Should AHL teams run the same system as their NHL parent club?

It's the case in Pittsburgh, but Detroit and Grand Rapids differ in how they approach the game. For the Stars and Predators it's a hybrid model.

Mark Friedman has split his season between the Pittsburgh and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, playing 24 games in the AHL and 17 in the NHL.

Each time the defenseman has been recalled from or sent back to the AHL, the system hasn’t changed.

Both versions of the Penguins run the same system. What Mike Sullivan wants with the NHL club is directly reflected by what J.D. Forrest runs in the AHL.

“It’s a pretty seamless transition when guys get called up,” Sullivan said. “They understand the details and it’s just a matter of adjusting too, you know, the quicker pace and the windows of opportunity open and close faster (in the NHL).”

Sullivan added there are minor differences that can be accounted to logistics and personnel, the AHL club doesn’t have Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, but in general the minor-league club is a top-down reflection schematically of the NHL team.

You’d think this would be the norm across NHL franchises.

It isn’t.