Adam Ruzicka

[travel_dude]

25 minutes ago, cross16 said:

Pretty high praise from his ex coach and ex Flame Cory Stillman:

 

 

https://www.nhl.com/flames/news/the-whole-package/c-308253516

 

I'm really hoping he can take the next step in the AHL.  

Would be nice to have a top 3 player coming from the farm for a change.

I didn't think he had a bad start to the season with Sarnia, but 24 goals in Sudbury in 30 games is really strong.

He was invible during the WJC, as far as I'm concerned.

[cross16]

Pretty slow start to his rookie season in the A, but his cranking it up.  3 Goals and 9 points in 12 games in February. 

 

Would be nice to see a strong finish and good momentum into, hopefully, the playoffs and his sophomore AHL season. 

[cross16]

Ruzicka is part of the Flames mini camp roster which is a nice accoloade for him. By all accounts he turned up his game in the 2nd half of last season and the Flames appear to be rewarding him for that. 

 

Nice to see. 

 

 

[JTech780]

Seems to be a lot of buzz around Ruzicka at this camp, I think he still needs some time, but he did finish strong with Stockton, 12 points in 14 games.

 

I have been critical of Ruzicka, but if he is developing consistency to his game, he could turn out very well.

[cross16]

Article that captures some of that buzz. From Ward : "Adam Ruzicka," proclaimed the Flames' interim head coach, Geoff Ward, "looks like a totally different hockey player."

 

 

 

 

[travel_dude]

41 minutes ago, cross16 said:

Article that captures some of that buzz. From Ward : "Adam Ruzicka," proclaimed the Flames' interim head coach, Geoff Ward, "looks like a totally different hockey player."

 

 

 

 

 

His belief is that if he can keep his effort consistent, then he will get a chance in the playoffs.  As they say, you only lack experience until you get it.  Unless there are 14 better forwards, lack of experience in the NHL should not be the reason to exclude him.

[JTech780]

10 minutes ago, travel_dude said:

 

His belief is that if he can keep his effort consistent, then he will get a chance in the playoffs.  As they say, you only lack experience until you get it.  Unless there are 14 better forwards, lack of experience in the NHL should not be the reason to exclude him.

 

I am starting to come around on Ruzicka, but going into these playoffs he is still a ways down the depth chart IMO.

 

At center I would still put in Monahan, Backlund, Ryan, Jankowski, Bennett, Quine, Gawdin and Froese ahead of Ruzicka.

 

That's not to say he won't pass some of those guys in the very near future, but he hasn't as of today. It's still encouraging because coming out of junior I didn't really think he was worth signing.

[travel_dude]

40 minutes ago, JTech780 said:

 

I am starting to come around on Ruzicka, but going into these playoffs he is still a ways down the depth chart IMO.

 

At center I would still put in Monahan, Backlund, Ryan, Jankowski, Bennett, Quine, Gawdin and Froese ahead of Ruzicka.

 

That's not to say he won't pass some of those guys in the very near future, but he hasn't as of today. It's still encouraging because coming out of junior I didn't really think he was worth signing.

 

The problem in junior had a lot to do with his consistency.  He would dominate some games and then be a non-factor.

For whatever reason, his coach in Sarnia couldn't get that fixed.  When he went to Sudbury, he was a lot more productive goal scorer.

It took him a bit of time to become consistent in the AHL, but again his work and the coaching helped him finish strong.

As they said, he looked like a different player in less than a year.

 

He's listed as a C, but can play the wing as well.  It's quite possible that he could pass someone on the 4th line, whether it be game 1 or game x.

And it's not scoring that the 4th line needs to improve; they need to prevent as much as score.  If he can show that he is very good without the puck, then he has a good chance.

[JTech780]

1 minute ago, travel_dude said:

 

The problem in junior had a lot to do with his consistency.  He would dominate some games and then be a non-factor.

For whatever reason, his coach in Sarnia couldn't get that fixed.  When he went to Sudbury, he was a lot more productive goal scorer.

It took him a bit of time to become consistent in the AHL, but again his work and the coaching helped him finish strong.

As they said, he looked like a different player in less than a year.

 

He's listed as a C, but can play the wing as well.  It's quite possible that he could pass someone on the 4th line, whether it be game 1 or game x.

And it's not scoring that the 4th line needs to improve; they need to prevent as much as score.  If he can show that he is very good without the puck, then he has a good chance.

 

Don't get me wrong he is right there, and I think he will get games next year, but I just don't quite know if he is ready at this moment. He is very close.

[travel_dude]

12 minutes ago, JTech780 said:

 

Don't get me wrong he is right there, and I think he will get games next year, but I just don't quite know if he is ready at this moment. He is very close.

 

TBH, every player that was on the ice against COL last year knows what they didn't do or allowed to happen.  I'm curious how that translates this year.

This isn't a regular camp where you give your all and locks get the spot anyway.  If anything, this is wide open.  Do you give a spot to a guy because he was good leading up to the COVID stop?  I think this season's performance is mostly out the window.  Obviously they are not going to sit Gaudreau even if he not top 6 in practice.  But the rest of the players outside the top 6 F and top 4 D have to reach within themselves and show they should be there.  The first game against WPG will put to bed whether the guys from last playoffs learned anything.

[jjgallow]

Not a bad 4th rounder.   The thing about this kid is he shows predictable improvement every year, and is slowly translating his talent into skill.

 

If we really believe in this kid then we shouldn't even be thinking about bringing him into the NHL yet.   Give him another year to become one of the top players in the AHL, and then let him translate that to the NHL.

 

If we bring him on now he will be on a fourth line checking role and never leave that role.

[travel_dude]

14 hours ago, jjgallow said:

Not a bad 4th rounder.   The thing about this kid is he shows predictable improvement every year, and is slowly translating his talent into skill.

 

If we really believe in this kid then we shouldn't even be thinking about bringing him into the NHL yet.   Give him another year to become one of the top players in the AHL, and then let him translate that to the NHL.

 

If we bring him on now he will be on a fourth line checking role and never leave that role.

 

Depends on who we keep from the current roster, doesn't it.

We have guys like Bennett, Ryan, Jano, Rieder, Rinaldo making up the 3rd or 4th lines.  

We've turned both lines into checking lines.

There's no real high energy, fast skaing, scoring lines.

They aren't building lines, they are using parts that don't look bad together.

What would a line of say Ruzicka-Ryan-Phillips look like?

Hard to say, but it wouldn;t be a checking line.

[cross16]

I think talking about Ruzicka and the nhl is getting way ahead of the game. I mean we are talking about half a good season in the AHL here.... there’s a ways to go. 
 

They rewarded him by putting him in camp and I’m glad they did. He earned that but to go any further is premature imo. He’s got more to prove 

[travel_dude]

16 minutes ago, cross16 said:

I think talking about Ruzicka and the nhl is getting way ahead of the game. I mean we are talking about half a good season in the AHL here.... there’s a ways to go. 
 

They rewarded him by putting him in camp and I’m glad they did. He earned that but to go any further is premature imo. He’s got more to prove 

 

It's kinda hard to tell how well any player is doing during the camp, so it's anyone's guess who will play games in the playoffs.

A lot depends on who is going to be able to play as well.

I'm a little concerned that Dube has not been on the ice.

If he's not ready to go, there are a lot of choices.

I'm not saying he has a good chance, but then again I don't know how he has looked out there.

There isn't a lot of chatter from the media about who looks good.

[jjgallow]

5 hours ago, travel_dude said:

 

Depends on who we keep from the current roster, doesn't it.

 

no, it we're being honest it really doesn't at all.    If the Flames kept him up here he'd be trained into a 4th line role and that's pretty much the end of the story.

[jjgallow]

2 hours ago, cross16 said:

I think talking about Ruzicka and the nhl is getting way ahead of the game. I mean we are talking about half a good season in the AHL here.... there’s a ways to go. 
 

They rewarded him by putting him in camp and I’m glad they did. He earned that but to go any further is premature imo. He’s got more to prove 

 

Agreed.  I never really knew what "more to prove" meant, as much as he has more to develop.   Could he play in the NHL now?  Yes I believe he could, but he would be a marginal player relying on his size to stay on the team.   Let him develop his skills a little longer and size won't be his greatest asset.  It'll just be a bonus.

[cross16]

2 hours ago, travel_dude said:

 

It's kinda hard to tell how well any player is doing during the camp, so it's anyone's guess who will play games in the playoffs.

A lot depends on who is going to be able to play as well.

I'm a little concerned that Dube has not been on the ice.

If he's not ready to go, there are a lot of choices.

I'm not saying he has a good chance, but then again I don't know how he has looked out there.

There isn't a lot of chatter from the media about who looks good.

I don’t think it matters if he does well in camp. What I’m saying is I don’t think the flames brought him to camp because they think he can play, they brought him as a reward and to gain some experience. 
 

I don’t see a scenario where he plays. 

[travel_dude]

2 minutes ago, jjgallow said:

 

no, it we're being honest it really doesn't at all.    If the Flames kept him up here he'd be trained into a 4th line role and that's pretty much the end of the story.

 

There's a lot of players that have come and gone, but how many recent cases of that are you referring to?

You mean Poirier or Klimchuk?

Or Lomberg?

 

None of those guys brought much to the AHL, and never showed much in the very limited time they had.

 

[travel_dude]

5 minutes ago, cross16 said:

I don’t think it matters if he does well in camp. What I’m saying is I don’t think the flames brought him to camp because they think he can play, they brought him as a reward and to gain some experience. 
 

I don’t see a scenario where he plays. 

 

The only scenario he plays is if he is one of the 12 best players on the ice.

Since I have no insight into how he's looked, I can't predict he will play.

It's not the same as regular season where you have a lot of runway to risk a spot on a player because you think he will be better.

Like Gawdin, Phillips, Czarnik, and Quine, he's trying to show he can impact the game at this level.

[jjgallow]

3 hours ago, travel_dude said:

 

There's a lot of players that have come and gone, but how many recent cases of that are you referring to?

You mean Poirier or Klimchuk?

Or Lomberg?

 

None of those guys brought much to the AHL, and never showed much in the very limited time they had.

 

 

There just isn't an entertainable arguement where you bring him up early and it turns out to be a wise choice imho.    a bit distracted with other stuff today but this just doesn't work anywhere in the NHL, let alone on the Flames.   He's a scorer, keep him in scoring roles and let him develop in those.  If he turns out, he'll easily translate that to the NHL with his size (a year from now)

[travel_dude]

14 hours ago, jjgallow said:

 

There just isn't an entertainable arguement where you bring him up early and it turns out to be a wise choice imho.    a bit distracted with other stuff today but this just doesn't work anywhere in the NHL, let alone on the Flames.   He's a scorer, keep him in scoring roles and let him develop in those.  If he turns out, he'll easily translate that to the NHL with his size (a year from now)

 

For every failure like Bennett, there is a success like Monahan, Gaudreau or Tkachuk.

If he's not ready, leave him be.

So, lets say he somehow wins a spot in next season's opening roster.

If he can cut it, you keep him up until you see things creeping into his game ot you don't have the right spot for him.

You always have the opportunity to send him down.

 

The Flames seem to be taking a conservative approach, so I'm not overly concerned they will bring someone up early and keep him up,

[robrob74]

29 minutes ago, travel_dude said:

 

For every failure like Bennett, there is a success like Monahan, Gaudreau or Tkachuk.

If he's not ready, leave him be.

So, lets say he somehow wins a spot in next season's opening roster.

If he can cut it, you keep him up until you see things creeping into his game ot you don't have the right spot for him.

You always have the opportunity to send him down.

 

The Flames seem to be taking a conservative approach, so I'm not overly concerned they will bring someone up early and keep him up,

I feel like they do that. Dube is a player that comes to mind. We all love Dube and think he Has “earned it.” I don’t disagree or agree. He’s earned a spot but I feel if they want him in the too6 and remain a skilled forward he needs to play in That role and on the PP. and needs to regularly which is at the AHL level. I am not saying he hasn’t earned the 3rd line role, but I fear like JJ says that when you start to play skill further down the roster they turn into 3rd or 4th liners. 
 

maybe there are more players that develop like Coururier in Philly, but for me I don’t recall many. You listen to a guy like Yelle and he talked about being an offensive powerhouse in junior, but he had to change because the Avs were too deep, could he have kept his offence if he was on a different team? tough call. But I just fear that the Flames are mixed on development success. We hardly ever develop draft picks into Top6.

 

I think of other teams and in awe with how teams can draft them. We have been good with Mangiapane’s development. Tkachuk is a no brainer, Gaudreau we didn’t develop but picked, Monahan was good and is a great scorer but I fear he could’ve still developed a bit better, Backlund, a lot if us thought he’d bust and he took a long time to develop. 
 

id try keep players in the A longer. If they’re not ready for a role on the team you see them at long term, just because they’d beat out a Reider, you can’t give them a spot. They’re going to lose their touch in that position. 

[travel_dude]

1 hour ago, robrob74 said:

I feel like they do that. Dube is a player that comes to mind. We all love Dube and think he Has “earned it.” I don’t disagree or agree. He’s earned a spot but I feel if they want him in the too6 and remain a skilled forward he needs to play in That role and on the PP. and needs to regularly which is at the AHL level. I am not saying he hasn’t earned the 3rd line role, but I fear like JJ says that when you start to play skill further down the roster they turn into 3rd or 4th liners. 
 

maybe there are more players that develop like Coururier in Philly, but for me I don’t recall many. You listen to a guy like Yelle and he talked about being an offensive powerhouse in junior, but he had to change because the Avs were too deep, could he have kept his offence if he was on a different team? tough call. But I just fear that the Flames are mixed on development success. We hardly ever develop draft picks into Top6.

 

I think of other teams and in awe with how teams can draft them. We have been good with Mangiapane’s development. Tkachuk is a no brainer, Gaudreau we didn’t develop but picked, Monahan was good and is a great scorer but I fear he could’ve still developed a bit better, Backlund, a lot if us thought he’d bust and he took a long time to develop. 
 

id try keep players in the A longer. If they’re not ready for a role on the team you see them at long term, just because they’d beat out a Reider, you can’t give them a spot. They’re going to lose their touch in that position. 

 

Dube was too good for the AHL and not good enough for the NHL top 6.

It's a tough call, considering we don't have similar player on the 3rd line.

I would prefer hat they build a 3rd line of top 6 potential players.

But that's just me.

Have Dube play with Gawdin and Phillips or something like that.

I mean Dube did okay this year, but I don't think he really fits with Lucic and Ryan, probably as much to do with moving to RW as the fit.

And the Flames are guilty of using guys where the payroll says they should play.

 

As far as drafting and developing guys for the top 6, we really have so few modern examples of players of that ilk.

Other than Tkachuk, can you name a drafted player that should be top 6?

Bennett had what you expect to be able to get to top 6.

He had it then he lost it.

Maybe Dube, but we have almost zero 1st rounders that fit that mold.

Pelletier is the only one that comes to mind.

Not Klimchuk or Poirier.

Almost every other NHL team has drafted 1st rounders that could be NHL players in the top 6.

Calgary has been forced to take a longer runway with guys like Mangiapane..

 

[robrob74]

1 hour ago, travel_dude said:

 

Dube was too good for the AHL and not good enough for the NHL top 6.

It's a tough call, considering we don't have similar player on the 3rd line.

I would prefer hat they build a 3rd line of top 6 potential players.

But that's just me.

Have Dube play with Gawdin and Phillips or something like that.

I mean Dube did okay this year, but I don't think he really fits with Lucic and Ryan, probably as much to do with moving to RW as the fit.

And the Flames are guilty of using guys where the payroll says they should play.

 

As far as drafting and developing guys for the top 6, we really have so few modern examples of players of that ilk.

Other than Tkachuk, can you name a drafted player that should be top 6?

Bennett had what you expect to be able to get to top 6.

He had it then he lost it.

Maybe Dube, but we have almost zero 1st rounders that fit that mold.

Pelletier is the only one that comes to mind.

Not Klimchuk or Poirier.

Almost every other NHL team has drafted 1st rounders that could be NHL players in the top 6.

Calgary has been forced to take a longer runway with guys like Mangiapane..

 

 

ya that’s if we are talking first rounders. 
 

they did good with Ferland.
 

I think once the draft is done that I just want the Flames development system to be more efficient. They’ve been better and it’s like you said, in recent years it’s still too early to tell. 
 

Ruzicka is a guy that has some plus side to him and was drafted in the 4th round. Mangiapane was drafted in the 6th and has been a top 6.  I think it was you who thinks he could do an admirable job of taking Gaudreau’s spot(?). But he’s been great for us so far at the spot he’s been drafted. 
 

for me I think Dube could’ve used another year. And to your point, I agree they’re using guys on the 3rd who don’t really belong there. Maybe Ryan is good and would work well with Dube. I see Dube and Mangiapane as similar players. It could just be Lucic that doesn’t fit. Lucic’s strength seems to be his constant effort and that’s about it... So I just think i would like to see guys playing too 6 minutes in top 6 situations as long as they can and keep their skill homed for when they play there. I’d want them to play all situations. I think Dube has the opportunity to be a really good 2nd liner. For me I want Mangiapane on the 3rd line to maintain scoring threats throughout the lineup. 

 

 

[travel_dude]

1 hour ago, robrob74 said:

for me I think Dube could’ve used another year. And to your point, I agree they’re using guys on the 3rd who don’t really belong there. Maybe Ryan is good and would work well with Dube. I see Dube and Mangiapane as similar players. It could just be Lucic that doesn’t fit. Lucic’s strength seems to be his constant effort and that’s about it... So I just think i would like to see guys playing too 6 minutes in top 6 situations as long as they can and keep their skill homed for when they play there. I’d want them to play all situations. I think Dube has the opportunity to be a really good 2nd liner. For me I want Mangiapane on the 3rd line to maintain scoring threats throughout the lineup. 

 

 

Unlike a lot of teams, our top 6 is mostly 26 and younger.

So, the chances of Dude breaking into that area is slim.

I would actually like to see Lucic with Backlund.

That way you could have three decent lines.

Not sure who I would fit in with them, but it could easilyt be Dube or someone more defensively sound.

 

JH-Monahan-Lindholm

Mangiapane-C-Tkachuk

Lucic-Backlund-Dube/Phillips/Gawdin/Zavgorodny

 

Obviously this is projecting players yet to play NHL games.

But I do think we need that 3rd C to play top 6.  

Ryan is good, but I would prefer to have him on the 4th line to keep that line in check.

But I do like the concept of Backlund and Lucic.