Calgary Flames Drafting and Development: Your Analysis

[cross16]

Yup no question it's in the bottom 3rd of the league. I don't think it "falls of a  cliff" because while Pelletier and Zary are not necessarily high end prospects they are good ones IMO, with both having a good shot at NHL careers. 

 

But past that then your into roll the dice category. There are some intrigue with some because with a lack of high picks over the last few years there isn't much to get excited about that's fair. There is some potential diamonds in the rough (Beck if he could stay healthy) but that's it. 

 

Why I would be a proponent of keeping picks this year. 

[rickross]

Will the Flames ever give Matthew Phillips a fair shot at the NHL? I get the idea of letting players over ripen in the minors but he’s been down in the system for ages. Sure he’s on the smaller side but for a team desperately in need of skill and speed he has to get in for a couple games this year, at least help boost his confidence, give him some hope! 

[travel_dude]

1 hour ago, rickross said:

Will the Flames ever give Matthew Phillips a fair shot at the NHL? I get the idea of letting players over ripen in the minors but he’s been down in the system for ages. Sure he’s on the smaller side but for a team desperately in need of skill and speed he has to get in for a couple games this year, at least help boost his confidence, give him some hope! 

 

There are players from the AHL that stay there until a smart coach gives them the right chance.

It's not like we have a NHL quality 4th line.  Or positions that seem set because they are so good.

He would be on the Ducks by now, and that's not a shot to the Ducks.

It's the reality that some coaches only see the small picture.

He may not be 100% ready for NHL, but neither was Pelletier.

Takes a couple of games.

[robrob74]

6 hours ago, travel_dude said:

 

There are players from the AHL that stay there until a smart coach gives them the right chance.

It's not like we have a NHL quality 4th line.  Or positions that seem set because they are so good.

He would be on the Ducks by now, and that's not a shot to the Ducks.

It's the reality that some coaches only see the small picture.

He may not be 100% ready for NHL, but neither was Pelletier.

Takes a couple of games.

I like this. I think it takes a few games to get up to game speed, let alone your line mates. 

[Thebrewcrew]

Decision time is coming for the bulk of the 2021 draft class.

 

Calgary made 8 selections. As of now, only one player is signed, Lucas Ciona. 2021 was always going to be a tough draft, getting Ciona in the 6th looks brilliant though.

 

One player signed looks bad, but Coronato, Stromgren and Sergeev don't have to sign in June. The intrigue is with the CHL players.

 

Cole Huckins C- has bounced back from an underwhelming 21/22. 54pts in 58 games, 72pims.

 

Cam Whynot D- Unspectacular. 25pts in 48 games, on a team with a 120pt player.

 

Cole Jordan D- They won't be signing him. He hasn't been able to stay healthy.

 

Jack Beck- Injury concerns, but a very good pick in the 5th round. Point per game the past two seasons. 

 

I'd be signing Beck and Huckins probably as well.

 

Whynot is likely not going to get signed. If he does, it will be a byproduct of the organization being so thin in defensive prospects.

[cross16]

On 3/11/2023 at 3:30 PM, rickross said:

Will the Flames ever give Matthew Phillips a fair shot at the NHL? I get the idea of letting players over ripen in the minors but he’s been down in the system for ages. Sure he’s on the smaller side but for a team desperately in need of skill and speed he has to get in for a couple games this year, at least help boost his confidence, give him some hope! 

 

No, that time is passed already. There are not enough games left in the season to give him a meaningful shot and I think it's basically a given at this point he'll walk as a UFA at the end of the season. 

[rickross]

On 3/13/2023 at 12:45 PM, cross16 said:

 

No, that time is passed already. There are not enough games left in the season to give him a meaningful shot and I think it's basically a given at this point he'll walk as a UFA at the end of the season. 

Seems like more mismanagement and failure to develop on the Flames part. He’s been one of the top scorers in the AHL for a couple years now …his still one of the highest skilled prospects we have, I thought he showed well in the exhibition games…to let him walk after investing this much time would be a typical Flames move.  

[Heartbreaker]

8 minutes ago, rickross said:

Seems like more mismanagement and failure to develop on the Flames part. He’s been one of the top scorers in the AHL for a couple years now …his still one of the highest skilled prospects we have, I thought he showed well in the exhibition games…to let him walk after investing this much time would be a typical Flames move.  

 

Oh yeah, that one pisses me off, actually. Local kid, too. He's done literally everything they've asked of him except for grow six inches and forty pounds. I think he deserved a good look, and I can't blame him if he splits after the season. That's not to say that he'll go on and have an excellent NHL career elsewhere, but for a team that couldn't score a goal this season as though their playoff hopes depended on it, it couldn't have hurt to give him a legitimate shot.

 

Love.

[travel_dude]

15 minutes ago, Heartbreaker said:

 

Oh yeah, that one pisses me off, actually. Local kid, too. He's done literally everything they've asked of him except for grow six inches and forty pounds. I think he deserved a good look, and I can't blame him if he splits after the season. That's not to say that he'll go on and have an excellent NHL career elsewhere, but for a team that couldn't score a goal this season as though their playoff hopes depended on it, it couldn't have hurt to give him a legitimate shot.

 

Love.

 

Gee, we seemed to do okay with Gaudreau, who was about the same size when he played his first game.

Different game though.  Phillips attacks the net more.  

Those 18 minutes define your career in the NHL, at least as far as the Flames are concerned.

Valimaki, a work in progress, lost some of his development time to injuries.

But no time to use him here.

Sutter didn't like him, don't like Ruzicka, the others have a fat chance at ever getting played. 

Better to waive him and possibly lose him for nothing.

Undrafted player showed promise, but let to rot and eat popcorn.

Our one waiver pickup traded for an AHL player for depth.

 

When we needed quality players to step in, the choice was made to stick to marginal NHL players.

When we needed scoring, we chose to elevate Lucic to the top 6.

When we had a backup goalie playing well for 13 in a row, we sat him until he was cold again.

It's actually better to just leave the AHL in the AHL for the rest of the season.

Not much point is eating popcorn.

Kill their incentive by playing them for a few minutes on a 4th line.  With Lucic.

Oh, you didn't hit anyone or score a goal.  Back to popcorn land.

 

[Heartbreaker]

4 minutes ago, travel_dude said:

Gee, we seemed to do okay with Gaudreau, who was about the same size when he played his first game.

 

...

A bunch of good points...

...

 

It's actually better to just leave the AHL in the AHL for the rest of the season.

...

 

On the first point, it'd be pretty easy to make an argument that 2 of the top 5 Flames of all time have been really undersized, and probably would have never had a chance to play under Darryl Sutter.

 

On the second point, that part is the killer. It'd be a real disservice to those players to bring them up now. Let them go win!

 

By the time they're done, the Flames season is over.

 

I try not to get too emotionally invested in players or even professional hockey in general - but this season it has been really hard to not get upset.

 

Love.

[rickross]

1 hour ago, Heartbreaker said:

 

Oh yeah, that one pisses me off, actually. Local kid, too. He's done literally everything they've asked of him except for grow six inches and forty pounds. I think he deserved a good look, and I can't blame him if he splits after the season. That's not to say that he'll go on and have an excellent NHL career elsewhere, but for a team that couldn't score a goal this season as though their playoff hopes depended on it, it couldn't have hurt to give him a legitimate shot.

 

Love.

 

 

42 minutes ago, travel_dude said:

 

Gee, we seemed to do okay with Gaudreau, who was about the same size when he played his first game.

Different game though.  Phillips attacks the net more.  

Those 18 minutes define your career in the NHL, at least as far as the Flames are concerned.

Valimaki, a work in progress, lost some of his development time to injuries.

But no time to use him here.

Sutter didn't like him, don't like Ruzicka, the others have a fat chance at ever getting played. 

Better to waive him and possibly lose him for nothing.

Undrafted player showed promise, but let to rot and eat popcorn.

Our one waiver pickup traded for an AHL player for depth.

 

When we needed quality players to step in, the choice was made to stick to marginal NHL players.

When we needed scoring, we chose to elevate Lucic to the top 6.

When we had a backup goalie playing well for 13 in a row, we sat him until he was cold again.

It's actually better to just leave the AHL in the AHL for the rest of the season.

Not much point is eating popcorn.

Kill their incentive by playing them for a few minutes on a 4th line.  With Lucic.

Oh, you didn't hit anyone or score a goal.  Back to popcorn land.

 

This season has been nothing but torture to watch…it’s like they’ve cut off our eyelids and fed us nothing but sleeping pills!! Just painful to watch!

 

I’d like to think the stigma of size isn’t as prevalent in todays game. Gaudreau, size was always his biggest knock and he proved it matters not. Not saying Matthew Phillips is the saviour this team needs but what a way to suck the life out of your future prospects. For awhile there it looked like the Flames finally had a decent development program in place, now we’re barren and right back to questioning this franchises intentions when it comes to drafting and development. I’m pretty sure this thread was started just for that reason 😂. 
 

It’s bizarre looking at this franchise right now as it feels as if we’ve gone nowhere this entire time. Some successful seasons and playoff births but they yielded nothing in the end. Somehow we still cannot make the playoffs consistently. 1 year we’re in..the next we’re out by a country mile. It’s ridiculous at this stage. 

[travel_dude]

50 minutes ago, Heartbreaker said:

 

On the first point, it'd be pretty easy to make an argument that 2 of the top 5 Flames of all time have been really undersized, and probably would have never had a chance to play under Darryl Sutter.

 

On the second point, that part is the killer. It'd be a real disservice to those players to bring them up now. Let them go win!

 

By the time they're done, the Flames season is over.

 

I try not to get too emotionally invested in players or even professional hockey in general - but this season it has been really hard to not get upset.

 

Love.

 

7 minutes ago, rickross said:

 

 

This season has been nothing but torture to watch…it’s like they’ve cut off our eyelids and fed us nothing but sleeping pills!! Just painful to watch!

 

I’d like to think the stigma of size isn’t as prevalent in todays game. Gaudreau, size was always his biggest knock and he proved it matters not. Not saying Matthew Phillips is the saviour this team needs but what a way to suck the life out of your future prospects. For awhile there it looked like the Flames finally had a decent development program in place, now we’re barren and right back to questioning this franchises intentions when it comes to drafting and development. I’m pretty sure this thread was started just for that reason 😂. 
 

It’s bizarre looking at this franchise right now as it feels as if we’ve gone nowhere this entire time. Some successful seasons and playoff births but they yielded nothing in the end. Somehow we still cannot make the playoffs consistently. 1 year we’re in..the next we’re out by a country mile. It’s ridiculous at this stage. 

 

I think Sutter hockey has devolved into bring the pain.

The lowest common denominator of unskilled bigger players; grit.

We do it with clean and dirty hits.

What goes around comes around.

As such Sutter's team needs to be big and mean.

That leaves out most of our prospects.

We drafted for skill and compete because Gaudreau proved you don't need to be a knuckle dragger.

 

No point in bringing up prospects to this coaching mess.

Replace the coach or replace the prospects with ones that fit the game here.

Replace the coach or replace the skilled players we have that can bring the pain, and not much else.