I heard a guy say about McDonagh just after the trade… “he’s who old an hasn’t played a pro game yet?”…

Usually if guys are really as good as he was hyped as being they get called up fast.

Alot of prospects have tons of potential but just never develop into what the team had originally envisioned… Think of Corey Locke… a guy who just tore up the OHL offensively but then could just never crack the lineup… and he’s still in the AHL with another organisation.

Some people were hard on Chipchura early this year too… but he really didn’t have a pre-season because he was just coming off shoulder surgery so he’s just warmed up now. I’ve really liked what I see in him. He’s not fast, but he’ll play hard every night, drop the gloves, throw the hit… good smart player.

And yeah, Pyatt is really in that mold. Not sure he’ll drop the gloves, but he’s a better skater then Chipchura and is playing really well in Hamilton.

Can’t wait to see Pyatt get a call up.

Looks like the trade wasn’t too bad after all.

Thanks for the comments Riel!

We also lost Ryan MacDonaugh in the deal. A 12th overall pick who some thought was a steal. People were enraged at Gainey for throwing in the guy in a deal that was already questionable (7 million a year for Gomez).

It now turns out that many scouts are pegging Ryan as nothing more than a defensive bottom pairing defencemen. He wasn’t improving as well as the Habs had hoped, so they traded him. And they are still right up to this point, he isn’t having a break-through season in college as of yet.

Pyatt on the other hand is a Chipchura like prospect. Someone we may use on the 3rd line for years and years to come. Some thought Chipchura wasn’t NHL material, but lately he’s been proving those people wrong. And now it looks as though Pyatt is the first guy to be called up in the event of an injury.

All this to say, I’m really high on this prospect, and it goes to show that Gainey and Trevor Timmons do their homework when it comes to trades.

That could be it.

Minutes before your comment… Tom Pyatt just scored another goal for Hamilton.

Thanks for the comments!