From Griffinshockey.com’s Mark Newman:
His teammates joke that he’s been playing in Grand Rapids for 20 years. And while his tenure with the Griffins hasn’t quite reached even half that amount of time, he indeed has been playing in the Red Wings organization for the better part of a decade.
Brian Lashoff has appeared in more regular season games as a Griffin than any player except Travis Richards and in more postseason contests than anyone but Nathan Paetsch. It’s easy to forget that Lashoff, now in his ninth season in Grand Rapids, is still only 27 years old.
The native of Albany, N.Y., signed with Detroit as an undrafted free agent defenseman at the age of 18 and made his pro debut for the Griffins late in the 2008-09 campaign. He tallied five points in six regular season games then added five more points in eight playoff contests, before returning to Kingston of the Ontario Hockey League for his final junior season in 2009-10.
Admittedly, he was not the player that he would eventually become. Now considered one of the most dependable defenseman ever to don a Griffins jersey, the young Lashoff was willing to take risks for the sake of points.
“Coming out of junior hockey, I was a little more of an offensive player, but I had holes in my game,” Lashoff said. “This is a good league that will expose those holes, so I matured a lot by playing with and against good players.”
If Lashoff comes back as a veteran leader, then we have to cut loose several other guys and make room for younger guys.
Lashoff, Russo, Renouf, McIlrath. Pick 1. Get rid of the other 3. There is also a high probability that guys like Ouellet or Jensen get waived, go unclaimed, and end up back in Grand Rapids. How many veterans with no NHL future do we need?
Jeebus, man, it’s just a nice story about Brian Lashoff, you don’t have to turn it into an indictment of the organization. Why catastrophize everything?
The Wings are likely to cut ties with Renouf and Russo and hang on to Lashoff and McIlrath. Some of the Wings’ prospects will end up in Toledo–Ryan Martin recently suggested that the Walleye will be much more Wings prospect-heavy, as will the Griffins–but they’re not going to get rid of everybody.
The Griffins have a very, very hard task in attempting to both accommodate prospects and build a core of veterans around the kids who know how to win. It’s not a tragedy when the Griffins re-sign a couple of veterans. Ultimately, if the prospects are ready to steal jobs, they will do that at the AHL level, too.
You’re just asking this question now? 😛
So keep Lashoff and get rid of the others. He’s a good veteran mentor. Just don’t see the point in keeping around a bunch of 25-26 year olds with no future. I mean in the last playoff run we had kids like Hronek and Saarijarvi and Hicketts either being scratched or very sheltered, while folks like Lashoff and Russo and Renouf and Paetsch logged big minutes. I just don’t see the point of that.
“McIlrath makes everyone feel a head taller” Great template for future pick or 2 ….just make them a tiny bit faster.
Steady, Smart, Super Veteran Lashoff as a partner probably keeps rookies from tinkling a little when given prime time minutes.
Renouf and Russo seem very athletic and smart… just not old enough or big enough. See above.
Do you imply Hickets is a Red Wing soon George?
I don’t know what happens to Hicketts. When he’s ready, he’ll be up, but it’s up to him to determine that, not me.
well… AHL playoff mvp would do it…maybe