Devin Setoguchi Suspended For Being Selfish?

Minnesota Wild forward, Devin Setoguchi has made headlines recently and he wants to set the record straight so the story does not reflect poorly on him.  Or should it?

You may recall Setoguchi signed with the Ontario Reign of the ECHL as a place to play during the NHL lockout.  Recently Setoguchi informed the club he was taking a leave of absence until the lockout was either lifted or the season was cancelled.  Michael Russo of the Star Tribune then heard that the Reign has issued a statement that the team had suspended Setoguchi indefinitely for not providing a reason for his leave.

Russo did what any good journalist would do, he followed up on the story and ended up speaking with Setoguchi personally who wanted to clarify the situation.

Russo reports that Setoguchi decided he didn’t want to play during the holidays, hence the leave.  He confirmed with Russo that there was no incident that warranted the team to suspend him, rather this is the Reign’s way of keeping Setoguchi on their roster.

"“[The coach] wants to keep me on the roster, but this way no one else can pick me up.”"

This makes sense for the Reign to protect Setoguchi’s rights, who has 13 points through 10 games with the California based club.  It also speaks of a little selfishness on Setoguchi’s part simply because he doesn’t want to play during the holidays.  Maybe he should have thought of this before he committed to the team and took another player’s spot and paycheck.

Setoguchi, who was acquired from the San Jose Sharks as part of the Brent Burns trade at the 2011 NHL Entry Draft has confirmed that he will skate with other NHL players in the San Jose area during the holidays, proving that he not only wants his cake but he wants to eat it too.

Just another spoiled locked out NHL player?  We’ll leave that up to you to decide.  Leave your comments and let us know what you think of Setoguchi’s actions.