In the Wings: Prospects on the move

DETROIT - If you've been paying attention to the Canadian Hockey League lately, you might have noticed some familiar names on the move.
Five Red Wings prospects have been traded in the last week or so, with a few trades coming as recently as Wednesday.

Defenseman Jordan Sambrook, taken in the fifth round of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, 137th overall, was traded from the Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League to the Soo Greyhounds on Jan. 6.
Forward Givani Smith, the Wings' second-round pick, 46th overall, in the 2016 draft, was traded from the OHL's Guelph Storm to the Kitchener Rangers on Jan. 7.
Forward Lane Zablocki, the Wings' third-round pick, 79th overall, in the 2017 draft, has been traded twice. He went first from the Western Hockey League's Red Deer Rebels to the Lethbridge Hurricanes and then was traded Wednesday to the Victoria Royals.
Defenseman Reilly Webb, the Wings' sixth-round pick, 164th overall, in the 2017 draft, was traded Wednesday from the OHL's Hamilton Bulldogs to the Saginaw Spirit.
Defenseman Dennis Cholowski, the Wings' first-round pick, 20th overall, in the 2016 draft, was traded Wednesday from the WHL's Prince George Cougars to the Portland Winterhawks.
"It's a positive in every way," Red Wings assistant general manager Ryan Martin said. "These guys are trade deadline acquisitions to help the teams that acquired them go on a big playoff run."
Martin provided an in-depth update on many of the prospects throughout the organization. All of the statistics are through Wednesday, Jan. 10.

Jordan Sambrook: Defenseman, 6-foot-2, 195 pounds

Fifth Round: 137th overall, 2016 NHL Entry Draft

Team: Soo Greyhounds, OHL

Stats: GP-40 G-7 A-18 Pts-25 PIM-34 Plus-18

Martin: "You look at a guy like Jordan Sambrook, big part of Erie's success the last two years going to the Memorial Cup, done a lot of winning there, and now he's gone to the Sault (Ste. Marie), I don't know if their 25-game, 26-game win streak has come to an end, but they're an elite team in the OHL. So that's a great acquisition for him to go there and play important minutes."

Dennis Cholowski: Defenseman, 6-foot-1, 200 pounds

First round, 20th overall, 2016 NHL Entry Draft

Team: Portland Winterhawks, WHL

Stats: GP-37 G-13 A-26 Pts-39 PIM-14 Plus-9

Martin: "The same for Dennis. Dennis wore a C up in Prince George, played a big role. If they are a playoff team, they're probably one that feels that they can't make a ton of noise. To go down to Portland, that's a chance for him to play seven-game series. It's a chance for him to play a big role there on a great team. Lane Zablocki: Center, 6-feet, 182 pounds Third Round, 79th overall, 2017 NHL Entry Draft Team: Victoria Royals, WHL Stats: GP-40 G-11 A-14 Pts-25 PIM-61 Minus-9 Martin: "Lane Zablocki's a real character guy. He was acquired last year by Red Deer making a playoff push and now he has since gone on to Lethbridge and then to Victoria for the same reason, a character guy, a guy that plays with grit and a lot of energy, so a guy that's going to be a real useful piece in a playoff run."

Givani Smith: Right Wing, 6-foot-2, 210 pounds

Second Round, 46th overall, 2016 NHL Entry Draft

Team: Guelph Storm, Ontario Hockey League (OHL)

Stats: GP-19 G-8 A-3 Pts-11 PIM-14 Minus-5

Martin: "The same for Givani Smith. Guelph is sort of a bubble playoff team. They haven't had a ton of success the last few years. I'm not sure if Givani's ever played a playoff game in major junior so for him to go to Kitchener and the chance to continue playing and play in playoff hockey, we see all these acquisitions and all these deals as real positives for these young men."

Reilly Webb: Defenseman, 6-foot-3, 200 pounds

Sixth Round, 164th overall, 2017 NHL Entry Draft

Team: Saginaw Spirit, OHL

Stats: GP-37 G-1 A-0 Pts-1 PIM-31 Minus-3

Martin: "Certainly he's been handcuffed a little bit by injuries the last couple years. He has not played a ton of hockey. He was drafted by the hometown team, he did want to stay there and continue his development but as they make a push for their playoff run, I think he found his opportunity in the short and the long-term to be maybe not what he wanted it to be - playing time, specialty teams time. From what I understand in talking to other people in our organization who spoke with his agent, there was a number of teams that wanted to acquire him. Saginaw getting him, I think for the long-term picture is great for him. He's going to play a big role there immediately and he's going to have an opportunity to play bigger minutes there next year."

THE GRIFFINS

The defending Calder Cup champion Grand Rapids Griffins had a slow start to the season due to some injury trouble and perhaps a big of post-championship hangover.
Here are some of the main Wings' prospects that are with the Griffins, not including Tyler Bertuzzi, who is currently with the Wings:

Filip Hronek: Defenseman, 6-feet, 178 pounds

Second round, 53rd overall, 2016 NHL Entry Draft

Team: Grand Rapids Griffins, AHL

Stats: GP-31 G-3 A-11 Pts-14 PIM-22 Plus-10

One of the main reasons the Wings traded Ryan Sproul to the New York Rangers for forward Matt Puempel was so that young defensemen like Hronek and Saarijarvi could get enough playing time to develop.
Martin: "Vili and Filip are first-year pros, both players had very successful junior careers right here in Ontario and I would tell you that the success and the development that they had in the offseason and the start that they had to the season really allowed us to move Ryan Sproul. Ryan is an All-Star at that level, he's a 6-foot-4, right-handed shot defenseman that can run a power play and he's got a big shot. I think he had almost a point a game for the five or so games that he went in and played for Grand Rapids. But the fact that we had too many defensemen there and there was sort of a logjam and Filip and Vili were not both able to get in and play minutes and that's why Vili started the year in Toledo."

Joe Hicketts: Defenseman, 5-foot-8, 180 pounds

Free Agent signed in September of 2014

Team: Grand Rapids Griffins, AHL

Stats: GP-38 G-1 A-6 Pts-7 PIM-24 Minus-8

Martin: "Joe Hicketts, as a second-year pro, had a really good training camp here in Detroit. Certainly competed for a spot right up until the last night, for a spot in the team, certainly showed the coaches that he's a real viable depth guy, a real good call-up opportunity right now. Joe's had a solid year down there. The team has had ups and downs and Joe hasn't been immune to that but I think lately he's found his game and he's found what works for him and he's gotten a little more time on the power play as well. Joe's been playing really well as of late."

Vili Saarijarvi: Defenseman, 5-foot-10, 172 pounds

Third Round, 73rd overall, 2015 NHL Entry Draft

Team: Grand Rapids Griffins, AHL Toledo Walleye, ECHL

Stats: GP-18 G-0 A-5 Pts-5 PIM-2 Minus-1 (Grand Rapids)

GP-10 G-2-A-4 Pts-6 PIM-2 Plus-2 (Toledo)

Martin: "Vili started the year down there (Toledo). It wasn't that he wasn't good enough to play in the American League, it was that we had eight defensemen in the American League and somebody has to sit out. Why sit in the stands when you can go two hours away and play probably double the amount of minutes that you can play, you can play in big situations. I think Vili's seamless transition to Grand Rapids when he was recalled and the success that he's had since he's been recalled, I think, is a big function of having played down in Toledo to start the year."

Evgeny Svechnikov: Right wing, 6-foot-3, 212 pounds

First Round, 19th overall, 2015 NHL Entry Draft

Team: Grand Rapids Griffins, AHL

Stats: GP-34 G-5 A-7 Pts-12 PIM-35 Minus-4

Martin: "The downside was a sophomore slump. Evgeny would be the first to tell you he's not doing anything different than the year (before). Evgeny spent a lot of time in the offseason here in Detroit training on his own. I don't think he's ever been in better condition, he's stronger, so I think he's as perplexed as anybody why he wasn't having the success. But for a guy that put up 20-plus goals last year and 50 points, teams are keying on him. He's no longer going to play those easier minutes and I think also losing Kyle Criscuolo, his centerman who was a great playmaking centerman, that's going to have a bit of an impact on him. Our center position was a little depleted with injuries to Ben Street and Turner Elson right off the bat so all those factors go into it. The positive is he's scored, he's got seven points in his last seven games. He's definitely trending upward so good for him for sort of finding his way here in the performance that he's put up lately."

Dominic Turgeon: Center, 6-foot-2, 203 pounds

Third Round, 63rd overall, 2014 NHL Entry Draft

Team: Grand Rapids Griffins, AHL

Stats: GP-39 G-8 A-14 Pts-22 PIM-16 Plus-7

Martin: "Dom Turgeon has had a great second year. There's a guy that in March of his last year of junior hockey, he had a shoulder injury where the surgery put him on the sideline 'til August so he really couldn't hit the gym until August. So the fact that he came in last year and he was penciled in as sort of our 13th or 14th forward, he ended up earning a spot in the opening night lineup and never lost it. It's a real credit to him, he was able to knock a veteran out of his job to the point where the veteran, who was on a minor league deal, he left and went to Germany halfway through the year because he wasn't playing anymore because Dom had taken his job. I think his story has been great, he's had a tremendous year in terms of his production. He has 22 points in 39 games so that's a career high for him and he's definitely trending upwards."

Axel Holmstrom: Center/Wing, 6-foot-1, 200 pounds

Seventh round, 196th overall, 2014 NHL Entry Draft

Team: Grand Rapids Griffins, American Hockey League (AHL)

Stats: GP-35 G-5 A-12 Pts-17 PIM-2 Minus-8

Martin: "Axel Holmstrom as a first-year pro, I think the upside of losing a guy like (Tomas) Nosek is it opens up a center spot and Axel has played both center and wing. Although sometimes it might be a challenge for him at that level, I think it's great experience to play those types of minutes and to play the role down there. He's had some challenges the last couple years, dealing with injuries and rehab from those injuries and how much offseason training he can do, so his start may have been a little bit slower this year than he expected but it's really good that he's been in the lineup almost every game with the opportunity to play both center and wing."

Zach Nastasiuk: Right wing, 6-foot-2, 202 pounds

Second Round, 48th overall, 2013 NHL Entry Draft

Team: Grand Rapids Griffins, AHL; Toledo Walleye, ECHL

Stats: GP-5 G-1 A-0 Pts-1 PIM-0 Minus-2 (Grand Rapids)

GP-20 G-6-A-6 Pts-12 PIM-2 Plus-4 (Toledo)

Martin: "Zach's in the last year of his entry-level contract with us. He's been up and down between Toledo and Grand Rapids for his entire career with us, this is his third year pro. He came out of junior the year after we drafted him, so he still had a year of junior eligibility left and I can remember we were playing Abbotsford in the playoffs and Jeff Blashill said to me, 'Can anybody who's coming out of junior help us?' At the time I didn't see any of the young players we were bringing over from juniors able to help us except maybe Andreas Athanasiou and he did, he went into the lineup and played right away and did help us a little bit. But when Zach showed up, we had a couple of injuries and it necessitated putting him in and he was really good that year in the playoffs, to the point where I can remember Jeff Blashill saying at the end of the year, 'I can't wait to get that guy here next year' and I had to tell him he's got another year of junior left, he's not coming for a whole other year. That's where he was when he was 19, he was that well-regarded. His development has stalled a bit, it's been stunted. He is a guy who's incredibly hard on himself. Sometimes those younger players when they're put into sort of, I call it a no-lose situation, he had nothing to lose as a 19-year-old junior kid coming in. If he made mistakes, the coach pretty much had to play him because we were depleted with injuries, and it wasn't like he was trying out for the team. He was going back to juniors so he was relaxed and sort of played to his strengths and played his game and he felt very comfortable. Since then, as he's transitioned into pro and as he's sort of developed year to year here in our system, I think he does put a lot of pressure on himself and he wants to be successful. He's a very caring and conscientious young man. He's just had some challenges finding the type of game that's going to be the best fit for where he is. He also needs to continue to work on some things like his foot speed and his consistency and he knows that but he's been a tremendous pro with a great attitude, really good character. He's a guy that obviously helps Toledo tremendously and we just recently called him up to Grand Rapids a few weeks ago and Todd (Nelson) put him in the lineup. I think he scored a goal his first shift and has had some success since he's been in Grand Rapids. But he is a guy, he's been challenged to find the fit that will be best and continue his development."

Dylan Sadowy: Left Wing, 6-foot, 205 pounds.

Trade with San Jose on May 26, 2016

Team: Grand Rapids Griffins, AHL

Stats: GP-8 G-0 A-0 Pts-0 PIM-7 Minus-2 (Grand Rapids)

GP-15 G-2-A-7 Pts-9 PIM-9 Minus-5 (Toledo)

Martin: "He's in his second year pro. I think Dylan's a guy that is still working through the challenges of playing a different role as a pro than he did as a junior. Red Wings fans will remember Kirk Maltby as a player here that really was, I don't want to say just a checker, I don't mean it in that sense but Kirk Maltby had 50 goals when he played junior and people that didn't see him play junior might not know that. When he became a pro, he did a tremendous job of transitioning to a checker, changing the style of play, and obviously that led to him having a long and successful NHL career. So Dylan's a guy that had back-to-back 40-plus goal seasons in the OHL. Since he's turned pro, he hasn't been able to find that consistent scoring touch and that's frustrating for him, I know that at times. At the same time, our staff and our development people are trying to work with him to sort of change his role a little bit and find something that can help him find a niche as a pro. I think it's important for him to be able to play more minutes down in Toledo, play as a penalty killer consistently down there. He also gets power-play time down in Toledo, where he wouldn't probably get that in Grand Rapids."

NON-TRADED CHL PLAYERS

Michael Rasmussen: Center, 6-foot-6, 221 pounds

First round, ninth overall, 2017 NHL Entry Draft

Team: Tri-City Americans, Western Hockey League (WHL)

Stats: GP-22 G-16 A-15 Pts-31 PIM-20 Plus-9

Martin: "The good news is they did repair correctly the injury that he had last year. The current injury that he has is sort of a byproduct of that old one where they did need to clean up some things. It was something that had been bothering him, more a function of the scar tissue that was there. They feel they've gotten that and they've corrected that. I think the timing of it we feel is important to push him out all the way to training camp to allow him to have a full summer of training. I guess, more importantly, to allow him to come back this year, play playoff hockey for his team and then go into the summer and have a full summer of training. He could have waited until the end of the season but his team is one of the better ones in the Western League, they could have gone on a long playoff run and it could have set him back in terms of his training. So our expectation and our hope is he's back, I think it was six weeks from the injury, so he's probably about halfway there and then he'll be able to play some games this year and play in the playoffs and then have a full (off)season of training. "He did have a tremendous training camp, had a great Team Canada summer camp. I know he was really trying to make that team. I think the amount of games that he missed in the fall due to the injury probably put him a little bit behind the 8-ball in terms of the opportunity to make that team but I think he stated a case very well to be considered for that. I'm sure he's going to be one of their candidates next year. His point production, he had 31 points in 22 games so far for Tri-City, I think that's great for the Western League. He's a guy that we're really high on and obviously one of our great prospects."

Zach Gallant: Center, 6-foot-2, 198 pounds

Third Round, 83rd overall, 2017 NHL Entry Draft

Team: Peterborough Petes, OHL

Stats: GP-34 G-9 A-12 Pts-21 PIM-26 Even

Martin: "Zach's doing well. They just recently made a change in the coaching staff in Peterborough. He's a guy that, one year since junior, he's trying to find his role and balance it there in Peterborough between trying to be more offensive, trying to play a responsible two-way game. I know our player development guys have seen him play several times this year. He's on the right track. It's a little early to tell but certainly we like what he's shown so far."

Cole Fraser: Defenseman, 6-foot-2, 191 pounds

Fifth Round, 131st overall, 2017 NHL Entry Draft

Team: Peterborough Petes, OHL

Stats: GP-29 G-2 A-3 Pts-5 PIM-44 Even

Martin: "He knows exactly what he is. The real positive on Cole is I think within really the last three to four weeks, he's taken a good step in his development. He's playing more minutes in Peterborough, his opportunity has expanded there and that's a real credit to the hard work that he's put in. I think the coaching change was a positive thing for him, I think the new staff sees him in a little bit different light. By all of our reports, from our amateur staff as well as our player development people, have been very positive in relation to Cole and certainly he's a guy that we're going to continue to monitor very closely."

COLLEGE PLAYERS

John 'Jack' Adams: Center/Right wing, 6-foot-5, 204 pounds

Sixth Round, 162nd overall, 2017 NHL Entry Draft

Team: Union College Dutchmen

Stats: GP-18 G-3 A-8 Pts-11 PIM-6 Plus-3

Martin: "Jack's playing real well at Union. He's more of a longer term prospect. He's a big guy, kind of a later developer. He's sort of one of those classic college players that plays some time in junior hockey and then goes off to college and he may need three or four years to develop. That's sort of our timeline and our expectation for him. He's in a good spot at Union. Obviously they've had a lot of success in recent years. He's a guy that's put up a few points, I think he's averaging about half a point a game, which is good for a freshman. He's sort of just trying to find his way there."

Kasper Kotkansalo: Defenseman, 6-foot-2, 196 pounds

Third Round, 71st overall, 2017 NHL Draft

Team: Boston University Terriers

Stats: GP-20 G-2 A-3 Pts-5 PIM-8 Plus-5

Martin: "Both the Finnish team and B.U. have future NHL-caliber defensemen for sure and a lot of them. Playing time is at a premium and he's done a terrific job in both environments of getting his foot in the door and cementing a job. I just saw him play last week at the world junior and I thought he had a couple of challenges early in the tournament and then got comfortable very, very quickly and I think it was also reflected in the role that he played, he got more and more of a role as the tournament progressed. He did well. He is what he is. He's a big, strong guy, probably more of a stay-at-home guy that makes the simple, safe pass. He's more of a defender but one of our area scouts, Len Quesnelle, is now an assistant coach at B.U. so we talk to Len quite a bit and certainly all the reports are very positive on Kasper."

Chase Pearson: Center, 6-foot-2, 200 pounds

Fifth Round, 140th overall, 2015 NHL Entry Draft

Team: Maine Black Bears

Stats: GP-20 G-3 A-13 Pts-16 PIM-28 Plus-2

Martin: "I know that the last half of this season has been a little bit better for him. He finally scored his first goal a few weeks ago, he had been stymied a little while there without scoring a goal. He's a guy that plays a big role for them. Maine is a little bit of a rebuilding program, they're better this year than they were a year ago but in talking to their coaches when I'd been out there to see Pat Holway and Chase Pearson play, they're very complimentary of both players and especially Chase's leadership skills. He's a guy that probably plays a more mature game, his dad played in the NHL. I think he's got a bit of a feel as to how to play a responsible two-way game. He's getting bigger and stronger. He works hard there. He's 6-foot-2 so he's a guy like Adams in terms of needing a little more time in college. I think college has been a great option for him, playing one year in the USHL after 18 and then going over and playing college, I think has been a really good fit for him."

PLAYING IN EUROPE

Gustav Lindstrom: Defenseman, 6-foot-2, 187 pounds

Second Round, 38th overall, 2017 NHL Draft

Team: Almtuna IS, Sweden 1st Division (Swe-1)

Stats: GP-21 G-1 A-3 Pts-4 PIM-26 Plus-5

Martin: "I thought he played very well. A different player than Kasper, but certainly not a dissimilar progression through the tournament where he got more comfortable maybe after the first game or two and then looked very good the latter part of the tournament. Here's a young player that is not coming from the Elite League like some of his fellow countrymen, he's coming from a little bit lower division so to play and contribute in the world junior at that level, we thought he did extremely well. He's a very smart defenseman, moves the puck extremely well, has a bit of a (Niklas) Kronwall dimension to his game in that he likes to play physical, he is physical. He needs to continue to work on his strength but we like him a lot. He's a good prospect for us for sure and one that we're very happy with."

Malte Setkov: Defenseman, 6-foot-6, 192 pounds

Fourth Round, 100th overall, 2017 NHL Entry Draft

Team: Pantern IK, (Swe-1)

Stats: GP-12 G-0 A-1 Pts-1 PIM-4 Minus-1

Martin: "He played for Denmark, he was in the top pair for the Danish team on D. Denmark ended up in the relegation round. His team played in the relegation bracket and they won the two out of the three series, two games to none. So he played as big of a role for that team as anybody on defense could have. He played in the top pair, he played in all situations. He's 6-foot-6, he skates like he's 5-foot-6, he's a very good skater for his size. He's just sort of learning how to maneuver his body and anybody scouting by stats, his statistics were not great but in our opinion, as we saw him play there, his statistics were probably more a function of, unfortunately, the lack of success that the team had. The Danish team was just overmatched in several areas in terms of the competition they were playing so great opportunity for him to play against great competition like the Swedes and the Russians and the Finns and the U.S. and things like that. But certainly a challenging tournament, but he did very well there. He's a guy that's very committed to being a pro, he commutes 90 minutes a day in Sweden to the team where he plays and he's really devoted and wants to get better."

Libor Sulak, Defenseman, 6-foot-2, 207 pounds

Free Agent signed on May 24, 2017

Team: Lahti Pelicans, (SM-liiga)

Stats: GP-22 G-7 A-13 Pts-20 PIM-24 Plus-6

Martin: "He does have some offense to his game. Anybody that saw our prospect tournament or the few training camp exhibition games that he played, he's a very good skater, he can transport the puck up the ice, makes a decent first pass. Ken Holland scouted him as well. Jiri (Fischer) and Ken would be the two that signed him out of the world championships. Libor at the time had already agreed to play this season in Finland so that is where he is currently playing. Despite the fact that we did sign him, he already had a contract in Finland to play this year. He's been in the Elite League, he's got 20 points in 22 games so almost a point a game for the Elite League is good for a defenseman for sure. The Finnish Elite League is certainly on par with the American Hockey League and they've got a lot of skilled players over there. For a defenseman to do what he has done over there is a very positive sign. Our expectation with Libor is we're going to try to bring him over to North America as we get into the spring here once their season is done over in Finland. If Grand Rapids is fortunate to be in the playoffs, I think it would be a great experience for him to come over and be a part of that."

GOALTENDERS

Filip Larsson, Goalie, 6-foot-2, 187 pounds

Sixth Round, 167th overall, 2016 NHL Entry Draft

Team: Tri-City Storm, USHL

Stats: GP-18 W-14 L-4 T-0 SO-5 GAA-1.45 Save percentage .946

Martin: "I believe he's already committed to the University of Denver. He's had a great year in the USHL. He's one of the best goalies in the USHL and I think his development, he's a later developing guy. That's all I can really point to. Nobody in our staff expected him to have this much of an impact or we probably would have drafted him earlier. But to his credit, he's just a guy that was a later developer. He played in a lower league and he had to get comfortable there before he had some level of success. I'm not a member of the Swedish national staff but I don't think he was even on their radar really until late last year when they brought him into the mix and he sort of went from the afterthought goalie to he made the team and he was the number two and frankly, I think was challenging the number one to play the primary minutes at the world junior. He only ended up playing one game but he looked good doing it. He looked great here in the Summer Showcase event. He's a guy that's been on a real steep upward trajectory this last year or so. We think it's great that he's in North America now in the USHL playing on small ice and we think it's great he's going to head to college. We think it's good for him to play over here on the smaller ice and play big minutes."

Chase Perry, Goalie, 6-foot-3, 195 pounds

Fifth Round, 136th overall, 2014 NHL Entry Draft

Team: RPI Engineers

Stats: GP-11 W-1 L-7 T-2 SO-0 GAA-3.55 Save percentage .897

Martin: "I know that he's had some challenges there in terms of opportunity and playing time. I think the other goalie there they've probably relied on more than Chase. That's fine, he's young enough and it's early enough in his career where he needs to work through this adversity and use it as a positive. It's a different coaching staff there today than when he got there, that may have something to do with it. Certainly the college game is such that when you're only playing two games a week, the coach has the ability sometimes just to ride one guy. Chase is going to have to use that as motivation to put in the extra work and find his game again. He has upside and we still see that."

Keith Petruzzelli, Goalie, 6-foot-6, 185 pounds

Third Round, 88th overall, 2017 NHL Entry Draft

Team: Quinnipiac University Bobcats

Stats: GP-6 W-1 L-2 T-0 SO-0 GAA-3.95 Save Percentage .860

Martin: "He's a true freshman and that's not all that common these days in college hockey. He had a good showing at the summer camp in Plymouth, where he was on our radar to be a member of the U.S. World Junior team. Quinnipiac historically has been an older college team, they've had a lot of success. Rand Pecknold's done a really good job there coaching. They do have another good goalie and that's great. We see that competition as a real positive. I think it's a real positive environment for Keith to go in there and have to fight for his job. Rand is a friend of Jeff Blashill's, I can remember talking with Rand and Jeff early in the fall and Rand correctly pointed out, 'Hey, this guy's never had to fight to be the starter. He's just always been given the starting job.' That's not always a good thing. It's good for players to have to go through some adversity and be challenged for playing time. "He came out of the gates and played one of their first games of the year that I saw against Boston University and was probably the only reason the game got to overtime. He was terrific. I think since then, maybe he let his foot off the gas a little bit and the other goalie kind of picked up his game to the point now where the other guy's gotten more of the starts but I was just talking with their coaches the other day and Keith's had some excellent weeks of practice and he's back in the mix and he's going to start playing more the second half of the year. For a guy who's always been given the starting job to have to fight for the opportunity to play, he's going to have to do that as a pro so the sooner he learns how to deal with that and use it as a positive, the better it's going to be for his development."