Decision time nears

During practice today, Dean Lombardi pointed about that the 10-game plateau, for junior players, isn’t necessarily a deadline. He’s correct, in that a player could be returned to junior beyond 10 games, but at that point, the team would still eat a year of the player’s entry-level contract. That’s where the importance of the 10-game mark comes in, and Kyle Clifford is scheduled to reach that mark by playing in tomorrow night’s game against Dallas.

What about Brayden Schenn? Schenn is stuck on eight games, and today Terry Murray indicated that he would recommend that Schenn return to his junior team. Schenn has two assists in eight games, but has been a healthy scratch in five of the last 11 games.

“My gut feel on it is that he might need to go back and play, go to junior and play,” Murray said of Schenn. “That’s my gut feel, and that will be the conversation we [Murray and Lombardi] have. That’s not a firm, strong opinion obviously, it’s just my opinion. It has a little bit of weight, but it doesn’t carry everything. So we’ll discuss it and we’ll see where it comes out.”

One theory, brought up today by Jim Fox, is that Clifford, right now, is playing a role closer to the one that he projects to, long-term. He’s playing a fourth-line energy role, and it’s easy to see Clifford ease into a similar third-line role in short time. Schenn, meanwhile, is playing limited minutes on the fourth line, but projects as a possible top-six forward, so he’s not necessarily developing in the role that matches his long-term future. Murray agreed with the idea of the projections.

MURRAY: “That’s the way you have to do it. That’s the right way. That’s the way the young guys are drafted. You sit there as a scout, and you’re viewing over a couple years and trying to project who is going to fit in your organization some day. That’s where I do see Schenn as a player. He’s going to be on your top two lines. He’s a very intelligent guy. He’s creative. He’s got that gritty game that plays along the boards well. With Clifford, I see him as a third-line left winger with the ability to move up for short periods of time. I’ve really enjoyed watching him improve here, since the training camp started this year. His physical makeup is that of a man. He is so mature, in that part of it. His testing has overwhelmed everybody in just about every area. His intelligence, his hockey adaptation to the NHL game is getting better. He’s hungry, he talks, he asks questions in meetings when watching video. He’s not just listening. `What about this? What about if I do that? I need to be better.’ That’s great stuff for a guy that’s 19 years old. So those kinds of inquisitive questions, he’s going to apply it. It’s going to work in practice, and next thing you know, it’s going to work in a game for him.”