Quote:
Originally Posted by Flames1217
I have seen Francis play a good few times live. Obviously this was last year and the year before though.
Francis will more than likely end up a winger. There are certain advantages to this and one big disadvantage.
First off, if you haven't had the chance to watch Francis he plays a bit like Mangiapane. He hounds the puck and is a hassle. His skating is not bad but it is choppy. He is pretty good along the boards for his size and falls alot less than Mangiapane hahaha. He is more of a playmaker but does have a very good shot.
I question his strength when it comes to playing centre. He does play with a low sense of gravity and does protect the puck well but playing in the Q and the NHL are two different things. He is not a perimeter player at all, he attacks from the middle of the ice. In the NHL at his size he is going to run into some problems with this.
The major disadvantage to playing Francis on the wing is that you somewhat take away his backhand. Francis often sets up the play off his backhand and will lose this possibility unless he plays on his off wing.
If he can continue to build his strength (he is already very strong for his size) but at the same time work on his speed he might be able to do it but honestly I think he ends up a RH LW.
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Thanks for sharing that first-hand info. I've only seen his highlights this year, but from what I've seen and what you're describing he sounds a lot like Point after his draft year, especially the drive the centre of the ice mentality and the skating and strength issues. Point had clunky mechanics but improved his skating drastically with work with skating coaches that the Lightning put him in touch with, hopefully Francis can undergo similar improvements.
Generally it seems like there's a pattern of W/C players becoming W full time (e.g. Pettersen, Pelletier). This might be a more general trend in the league but Zegras is one high profile player where the Kings are intentionally trying him out at C as part of his development process. With the Flames' lack of C depth I hope they give Francis a fair shot when the time comes and evaluate the advantages and disadvantages then