Originally Posted by New Era
Tyler Parsons is an excellent prospect, and we are lucky to have him, but like any goaltending prospect, you never know what you have until they face the pros. Everyone likes to talk about Matt Murray, but he was a middling goaltender prospect until he got to the AHL and showed he had greater game than anticipated. People tend to forget that Murray posted save percentages in the OHL of .887, .876, .894, and then a .921. It was his second year in the AHL when the Penguins found their future goaltender, when Murray posted a .941 save percentage, then followed that up with a .931, which he maintained when he made it to the NHL as a backup.
Tyler Parsons gets everyone excited, and rightly so. In junior he posted save percentages of .905, .921, .925, while winning games in spectacular fashion. But that is junior hockey. The road to the NHL is littered with goaltenders who lit up junior, then couldn't handle the shots from the pros or the speed of the game. I will be interested to see how Parsons handles his first year as a pro and what performance he puts up. After seeing that I think we will be able to make a call as to what type of prospect he is and what improvements he needs to make. Right now he gets high marks for his style of play, but he'll have to prove that style works in the pros. Parsons athletic style may not translate. There is a lot of Jonathan Quick in him, but there are very few Jonathan Quicks around because of the style of game they play. The NHL goaltender has evolved into more of a shotblocker, relying on fundamentals, positioning, pure girth and equipment to keep pucks out of the net. Ben Bishop (girth) and Matt Murray (equipment) are your prototypical stoppers now. How is an average size athletic goaltender going to stack up? We don't know because so few of them make it. The pros will prove his mettle.
I understand the excitement over a player like Parsons, but Flames fans should be more than aware of falling in love with junior prospects before they have a chance to show what they do in the pros. Especially goaltenders. Do Flames fans not remember when Trevor Kidd was the future of the team? All the excitement of him playing for his national team? Or fast forward a bit and how incredible we felt with the troika of Irving, Lelande and Keetley? Just a reminder, but Leland Irving posted .930, .925, .929, .919 save percentages in junior, then ,912, .905, .913, .902 in the pros before falling off the map. Kevin Lalande posted .920, .916, .919. save percentage in junior, then as a pro posted years of .932 and .925 in the ECHL and .929, .927, and .912 in the AHL before heading off the KHL. Matt Keatley put up .933, .916, .913 save percentages in junior before posting some real middling numbers in the minors. What heady times, especially for Irving who looked like he was right there with Carey Price, who rode shotgun for at the Worlds in junior. Irving was the next great goaltender for the Flames. Well, until he got to the pros.
For a more recent example, look no further than John Gillies. This is a kid who has also done nothing but impress in junior/college days too. Playing at a harder level he posted .931, .931, .930 save percentages before hitting the pros. Since he turned pro he's posted .920 and .910, while making the adjustment. Making progress, but still not there.
Making the jump to the pros is not easy and is a process. All goaltenders go through it. Does Parsons have potential? Hell yes, plenty of it. But never trust a goaltenders potential until they get to the pros. For all we know, we may be looking at the Robbie Schremp of goaltenders. Lets see what he has next year as a pro before proclaiming him a franchise anything.
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