The Lashoff file

I was just thinking about this the other day. It seems like we've been hearing that name - Lashoff - for years now as a bona fide prospect. When is he going to make his way up from the Baby B's?!? I quit holding my breath a long time ago and forgot about it, but is he ready to live up to his touted potential or is he just another bust???

Didn't we have a Penner in camp? He was a late cut iirc.

Penner, McQuaid, Bodnarchuk are the other guys down there. Penner did stick around thru camp. Boychuk's played beyond expectations, so I doubt Chia would be willing to risk exposing him to re-entry which is too bad. Lashoff just doesn't seem to be ready to make the jump.

Lashoff is what he is,a puck moving D that can get burnt sometimes.The age old question,is he worth it? If claude style has sunk in with the forwards,he may not be needed.

At 22, I would wait a long while before calling someone a bust. If he was -40 and had zero points in the ECHL, then I might go that route. He could still play another two years in the AHL and then come up at 24. He could still have a solid ten year career.

I don't care who they call up as long as they keep the winning machine rolling.

Harv: When you pick a guy in the first round (21st overall I believe) at age 18 you don't expect to wait 6 years for him to develop and then get a 10 year career out of him. Thats what you expect out of 4th and 5th and 6th round picks. Of course, PC didn't draft him so what does he truely owe him if there's better options in front of him. Bottom Line, Lash is in his 4th year with the Baby B's. Time to for him to get his head in the game.

Why don't some of you people go to a game in providence and watch this kid. HE IS GOOD!....damn good!!

The kid is only 22 yrs old which is very young for a D-man........most D-men don't come into their own until 24 or 25.

This is his third year with Providence by the way and the kid has come up and played decent when Boston needed him last year. Have some patience!

AK said it, although he had a slow start I feel he can be a good d-man in Boston. He had a huge weekend this past weekend, 4 or 5 points again Worcester Friday. Frankly, I'd like to see him in a shootout much like they did last year here in Prov with Brett Skinner, now with the Islanders. I've seen all the P-B's home games this year and Lashoff is smooth offensively. I can't see any major glaring issues in his defensive side. Give the kid his chance......Scouting report.....let's give him a good look

My bad, I forgot he only played a handful of games in his first year, but its his 4th year in the organization. I'm scared about that minus-5. I never said the kid was hopeless, but so far he's only appeared (from what I seen on TV and at some games) to be an offensive defenseman who struggles on the back end and Wides currently holds that role on the big B's. Who's spot is he going to take? If Hunkwick plays well, is it even worth having him up just be a healthy scratch? Especially if he's such a prized prospect...

I had the pleasure of interviewing Lashoff for one of my journalism classes up at UMaine last year (I worked with a mutual friend at the Alfond). I've been following his career since and I think it's about time he gets some more playing time with the big club. I thought the B's would forgo resigning Ward in the off season and bring Lashoff up full time. I say bring him up, the season is still early.

Would someone please explain how a guy like Boychuk could be called up without risk of being claimed off waivers? Is there a window during the year when they could call him up without risk? Otherwise, why not just take the risk now?

Waivers and re-entry waivers have completely different criteria. Boychuk obviously meets the criteria for waivers as we already waived him when he didn't make the team. As for re-entry waivers, it depends on the players' salary in Providence.
Example, Schaefer and Reich are on 1-way deals so they are clearly subject to re-entry.
Boychuk, however, I'm not so sure. I trust Fluto but I've had people tell me who are respected in their knowledge of the cap that Boychuk is NOT eligible for re-entry because he is on a 2-way contract and his AHL salary is less than $100,000, which is the re-entry cut-off I believe.
Even if I'm right, the B's might be hesitant to call up Boychuk as an injury replacement because if it doesn't work out, he IS eligible for waivers again on the way down.

Fluto, are you POSITIVE that Boychuk is eligible for re-entry waivers??

I too have caught all the PBruins home games. Lashoff has developed well but he reminds me too much of Wideman's liabilities of last year...Struggling to keep the puck in the zone, mistakes on key defensive plays...
Boychuk seems to the big man in the blue line but as stated before. It may be risky bringing him up.

lashoff would be in the nhl on most other teams... the b's brass are being a little too picky about him. he needs to get a real chance and some decent ice time and the results will show for themselves. a few growing pains at first but otherwise he will be just fine.
not to mention, in his previous stints on the big club he has really played well. their complaint? getting the puck out of the corner. that's it. he skates well enough to keep up with speedy forwards. he has the offensive skills that are much needed. he'd be a great addition to the second PP unit now that ference is out. he'd be great in 4 on 4 situations like OT. and he'd also be a good option in the shootout, believe it or not. how is he supposed to pick his game up to the level they are being so picky about if they don't get him game action at NHL speed and pressure? they have to let him get over the hump. it wont cost games, at least not anymore than it will with guys like hunwick, who looks good at times and other times he looks out of place. look at what playing time does for guys like wideman, lucic, kessel. it makes them better.

edogg, if you have to clear waivers to go down, you have to clear them to go back up. if he was on a 2way deal, no waivers necessary at all ever

Mark Stuart just came into his own and became a full time NHL D-man at the age of 23 and Stuart was seen as more of an NHL ready player because his is a keep it simple type of defensive D-man

Lashoff is still 22 yrs old and believe me the kid oozes talent. His skating, passing and offensive game are already NHL caliber and he would be a great addition to the 2nd Powerplay unit over Ference before the injury and Axelsson who is now playing the point on the 2nd unit with Wideman. My point is that you can't write this kid off yet. Here is a clip of Lashoff at the AHL skills competition 2 yrs agohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Y60itpHdRc

M

Wideman really didn't become an impact player until last year at age 24

I'll say it again LASHOFF IS 22

Patience folks

No offense hockey, but you are flat wrong.
Go to nhlscap.com and find some information on re-entry waivers.
Also, a 2-way contract does NOT exonerate you from regular waivers either. Waivers on the way down is based on time served since signing your first NHL contract. BOychuk is on a 2-way contract and he had to clear waivers back in September, right? As I said before, re-entry waivers is based on AHL salary. I appreciate your addressing my question but I have done a lot of research on the CBA etc. and I know you're wrong.
So my question still remains

Edogg is correct, a 2-way contract only indicates that there are different levels of pay for NHL vs AHL (whereas with a 1 way contract the salary remains the same regardless of whether they're playing in the minors or not), it has no bearing on the waiver rules.

In all honesty, I'm pretty sure that Boychucks salary is slim enough that if a team wanted him they'd probably be willing to foot the whole bill if only had to clear regular waivers vs re-entry.

Interesting info Edogg - I never knew what dictated a player being subject to (or exempt from) re-entry waivers ... now I know!

Dennis Wideman was drafted in the 8th round 241st overall.
Lashoff was picked in the first round 22nd overall.
Wides is in his 4th NHL season right now too. Lash can play, no doubt, and could be an impact player, but how much more patience should we have for this kid? If he struggles on the back end down on the farm, how much does that magnify when playing with the big club, or in a playoff game. We're talking about a defenseman who can't really defend that well trying to crack a team whose GM's motto for them is to be "harder to play against". Whoever the guy was on this comment space to claim mark stuart to be an epic fail would have an aneurysm watching Lash develop.

Thank you rockstar. The question now is what is Boychuk's AHL salary? Assuming it's less than $100,000, then he's exempt from re-entry. But they would have to be confident that he would be with the big club for a while because he'd have to clear waivers to go back down and he's starting to make a big name for himself in the A.
Irish Blues, who runs the nhlscap.com site, told me that Boychuk was exempt from re-entry, but it would be nice if Fluto could confirm either way from PC or someone else.

Sharp eye edogg. You are correct. If a player is earning more than $100,000 in the AHL, he is subject to re-entry. Am waiting for an answer from management regarding Boychuk. Hope to get it today.

So if a player is exempt from re-entry, he would only be subject to regular waivers if he were to be sent back down to the AHL then? I just figured the 50% cap hit rule didn't apply, but that makes sense that he'd be able to be recalled with out being exposed but would have to clear in order to be sent back down.

Thanks fluto!

All hail edogg. The immortal Johnny Boychuk is not subject to re-entry waivers because of his AHL salary, according to Peter Chiarelli. So Boychuk can be recalled without worry, although he is subject to regular waivers if he is sent back down. Stick salute to edogg, and two minutes of feeling shame for me.