers will find this big guy in their way as well.
He appears to be buying tools and stocking his newly enlarged kit with them every day. I really want to see the progress this guy makes by a year from now. He could plateau at any point and that would determine his future status. If he continues to grow in these little increments on a steady basis, it could be wow. Patience is the key.
Don't rush him. Teach and develop him. That's the current program and so far so good. Right now you have in the making the possibilities of a career AHL D-man, a bottom pairing NHLer, or a solid second pair D-man with first or second PP point potential with the cannon of a shot he has. His puck handling skills and positional intelligence have a lot to do with how far up the scale he goes.
I don't see anyone else that isn't overpriced for a good #2 center. As much as I like Bonino I think he would be better as a #3 depth center or a winger to replace Higgins on 2nd line.
I don't see anyone else that isn't overpriced for a good #2 center. As much as I like Bonino I think he would be better as a #3 depth center or a winger to replace Higgins on 2nd line. - Retinalz
no!!!!