Quote:
Originally Posted by Textcritic
I won't pretend to know how much of Stockton's poor defensive performances to divide between the defensemen and the goalies.
However, I will point out that Jon Gillies is now 26-years-old, and he has completed his fifth professional campaign. In five years he has played in 160 AHL games, and has struggled to maintain his consistency. In five years Gillies has not once turned in a dominant performance at the AHL level, and that on its own is extremely concerning.
I think the clock has run out on Gillies's NHL career, and it will be best fro the Flames to move on.
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I think Gillies gets criticized too easily. Let's look at his "5" years.
Year 1. 7 games, looked fantastic, then suffered a season ending injury.
Year 2. Returning from injury and the death of his best friend, had an okay season. Putting up a better SV% tha other AHL rookies in Demko and Blackwood.
Year 3. He was knocking on the door of being top 10 in SV%
Year 4. Struggled on and off the ice with the loss of both of his grandparents that he was extremely close with.
Year 5. Rebounded, had a solid season behind a bad defense.
He hasn't been dominant, but it's easy to understand why he hasn't. I don't think he will return as a Group VI UFA, but I think there is still a chance he ends up in the NHL.