Cole Knuble has two goals in two games since joining the Flyers, and the decision to start him in the AHL is aging badly.
He was Philadelphia's best forward in preseason. The Flyers' response was to send him down and sign Garrett Wilson and Michael Bunting to NHL contracts.
In retrospect, that call didn't age well.
It was the wrong move at the time, too. A 22-year-old who outplays veterans in camp should get the NHL job, not a bus ticket.
It's like a restaurant tasting the new cook's best dish of the week, then sending him back to wash dishes while two temps run the grill.
The numbers make it worse. Bunting has no goals in seven games and has gone minus-5.
Wilson, 35, has yet to register a point in two games.
Michael Bunting and Garrett Wilson got the jobs Knuble earned
Knuble, meanwhile, has a +2 rating on a $980,000 cap hit.
Philadelphia's offense needs every goal it can find. The Flyers have scored just 20 in 12 games.
They're finally finding some life, though. Wednesday's 3-1 win in Buffalo made it three straight victories.
Anaheim visits Saturday, a chance to stretch the streak to four.
Matvei Michkov leads the team with six goals, while Porter Martone, 19, is learning on the fly with three points.
-
Sean Couturier, meanwhile, has no goals through 12 games at a $7,750,000 cap hit.
That's the youth movement this rebuild is supposed to be about. Burying a productive young forward behind veterans on cheap deals runs against it.
Two goals in two games won't make him a star. It does make him awfully hard to send back.
Both Owen Tippett and Travis Konecny are on injured reserve until at least Oct. 24.
So where does Knuble fit when they return? Rick Tocchet has a choice to make, and sending him down again would repeat the same mistake.
Should Cole Knuble stay with the Flyers when Tippett and Konecny return?
Also read on Markerzone.com:
Brady Tkachuk loses his cool and gets tossed in an emotional return to Ottawa
