Jankowski vs Bennett - Battle for the #3C?

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by Hey Connor, It's Mess

I'd actually like to see Jankowski play on the left side with Backlund and Frolik this season, allow him to get acclimated to the NHL game on the wing first and learn from our two best two-way forwards in the process. Doing this would allow Tkachuk to slot in on Bennett's left wing, giving Bennett a real weapon and make for a very un-fun line to play against for our opponents.

I consider Jankowski a center, but if he were to play wing I'd toss out this alternative:

Tkachuk-Backlund-Jankowski
Gaudreau-Monahan-Ferland
Versteeg-Bennett-Frolik

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

Said too many centers is a great problem to have, a lot easier to have a center play the wing than to have a winger move to center.

Pfft...clearly he's never heard of one David R. Moss.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

I consider Jankowski a center, but if he were to play wing I'd toss out this alternative:

Tkachuk-Backlund-Jankowski
Gaudreau-Monahan-Ferland
Versteeg-Bennett-Frolik

Quite a few off-wings there. How about:

Gaudreau - Monahan - Ferland
Jankowski - Backlund - Frolik
Tkachuk - Bennett - Versteeg

IMO< playing LW on Backlund's line is the perfect place to introduce Jankowski to the lineup. It also upgrade's Bennett's line by sliding Tkachuk in there. Three strong lines.

But if Foo could make it, throw him on the top line with Johnny, then move Ferland onto the 4th line with Lazar, and then we'd have 4 solid lines.

[Captaincanada80]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Quite a few off-wings there. How about:

Gaudreau - Monahan - Ferland
Jankowski - Backlund - Frolik
Tkachuk - Bennett - Versteeg

IMO< playing LW on Backlund's line is the perfect place to introduce Jankowski to the lineup. It also upgrade's Bennett's line by sliding Tkachuk in there. Three strong lines.

But if Foo could make it, throw him on the top line with Johnny, then move Ferland onto the 4th line with Lazar, and then we'd have 4 solid lines.

This! Putting Janko on the life side of Backlund/Frolik will hurt his development said no one

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

GG said in last weeks interview that as of right now he sees the center depth as:

Monahan
Backlund
Bennett
Stajan

With Lazar and Hamilton also able to play the position, and Jankowski an up and comer.

Said too many centers is a great problem to have, a lot easier to have a center play the wing than to have a winger move to center.

The only two in my eyes that are undoubtedly cemented as centers right now are Monahan and Backlund. Bennett and Stajan IMO have the inside track on the next two center spots, but it wouldn't shock me to see either guy play wing if either Lazar or Jankowski prove to be better options.

GG should see the centre depth that way until someone makes him reorder it. That was the centre depth of a playoff team, and we haven't added anyone.

Lazar, Hamilton and Stajan are all 4th line centers. We gave up a 2nd for Lazar and Burke had said things about him like '10 year guy'. But he's gonna be a 10 year #4C. Matt Stajan has been paid $28M over the last eight years to fill that role.

I don't think they'll kick Jankowski out to the wing to keep him in the NHL. They might with Sam.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by Gaudfather

Jankowski is more likely to displace Stajan on the fourth line C spot, and have Stajan play the wing. That is how I would expect the coming season to start at least.

I think that's dangerous for Jankowski's development. I think you want him in offensive situations when he starts in the NHL because he has offensive upside. No point burying him on the 4th line with grinders. If he isn't making the top 3 lines I'd prefer to see him back in the AHL. I don't think he or Bennett should ever be centering that 4th line. Too much chance you hurt their offensive confidence long term.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by Captaincanada80

This! Putting Janko on the life side of Backlund/Frolik will hurt his development said no one

It hurts his development as a centre IMO. I don't love the idea of Janko on the wing personally, I think his skill suit is more suited to centre. And he's not as inexperienced as Bennett was so I don't see the argument for it personally. Bennett was moved there because he couldn't be trusted to be one of our centres at the time. If Jankowski can't be trusted at centre yet you send him back down.

I think if Janko is ready it creates some lineup issues. Personally I'd move Bennett to the wing before I'd move Janko there. Bennett has IMO looked great when he was at wing, he really seemed to thrive there in the past. I think Bennett can succeed at centre but I think if we keep all the guys we have it may be best to move Sam to the wing.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher

I think that's dangerous for Jankowski's development. I think you want him in offensive situations when he starts in the NHL because he has offensive upside. No point burying him on the 4th line with grinders. If he isn't making the top 3 lines I'd prefer to see him back in the AHL. I don't think he or Bennett should ever be centering that 4th line.

I agree with not playing either on the fourth line. Given the comments from the coaching staff regarding Bennett at centre, do you think Jankowski returning to AHL is a foregone conclusion?

Do you see centre as Bennett's best position (I guess I mean extracting the most offense out of him)?

[timbit]

I believe that Mark will be a good NHL player. I wasn't sure early on but I am now. He has very much earned the opportunity to play with the Flames.

Plenty of very good NHL players have started their careers with limited minutes in their first NHL season and moved into a bigger role. How long that takes is dependent upon Mark's performance.

One thing I am pretty sure of is that GG wants to win more than anyone on CP.
He will give Mark the ice time that he deserves. No more no less.

[Calgary4LIfe]

I don't think stuffing Jankowski on the wing is going to stifle his development at all. If the Flames are dead-set on having Bennett as a center, then so be it. Better Jankowski plays wing in a top 9 role than center on the 4th line or the AHL. Flames just can't keep him down in the AHL just because a center spot is not available. I like Jankowski as a center as well (and prefer to keep him as one), but the Flames have some pretty good center depth. Let Jankowski take a spot from someone else if he out-performs someone else I think. I really do think he can be a great winger as well.

As for Lazar being a 10 year 4th line center - I wouldn't be so quick to label him as such. I think he will end up on the wing on the third line in time. Heck, he may end up being better than that as well. He is way too young to put such a definitive ceiling on him. They only line he would surprise me developing into would be the 1st line, but I think he can end anywhere else in the lineup at any other forward spot. Kid has some upside, and I wouldn't base his ceiling going off his numbers from Ottawa (in which he was rushed and then had mono). There is a good chance he might surprise someone. Flames would never have spent a 2nd round pick on him him if they thought he was going to be a 'good 4th liner'. Burke wouldn't have called him a '10 year player' if he felt he was just going to be a 4th line guy. Give the kid some time at least before we definitively (and arbitrarily) arrive at his ceiling.

[Finger Cookin]

nm, misread what I quoted. Pls disregard

[jlh2640]

This is my prediction


Johnny Monahan Bennett
Tkachuk Backlund Frolik
Versteeg Janikowksi Lazar
Ferland Stajan Brouwer
Hamilton Hathaway

Giordano Hamiton
Brodie Hamonic
Kulak Stone
Bartkowski

Smith
Lack


Obviously we know Ferland can move up the lineup but he is not consistent enough to be looked on as a 1st line RW. There is some young guys who I hope challenge for a Bartkowski and Hamilton/Hathaway spot. But is everyone is healthy then I wont be shocked to see that lineup. If I was running the team and Iginla still is not signed closer to camp. Then I offer him a cheap deal and slot him in as needed.

[Textcritic]

I will be surprised to see Bennett anywhere but at centre to start the season, and I would expect that he will also have Brouwer on his wing. People forget that these two were frequently the Flames's best offensive players in Oct and Nov last season, before Brouwer broke his hand.

[calgaryblood]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

I will be surprised to see Bennett anywhere but at centre to start the season, and I would expect that he will also have Brouwer on his wing. People forget that these two were frequently the Flames's best offensive players in Oct and Nov last season, before Brouwer broke his hand.

People didn't forget because this isn't true.

[jlh2640]

Originally Posted by calgaryblood

People didn't forget because this isn't true.

Exactly lol

[Roof-Daddy]

Originally Posted by calgaryblood

People didn't forget because this isn't true.

Both were on pace for 19 goals and 40 points up until game 35, then in game 36 Brouwer was hurt. Both had 17 points by game 35.

Backlund had 16 points
Frolik had 15 points
Monahan had 20 points
Gaudreau had 22 points (in 25 games)
Tkachuk had 18 points (in 31 games)

So yeah, Textcritic is bang on with his assessment as they were actually producing quite well when compared to the rest of the forwards, and drastically fell off that pace after Brouwer was hurt.

[Split98]

Bennett is a terror on the wing. Having a winger that can also take over center in a pinch is a great asset.

I could see Bennett & Jankowski being a good pair. Bennett is tenacious, fast and has excellent hangs. Having a smart huge center who can find you anywhere opens up Bennett far more than anything he was offered last year.

That pair could play with any winger. And I'd love to see them added to discussions on "which line is out #1?'

Sent from my XT1053 using Tapatalk

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by calgaryblood

People didn't forget because this isn't true.

People tend to remember what they expect to, and Brouwer's very poor second half last year was more than enough to erase for many the good things he did in the first half where he was scoring at a 0.5 pts/game pace.

The point here is that he is much better than a fourth line player, and he and Bennett had moments where they looked quite good together early last season. I would think that the same reasons which prompted Gulutzan to pair them together out of camp last year will likely also see them together to start the 2017–18 season.

[Heavy Jack]

Gaudreau - Monahan - Ferland

After seeing part 2 video of his year by AC there is no question in my mind that right now he's penciled in as the top line RW at this point in time. I think he's poised to break out and with a healthy Monahan and a Johnny who is part of the entire preseason this line could hit the ground running come the start of the season

Jankowski - Backlund - Frolik

Now before making the case of the MMM line which I fully agree was incredible last year and a large part of our success this is still technically the MMM line and having our rookie step in with Backs and Fro again makes a ton of sense if you really think about how well Tkachuk benefited.

Tkachuk - Bennett - Versteeg

This is not a demotion for Tkachuk and if anything is a reward for both him and Bennett; Versteeg riding shotgun with these two opens up tons of possibilities for the Flames in terms of matchups as our top 3 lines can all put the puck in the net - a true nightmare when matched with our top 5 D.

Brouwer - Stajan - Lazar

Brouwer will do himself a big favour if he takes this role and runs with it and with the steady play of Stajan and a young, fueled Lazar looking to make a mark this makes for a fourth line that is offensively more inclined than most if any in the league.

[cannon7]

I've said this in other threads, but I think Bennett is an LW long-term. Jankowski is already a better centre, IMO.