As those of you in the latter stages of the Columbus OGT know, I was hanging around but not watching the Avs game. Instead, I had focused on the Lake Erie game (against the Mike Keane-captained Manitoba Moose) and specifically on the once-and-future wunderkind Stoa-Hensick-Haydar line. I was surprised when I kept noticing Hensick pushing the pace and making plays all over the ice. I found myself entranced by this offensive "Dinamo" that we had all come to know and mock relentlessly.

It got me thinking. Where does this kid go from here? Let's take a journey and see if we can find any answers.

July 30, 2005 at the Westin Hotel in Ottawa, Canada. The Lockout had ended and the 43rd NHL Entry Draft was finally set to begin. The Penguins were the darling with Sidney Crosby on the cusp of changing the franchise’s fortunes. Our beloved Colorado Avalanche were sitting on a solid NHL roster and were looking to rebuild a farm system sorely lacking in impact players. The organization’s top prospects were Wojtek Wolski, Marek Svatos, and Peter Budaj (David Jones was ranked 12th, btw). Change was in the air following the lockout and building through the draft would become the way of the “New NHL”, starting on this day.

The Avs continued adding to their stockpile of picks by trading out of the first round and ended up with 5 players in rounds 2 and 3. T.J. Hensick, center from the University of Michigan, was drafted 88th overall and following a successful Avalanche draft would open 10th on Hockey’s Future’s Avalanche prospects board. Their first scouting report of Hensick:

One way to describe T. J. Hensick is poetry in high-speed motion. He is a tremendously gifted offensive player who combines flair and creativity with blazing speed. He is of the pure goal-scorer variety. Hensick is a player who is very confident and has excellent hockey sense. His speed and quickness makes him an extremely difficult player to defend against. Hensick is very good on faceoffs, possesses a very quick release and dominates with the puck. The biggest knock on Hensick may be that he tends to avoid the physical side of the game. He has demonstrated that he can give and take the hits but it is not often, if rarely evident. He could also be more involved in the defensive side of the game as well.

 

HF would go on to say that Hensick "may in fact be the most NHL-ready player of all the 2005 Avalanche draft picks."

T.J. Hensick would be firmly entrenched as the # 1 prospect for the Avs less than two years later.

The future looked bright with Stastny (from the same draft class, mind you) already starring as the future #1 center and "Hensiiiiiick" steadily developing, the Avs looked like they were set up the middle for years to come. He hit the AHL running and on a bad Monsters team Hensick finished his rookie campaign with 12 goals and 33 assists for 45 points in 50 games. Everything was looking up for Hensick.

Then his NHL career began.

He started off with a bang, scoring his first NHL goal against the Los Angeles Kings in just his second game. Hensick would go on to post an 11 point (6g, 5a) rookie campaign that spanned 31 games and 4 different call-ups. In 2 playoff games, he managed 1 assist.  His future certainly still looked solid but a tiny piece of the shine had worn off

Coming into the next season, Hensick was given every opportunity to make the team out of training camp and failed to do so. This would be the first of what would be a monumentally disappointing season for Hensick and the team alike. Hensick was called up and played his first game of the 08-09 season against the Minnesota Wild on November 6, notching an assist on the Avs' lone goal. Hensick would chip in 4 assists in his first 7 games and finished the month of November a +3. He added 6 points in December and 7 in January.

Following the 4-3 loss on January 31st to Anaheim, in which Hensick tossed in 1 assist and finished with a -2, Hensick's season would nosedive and he would score just 4 more points (zero goals) the rest of the season while consistently finishing on the south side of +/-.

By the end of the season, Hensiiiiick had turned into Hensuck and was channeling his inner-Trailer. MHH had seemingly given up on a kid who was nearly a point-per-game player at every single level he's played. His career arc shows a trend upwards in every year he repeats a level and he becomes more accustomed to the speed of the game.

Even this season, after a fairly solid showing in a 7 game cameo (1g, 2 a), Hensick was placed on waivers. A day later he cleared and has since resumed his role as sole consistent offensive contributor on yet another bad Monsters team. All of this leads me to my question:

What happened to T.J. Hensick?

Might he have come into the organization at the worst possible time? His first taste of the NHL was sporadic stays with a team that would eventually make the playoffs and advance to the second round. Not a ton of time for the kid to get comfortable between the lower lines . His first major exposure to the NHL came during the worst season in franchise history when the team's highest scorer had a blistering 59 points and spent 4 solid months tanking (we won an incredible 3 games from March 2 to April 12). He was the number 1 prospect in the franchise's darkest hour. With the next wave of forward prospects already upon us in Duchene, O'Reilly, and Galiardi, where does Hensick fit into the team's future plans?

With the three rookie stars this year combined with the breakout efforts of Stewart and, to a lesser extent, Jones and Wolski, has the Colorado Avalanche organization accidentally given up on a player who had 99 NHL games (across 3 different seasons so far) before his 24th birthday and has excelled offensively at every level he has played?

I may be one of the few remaining who believes a lot of solid NHL minutes are left to be played by T.J. Hensick. The kid has the same weaknesses he did when he played in the NCAA and AHL. He isn't big, tough, or exceptionally strong. He doesn't take part in the more physical aspects of the game and his defensive zone problems absolutely need to be shored up to at least a respectable level in order to stick in the NHL.

Where does Hensick go from here? Does he continue toiling in the AHL as the forgotten, former top prospect, who entered the organization at an awkward time and then was lost in the shuffle until the end of this season where he seeks a job elsewhere on a club with a better opportunity? Hensick's entry-level contract expires after this season, making him a restricted free agent. Does he continue toiling in Lake Erie on bad teams or look for a club just looking for some talent to plug into the organization? With half a season left to prove himself more than just a very solid AHL-caliber player, Hensick has the opportunity to star as the offensive catalyst for a team with very little scoring potential. Even if he does, will the Avalanche give him another look?

Personally, I think Hensick is likely going to be a casualty of a numbers game with the success of Duchene, O'Reilly, and Galiardi. Because he wasn't an instant success, he's been phased out by those that were. The Avs suddenly find themselves very deep at solid, two-way centers and Hensick likely won't get another chance to let his game continue to develop in an Avalanche uniform without some significant injuries (always a risk with these guys).

At the age of 24 with 99 NHL games under his belt, T.J. Hensick finds his career at a bit of a crossroads. What happens next is ultimately up to him. If his game steps up, I sure hope the Avalanche pay attention and don't shrug him off. He still has plenty of potential in him.