Bet the House: Joey Hishon

I don't really have an answer to this myself, so I'll simply pose a question.

Does Joey Hishon have a place on the 2015-16 NHL roster?

And, for that matter, how much of it is in his control?

If Mikhail Grigorenko shows up as the player we think he can be, or if Mikko Rantanen makes the team out of camp and shows he belongs, then Hishon gets pushed even further down a depth chart he was already marginalized by.

We know from the past two seasons that Coach Roy would rather play guys like MA Cliche or Patrick Bordeleau or Cody McLeod to fill out his forward lines than young scoring prospects like Hishon or Andrew Agozzino.

We also know that Hishon was basically told to improve his defensive play and has shown good progress in that area with the Team Formerly Known As The Monsters.

So basically, what this adds up to is one of two things has to happen for us to see Hishon the Av rather than Hishon the Rampage. Rantanen can't be NHL ready and Grigorenko can't emerge as a top-six player. That's Thing 1 even though it looks like 2 things. Either that, or Roy needs to suddenly decide he wants a different 4th line makeup than he's ever had before, and I wish he would because it really isn't the shade for this team. If Roy decides to turn away from Glue Guys™ and Muscle™ for 25% of his forwards, Hishon may have a chance at some very limited, protected minutes, but as he isn't likely to kill any NHL penalties that option is still unlikely regardless. It's too bad, because Hishon has great hands and is a fan favorite for a reason.

What do you guys think the future season holds for Hishon? Think I'm off base? I could easily be off base on this one.