Go Easy With Lehner
The plan should be to get Lehner back to the AHL as quickly as possible. He needs to play. And he needs time to develop in the AHL, rather than being thrown into the fire at the NHL level.
Call me crazy (you won’t be the first), but Robin Lehner‘s difficult AHL debut may turn out to be a blessing in disguise.
In case you hadn’t heard, Lehner was pretty much shelled in the Binghamton Senators 7-1 loss to the visiting Hershey Bears on Friday night.
From Ottawa, we didn’t see the game, but from reporter descriptions, we can picture the big rookie sprawling, moving a bit too much, perhaps trying a bit too hard, as the professional AHL shooters took full advantage.
Keep in mind, the kid was rusty. He sat around Ottawa for days waiting to get his visa papers so he could work in the U.S. His last pre-season game was Sept. 28 against Buffalo, and so he went nearly three weeks between games.
Here’s why giving up seven goals in his debut is not such a bad thing in the long run: it should help temper expectations that with Pascal Leclaire injured YET AGAIN, there shouldn’t be this idea that Lehner is going to ride in on his white horse and be the Senators saviour.
With Mike Brodeur out with a concussion, Lehner was recalled on Saturday to back up Brian Elliott as the Senators visit the Montreal Canadiens.
The plan should be to get Lehner back to the AHL as quickly as possible. He needs to play. And he needs time to develop in the AHL, rather than being thrown into the fire at the NHL level, trying to bail out the Senators and their recurring goaltending nightmares.
I also believe that Lehner is not ready to take over as the sens #1 goalie, but after seeing him get a 5 – 0 shutout against the leafs big guns for his 1st nhl game, I couldn’t help but to be reminded of Brodeur’s first 2 games that sparked Elliott to win 9 straight games. I’m not saying that we will win another 11 in a row, but I do think that bringing him up until Leclaire is better, will definitely give Lehner an opportunity for a taste or 2 of regular season action in the nhl & a chance to familiarize himself with the hype & excitement of hockey at the nhl level.It will also be helping him to get to know the boys that he will eventually be working with.