Let me lay out what we actually saw. ASP, the 2023 first rounder, opened the season in the NHL and played the team's first 26 games. Top four minutes, running a power play unit, 2 goals and 4 assists. For a young right-shot offensive D that is a meaningful look. The question now is the curve. Do you keep him up eating sheltered minutes, or do you let him drive bus down in Grand Rapids and dominate? I lean toward him needing reps where he is the guy, not the fifth option. Upside is a genuine top pairing PP quarterback. The floor is a power play specialist. What is the right path?
The honest answer is the defensive zone reads. The hands and the vision were never in doubt. Top four minutes in the NHL as a rookie blueliner is hard and you could see the gaps under pressure. There is no shame in sending him down to be the number one D on a winning Griffins club. That is not a demotion, that is a plan.
People said the exact same things about Edvinsson two years ago and look at him now. The big minutes ARE the development. You learn to defend at this level by defending at this level.
I would push back gently ES. Edvinsson grew into a shutdown role partly because he could lean on his frame and reach. ASP is a different profile, he is going to win with brain and puck skill, and rushing the defensive learning can build bad habits. Gap control is taught in reps where mistakes do not cost games.
The on-ice rates in those 26 games were what you would expect from a rookie D getting his feet wet, the offense flashed and the defensive results lagged. That is not a red flag, it is the textbook pattern. The right move is whatever maximizes high-leverage reps. If he is top pairing and PP1 in GR, that is more valuable than 12 minutes a night up here.
And for what it is worth the Griffins are a 16-1 type club this year, so it is not like he would be going down to develop in a losing environment. He would be the QB on a contender. Best of both worlds honestly.
This is the conversation I wanted. Consensus seems to be the talent is real, the read is the D-zone, and the answer is high-leverage reps wherever they are. Comparable in my notebook is a smooth puck mover who needed a year to slow the game down before the defensive details caught up.
Whatever they decide, the fact that we are debating the development path of a 2023 first rounder who already looked NHL ready is the plan working. Two years ago we would have killed for this problem.
Saw him at camp and the thing that stood out was how calm he was with the puck under forecheck. The defending will come. He is too smart for it not to.