Quote:
Originally Posted by neo45
I respect that Darryl isn’t the kind of guy to tank and not try to win every game
But he also needs to learn from his mistakes when he was running this franchise. He wasn’t giving young players chances, room to grow etc, and it cost him his job eventually.
This org has sunk a ton of resources into developing players like Kylington, Phillips, Ruizcka. There eventually needs to be a “sink or swim” opportunity at the NHL level to see what you have. Otherwise you’re drafting and developing talent to rot in the press box or lead an AHL team nowhere?
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Let's be honest here, the Flames don't have any young players at the pro level worth playing.
Darryl will play young players if they are good. Look through his coaching record and rosters.
In SJ, Friesen, Marleau, Sturm, Zyuzin all played significant minutes in Darryl's first year. Marleau, Sturm, Zyuzin were 18 and 19. In subsequent years, Brad Stuart stepped right in as a teenager. Also other slightly older guys like Rathje, Korolyuk, Hannan, Kozlov.
First tenure in Calgary, Lombardi and Saprykin played significant roles as 21 and 22 year olds. Regher, Leopold, Kobasew, Ference, Montador were all young guys. That Flames team was a young team.
In LA, Doughty was only 21 his first year and he took a big step under Darryl. Voynov was 21, Martinez was 24, the role guys like King, Clifford, Lewis, Nolan were all young. In subsequent years, he integrated young players like Toffoli, Muzzin, and Pearson.
This view that Darryl doesn't like young players is another myth just like the myth that he doesn't like skill players. If you really look at his history, what you realize is Darryl actually likes young rosters and it makes sense considering the high energy tempo and forecheck he expects.
The fact is, the Flames young pro prospects just aren't that good. It's what prospect rankings all say and the stats and record of the prospects in the AHL support this assertion. Every team has a bunch of prospects like Phillips and Ruzicka. They are decent, but they aren't bluechip and you don't just throw decent prospects into the water and hope they swim, they need to be nurtured and marinated for a LONG time. Ruzicka has potential, but his weakness is his skating and game pace which is already a weakness for the NHL team; what's the point of having him come in and fail miserably? Give him some bottom six minutes to get a taste first, if he does well, feed him some more.