Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - Has Lazar proven he deserves to be in the starting 12 thus far?

Calgary4LIfe · 09-24-2017, 09:07 PM

I think Lazar's confidence is shot at the moment, and unfortunately did next to zero in developing within the Ottawa organization. Ottawa ran into some injuries and they placed Lazar in the NHL prematurely.

Now the Flames are in a bind with Lazar somewhat. He needs playing time to get his game back on track. Though he may never have had the ceiling of a 1st line player, he definitely had the capability of being a strong 2nd line center given his offensive acumen in junior. Will he get back to that level? How much will he develop?

I think the Flames would be wise to be patient with him. He is fast, he has some sandpaper to his game, and like others have mentioned, he seems to be fairly reliable defensively. Hopefully he can pick up his offensive game and be a real solid 2-way player for the Flames. I do believe that if the Flames show some patience, they can be rewarded with a really strong player in the long-run. I say rotate him between the 3rd and 4th lines for now, and see what he starts doing. I also like him on the Backlund line - that is probably the single best line for him to start regaining his confidence. I just think that Jankowski will eventually be put on that line (and I really don't want Jankowski centering the 4th line).

09-24-2017, 09:07 PM	#35
Calgary4LIfe Franchise Player Join Date: Jun 2010 Exp:	I think Lazar's confidence is shot at the moment, and unfortunately did next to zero in developing within the Ottawa organization. Ottawa ran into some injuries and they placed Lazar in the NHL prematurely. Now the Flames are in a bind with Lazar somewhat. He needs playing time to get his game back on track. Though he may never have had the ceiling of a 1st line player, he definitely had the capability of being a strong 2nd line center given his offensive acumen in junior. Will he get back to that level? How much will he develop? I think the Flames would be wise to be patient with him. He is fast, he has some sandpaper to his game, and like others have mentioned, he seems to be fairly reliable defensively. Hopefully he can pick up his offensive game and be a real solid 2-way player for the Flames. I do believe that if the Flames show some patience, they can be rewarded with a really strong player in the long-run. I say rotate him between the 3rd and 4th lines for now, and see what he starts doing. I also like him on the Backlund line - that is probably the single best line for him to start regaining his confidence. I just think that Jankowski will eventually be put on that line (and I really don't want Jankowski centering the 4th line).