Some people aren’t happy with the cuts that were made yesterday — two promising prospects and the necessity to trim down the roster.
There are a pair of telling quotes about one of the cuts however. Damian Cristodero got the following remark from Rick Tocchett regarding Matt Lashoff:
“I don’t think he came into camp vying for a job,” coach Rick Tocchet said. “He’s a good prospect, and I think he’s going to be a good defenseman, but I don’t know if he had a good camp. I think there’s an urgency to his play that has to be shown. I was disappointed in his camp, yeah. I thought he would have been a little bit better prepared knowing the numbers on defense and the competition.”
General manager Brian Lawton further drove home the point on Lashoff:
“What happened to him, in some degree, was it was a little overwhelming for some of the younger players in regards to the level of competition,” Lawton said. “Matt and I discussed that, and he probably didn’t respond the way he needed to find long-term success. But that’s part of being a younger player, and he’ll be stronger for it.”
That tells the tale of one of the two cuts.. A tight roster and a poor camp will get you every time. But what about Mike Lundin? Many a fan were rooting for him to make the team. Coach Tocchet summarizes it as exactly what it was: The odd man out. The music stopped and Mike was the one left without a chair.
“A tough one,” Tocchet said. “Mike Lundin played really well. … It’s not like Mike Lundin did anything wrong.”
Cristodero made another vital point that fans need to remember regarding either player rejoining the team this season: Neither player will face re-call waivers to be promoted back to Tampa Bay. If there were to be injuries, or perhaps roster space created by way of trade, Mike Lundin could find his way to Tampa (in contrast, last season after his demotion, the Bolts would have had to expose Mike to waivers in order to recall him). As for right now, though, he’s a Norfolk Admiral.
