TAKING SIPS FROM A FIREHOSE

With the talented young rearguard Matt Niskanen floundering I got to thinking; Are we seeing the residue from a kid who skipped the step of playing at least a half a year in the minors?

Niskanen basically stepped right from college at Minn-Duluth to the NHL. Not many do that. Sure being paired with Zubov helped the transition but Niskanen didn't look out of place at the time. Now, at times, he does - and those times are becoming more frequent.

His confidence appears wilted and he seems neither fast enough nor strong enough to handle the NHL game right now. Nisky's plus/minus rating is a team worst -9. His best work has been done with the puck and Crawford has trotted him out on the powerplay a lot over the first two months. He has repaid him with 4 PP assists. Four.

His young Dallas D-men contemporaries arrived in The Show on a different trajectory.

Nik Grossman: 2 years in AHL after a half season in Swedish pro league.

Mark Fistric: 150 games in AHL

Trevor Daley spent a year and a half in the AHL

Even the most senior veteran defensemen on this team, Robidas and Skrastins, spent a full season in the minors before becoming every day  NHLers.

Matt Niskanen? He played just 13 games.

Playing in the minors or "carrying a bag" as it's sometimes referred to, can give a guy a base of play to alsways go back to while at the same time motivate him to never ever have to physically go back to the far less glamorous life of minor league hockey.

Perhaps Matt will pull himself out of this funk he's in. I really hope so, he's gifted and important to the organization. But if he does he'll do so like the guy who puts the project together without ever glancing at the instruction sheet. There will be just enough screws and bolts left over to make you wonder if it could have been assembled better.