Former Philadelphia Flyers goalie and current club GM Ron Hextall doesn't believe in forcing young players into the NHL lineup. He preaches patience - allowing a player time to grow and mature, usually in the AHL or with their junior team.
So in light of that, it was a little surprising that 19-year-old defenseman Sam Morin lasted with the big club this late into the preseason before the team finally shipped him back down to juniors today.
TSN's Bob McKenzie had been reporting that the Flyers wanted to keep the young blue liner on the squad this season - or at least through the first nine games, allowing him to gain experience without counting toward his entry-level deal - and were looking to facilitate a trade in order to make that happen.
The Flyers defense has been a major issue in recent seasons.
Their current defensive pairings - Marc Streit and Nick Grossman, Braydon Coburn and Andrew MacDonald, and Luke Schenn and Michael Del Zotto - consist mostly of older, bigger players who are poor skaters (Streit, Grossman, Coburn) - a death sentence in today's NHL where puck-moving, offensive minded defensemen are the new norm - and young reclamation projects that haven't yet panned out (Schenn, Del Zotto, MacDonald).
The likely candidates to have been shipped out were Schenn and Grossman, both veterans with big price tags who were brought to the team via the trade route in recent seasons.
"First of all, I have not heard anything," the 24-year-old Schenn said. "This isn't my first time. ... I felt I've dealt with that a couple of times even before I got traded [for James van Riemsdyk]. It's completely out of my control.
"All I can say is, I absolutely love playing for the Flyers. It's a great organization. It's been great to have a chance to play with Brayden, and the Flyers are a team that competes every year. I really enjoy it here."
Hextall denied the rumor, saying it had "zero credibility."
"I'm not going to talk about trades," Hextall said last night. "But I will give you one other piece of advice. Don't believe everything you read.
"I believe in what I believe in. My philosophy won't change in terms of rushing a young player. We're not going to keep a kid that's going to be here 15 years because we think, 'Wow, it's nice to have a young kid in the lineup.' So, any decision that we make on young players is going to be what's best for the player, because in turn, that's what's best for the franchise."
Maybe so, but Coach Craig Berube sounded like a man excited by the prospect of working with Morin's prodigious physical and mental tools.
"I was wondering if he was ready. But when gets in the game, he can play. He moves well, and he's intense. He seems to sustain that throughout a game and doesn't get tired."
But he also did his best to temper his own enthusiasm.
"Given that, he's got a lot of things to work on - like a lot of young guys do."
As for Morin, he says that he didn't expect to stay this long, but he's doing his best to work hard, remain focused and learn. He'll be returned to his Quebec Major Junior Hockey League team, Rimouski.
"I didn't expect to stay this long," Morin said. "I'm just enjoying it right now and learning how a pro works.
"Every day I am here is a good day for me. I am learning and improving," he said. "[Staying] here or [going] back to junior is a good option for me because my junior team [is] ranked first in Canada now. We have a really good team. Both scenarios are good for me."
In five preseason games, Morin had a plus-2 rating with 10 shots and four penalty minutes. He did not have any points, but impressed Hextall and Berube with his movement and his physicality.
"He's a big guy - and he plays like a big guy," Berube said.
"Typically, when you have a young kid his size, you don't have that much control of your body," said Hextall. "He's a developed young man."
Berube did not dress Morin for the Flyers latest preseason game against the Washington Capitals, a move some took as a sign that Morin was headed back to juniors.
As of late Thursday, Hextall claimed that the team had not yet made any final determinations on where Morin would end up this season.
"When we make a decision there, we will let you know," Hextall said. "He's done a good job."
Morin, showing the maturity that has made the Flyers think twice about sending him back to juniors, isn't letting the talk of a possibly permanent stay affect him.
"If you are thinking about the future, it's not good. Be in the present and enjoy it," he said
