I am curious to see how this works out. On the surface, he is a Stajan replacement in the lineup. Most people have him penciled-in as the 4th line starter, which I agree with. There are a lot of questions about him still.
Was he a product of Skinner? Or a product of Peters putting him in positions to succeed? Probably some truth to both. However, without a doubt he is a shifty and offensively talented player that can create plays, and who can play with other talented players. There is value in that.
Unlike Stajan, he is NOT going to be a defensive player for the Flames (unless he works on his defensive game). Stajan, IIRC, had more defensive zone starts than offensive. Ryan breaks down into 64.5%OZ and 35.5%DZ. That's a huge split there. Ryan also wasn't on the PK unit. Ryan did play the PP, but from what I recall, a poster here posted his PP numbers per 60, and they were about half of what Brouwer contributed per 60. I don't suppose him to be part of the PP - Calgary has more choices for the PP than Ryan anyway.
I like 4th liners who have a bit of breadth to their game - guys who are very good defensively, can play a grinding game, and provide some offensive zone pressure and chaos by hitting bodies, forechecking like crazy and contributing to the PK to provide relief to other top players. Ryan doesn't fill any of that (he is small and not physical at all).
However, if the Flames can get him, Lazar and hopefully someone like Mangiapane going as a line, the could realistically roll that 4th line into the 12-15 minutes area per game. As long as they are contributing at a decent rate on the scoreboard, this will allow for the other lines to not be over-worked the entire year, and be more 'fresh' for the playoffs.
Peters is notorious for blending up the lines anyway, and I don't think for a second that Ryan is going to be the 4th line center all year. It will be interesting how Peters utilizes him, however.
I am apprehensive with the term and cap for what COULD be another Nigel Dawes or even another Mason Raymond - players that could put up points but didn't do much else - but we will just have to see. I am not that concerned with the faceoffs on the team as they don't really contribute much to the wins and losses, but it is is nice to have that ability on the Flames.
I don't feel good about this signing, but I don't feel bad. I legitimately think that it could go either way for the Flames. However, with the lack of RHS and Ryan's ability to play with decently skilled players, Peters should be able to make him at least somewhat useful if things don't exactly work out. He may end up being an overpaid player, but one that isn't totally useless either. That's the 'worst case scenario' for him.
Stajan was pretty much no longer offensive with the Flames last year. I think the system made it even more difficult for him to contribute on the stats sheet. What Stajan was good at, however, was being a strong defensive player. Ryan is the antithesis to Stajan, if that makes sense, so no, Ryan is NOT going to be providing that strong defensive game. Flames essentially traded a defensive player for an offensive one, but that's ok. I think Gulutzan's system was putrid and allowed for way too many high quality legitimate scoring chances while not providing enough for the Flames.
Will be really interesting to see how this signing plays out. I am hopeful, but also apprehensive. Who knows?
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