Surely there’s no chance of a spot for Rome though? Perhaps he’s playing for another team to pick him up on the waiver wire when we send him down. If it works for nycholat, it can work for anyone.

I liked what I saw in Grabner. He was exceptionally fast, although obviously nervous, but what impressed me most was his ability to anticipate where the puck was going. Same with Raymond, who shows that anticipation defensively as well. I like the thought of Grabner Kesler and Raymond on the same line.

Yeah, I thought Grabner looked good, too. He also looked to me like a gifted young offensive player concentrating on defense first, presumably because he’s been told that that is where he will make or break his chances this year, and played cautiously as a result.

He looked comfortable playing the point on the PP, tho, but then, in that situation, there’s not much need for him to worry about defense. Even if an opponent managed to steal the puck and break back the other way, Grabner could probably catch up and he knows it, so he could just relax and focus on offense and as a result, seemed like a good fit back there.

One realization, tho is slowly dawning in my tiny brain: I have muchly underestimated Mike Gillis’s “keep pushing them” tendencies.

Gillis wants to keep up the pressure on his guys full-time, moreso than his soft-spoken, rumpled manner would indicate, and that means having guys like Shirok & Grabner (or players of similar calibre) on the Moose and ready at a moment’s notice to step up. All GM’s do this, of course, but I now see Gillis as being more committed to it than average, by a fair bit.

Which means we might be overly anticipating trades that ain’t gonna happen, at least not any time soon. Gillis’s mental equation on a player’s worth includes more of that player’s “push factor” than we are used to seeing. And look at the results with Bernier & Wellwood so far. Why let up?

If a g-r-e-a-t deal lands in his lap, then he’ll take it. But absent that, I don’t see us trading these guys anytime soon, not even for equivalent value. In the case of Grabner, it might well mean another season on the Moose, hoping for a call-up long the way.

At least, that’s my sense of it … for which I can offer no evidence whatsoever.

Demitra can’t be brought back till cap room is made for him. Till then, it’s just the owners’ money being spent, and the current owners – per the Luongo deal – seem OK with that if it gets them a contender. So Demitra can sit at least as long as it takes Gillis to determine whom he wants to keep and/or trade Demitra himself.

Decision time comes on guys like Hodgson when their trial game quotas are used up. Which … is almost to the day when Demitra is expected to be ready! That’s why I think Demitra is in on this. Yes, his injury and recovery are real, but the perfect timing suggests it’s also being conveniently extended. If this were the playoffs, he’d be on the ice. He’s just helping Gillis out, IMHO.

I gotta think that Gillis will return the favor, too. Either PD plays w/the Canucks and some other guys get sent down (reluctantly traded if and only if necessary) or MG trades Demitra to a team of Demitra’s choice for whatever we can get. If we keep an extra youngster, meaning we trade Demitra, then Demitra might have to first spend some add’l time on the LTIR while it’s being arranged, but like I say, it’s only the owners’ money!

Betcha Gillis himself doesn’t know what he wants to do yet cuz he hasn’t seen enough of his team to make a decision, especially the newer guys, doubly especially Shirokov.