Adam Ruzicka

[travel_dude]

11 hours ago, jjgallow said:

 

I dunno, most of the smaller player skill you're talking about was Orchestrated by Feaster.

 

I agree that the Jbow and Iggy trades were pointless, but only because it happened far too late, and in the case of Kipper not at all.  they should have happened under Sutter and while I have a lot of respect for Sutter that was on him for holding on too long.  Along with aweful goon drafting.     Fantastic coach though.

 

Don't get me wrong I am not a Feaster supporter, but I"m not a BT supporter either.  Quite honestly I think bot of them were given very poor direction from higher up.

 

Feaster does not deserve any credit for drafting, as his 2nd in command was the one that "discovered" the players like Gaureau and Janko.

Unfortunately for BT, he took direction from Burkie for a year or two.

Some of those early decisions in drafting are all Burke.

Kanzig, MacDonald, etc.

I mean you don't alays get value in later rounds, but some of the choices didn't make sense.

The other thing was the cap jail Feaster allowed us to be in.

He also misjudged where the Flames were and chose to give them a chance to continue as is.

 

Development is an organizational failure, but I think it is improving in some aspects.

The D is developing better.

The forwards are only being brought up when there is a chance to succeed.

We have two AHL "vets" of two years that on a team like EDm would be in the lineup.

And Ruzicka will follow that same model unless he should top 6 level production this year.

I suspect he will get some games this year, but only in the case of injury.

Phillips and Gawdin probably should play, as long as it's a skilled line and not a mucker line.

 

I think BT has made some mistakes along the way, even recently.

I wasn't a fan of the deal for Lucic, but more was the perceived one for one part.

I've turned the corner on it, and actually don't mind what we have in him.

He would be more important if we had a more effective bottom 6 and more consistent D and G.

In other words, if we were closer to being a contender.

While I don't think a rebuild is necessary, a re-tool of some parts is.

We don't need to trade Gaudreau to get better.

We do need to trade him if we decide he is not the face of the franchise and want to pay him top dollar.

[robrob74]

@travel_dude, I think that Feaster’s unwillingNess to rebuild earlier was due to the directives of the higher ups which I think is what @jjgallow was suggesting. The team was so afraid of a rebuild that they couldn’t fathom the thought. They couldn’t see that fans were ready to refresh, well most intelligent fans. Feaster even said that he’s not there to rebuild, that his directives from The ups that they were not rebuilding. 
 

JJ is right that they should have started about a year or two earlier. I thought it was a good idea to trade Iginla about 2-3 years before it, but a lot said that it wasn’t a good idea to replace him with 3 players. 
 

I think a retool could be good. The Leafs aren’t a super poster organization to show a quick turnaround but once Lou And Shanny got things settled they proved that the building process could be expedited. Tampa kind of did the same. When they miss the playoffs they make it count with very high draft picks. 
 

missing this year/losing to the Jets could have a cherry on top if we win that lotto. It opens up a bunch of options. 
 

I am still jaded by the organization’s track record  (clearly), but have some reason to be optimistic lately. I’ve leaned to not trading away picks since the scouts have found a few diamonds in the rough. 
 

now it’s time to improve development for these guys. I think meritocracy works to a point and I like the idea of the prospects getting as much playing time as possible. How do you motivate players like Ruzicka? And how do you balance having vets in the A and still get the young pros time to work on their skill? 
 

I just fear giving a guy 4th line minutes to develop could backfire and it’s not even about them being put into a grinder role. Just get them playing time, get them to maintain their skill. In reality, can a team roll 4 lines and get everyone the minutes they need to succeed? 

I think it was @cross who pointed out Bennett’s 5v5 stats, that he’s actually a productive player. But his ice time is so low how can he build on those minute successes? 
 

I get that a pro is a pro. They need to suck it up, but confidence is a tricky thing. When stapled to the bench and not getting playing time might ruin a players conference, especially after they’ve played a prominent role most of their careers. i think it’s why you need the borderline players I that position because they’re no longer developing. I get the Mangiapane argument though, how he worked is way up the lineup. How many players are able to do that?

 

 

[travel_dude]

I'm going to focus more on the present.  I think what the Flames should do with the prospects depends on what team they are trying to build.  A failure this playoffs should give an indication of where those point to.  Are we going to single out Gaudreau or, like last year, the blame belongs as much to the D?  I mean, let's face it we have a lot of money tied up in the bottom 6 for the benefits they provide.  Does it make sense to continue to pay Bennett over $2m and he is only a playff performer?  I have no problem with that, if he can put up about 40 points regular season.  

 

Back to the prospects.  Even with less than 12 minutes, a prospect should be able to produce a point every 2 or 3 games.  If not, they probably shouldn't be there.  I am only lobbying for guys like Phillips, Gawdin and Ruzicka if they can get those minutes.  Doesn't matter if it's 3rd or 4th line as long as it's consistent.  We don't have to go out and get a bunch of vets that can't do any better.  If the prospects show that they can produce at an effective points per 60, thn they should get more minutes.

 

So, we have players like Janko, Bennett, Rieder, Rinaldo accounting for 4 spots in the lineup.  Would we be any less effective with 2 or 3 of those spots being prospects?  Gawdon and Phillips should be able to come in like Mangiapane and produce if they get 12 minutes or so.  They have been near the top of Heat scoring for two years in a row.  Ruzicka may not be ready yet, but his motivation has never been higher.  Some even believe he may get an early look next season out of camp.  Isn't that what we should be doing?  Motivate, reward, measure.  RInse and repeat until they force their way on.