[GDT] Development Camp Scrimmage: July 9th 10AM MT. calgaryflames.com

[mile]

Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe

I may not care if Baertschi gets passed on the depth chart, or I may be disappointed, but that all depends on Baertschi.

If Baertschi comes out like he did last year where he is just not doing what he needs to do, I will be disappointed. He will continue to get passed in the organization.

If Baertschi comes out hard and does very well, but others in the organization still pass him, I won't care so much. In fact, I will be happy. This just means that the prospect base is even better.

There is no one mishandling Baertschi (any longer since Feaster left - anointing him as the next one and forcing Hartley to have him in the lineup was mishandling him). Hartley doesn't 'hate' Baertschi. Heck, we all know Hartley and Blair Jones had a huge argument on the ice about Blair not doing the things that Hartley wants, but the very next season Blair gets bumped up and plays the PP.

If Baertschi feels he is an NHL player, he will simply play like an NHL player. If he is not ready, he will continue to be in the AHL until he gets ready. If he gets passed by other prospects, then that is the way it goes.

I just really hope that if he does continue to get passed this season, that it is because his competition is so good, not because Baertschi is playing mediocre again.

I don't think you have to worry about Baertschi not coming out hard this fall - if you are Baertschi and are not motivated by watching how guys like Granlund, Poirier, Gaudreau, Reinhart, and Monahan outperformed him last season, I would be very concerned.

[Caged Great]

Originally Posted by edslunch

Thanks, I was also confused. If 2.5 is the 'baseline' for each skill then I would expect the true average NHLer to average out around 3-3.5? Otherwise your ratings seem too optimistic.

Yes. The more areas that you are above average, the more likely you would be to stick. A 2.5 if basically good enough where you wouldn't say that guy is discernibly bad at whatever skill it is, rather he's just okay. It's not a precise thing though that you can just average out all the things and say he should be this though. It's more to give you a better indication of things that need to be worked on or around. Tools are one thing, but the application of them is the thing that matters.

These are all just a snapshot of what their tools are today, how they apply them or in some cases improve them is what will make the difference.

[Caged Great]

Sam Bennett
Hunter Smith
Keegan Kanzig
Mason McDonald

Here are today's articles.

Tomorrow will be D-man Day. Gilmour, Roy, Sieloff and Hickey are the next up. Kulak and Culkin will wrap the last of the guys under Flames control. I will also be doing write ups on several of the walk on guys Jason Fram, Lukas Zejdl, Dawson Leedahl, Casey Bailey and Cole Huggins.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by Caged Great

Sam Bennett
Hunter Smith
Keegan Kanzig
Mason McDonald

Here are today's articles.

Tomorrow will be D-man Day. Gilmour, Roy, Sieloff and Hickey are the next up. Kulak and Culkin will wrap the last of the guys under Flames control. I will also be doing write ups on several of the walk on guys Jason Fram, Lukas Zejdl, Dawson Leedahl, Casey Bailey and Cole Huggins.

To lend a little credence to Caged Great's observations, if you reread the development camp thread from last year, he comes out looking like the most accurate poster when it comes to observations

[FlameZilla]

Originally Posted by Caged Great

Sam Bennett

Being one of the youngest players in this past draft, size is a bit of an issue. I don’t think it would be in either his or the Flames best interest to have him play in the NHL this year. Talent wise, he could do it without much difficulty. However, you don’t want to see him get injured or hit a wall developmentally due to rushing him. It isn’t like the Flames are going to be in the playoff picture realistically this season, so there isn’t any need to push him into the lineup now. Let him tear up the OHL and star for Team Canada at the World Juniors, likely with fellow Flames prospect Morgan Klimchuk.

This.

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by Caged Great

Sam Bennett
Hunter Smith
Keegan Kanzig
Mason McDonald

Here are today's articles.

Tomorrow will be D-man Day. Gilmour, Roy, Sieloff and Hickey are the next up. Kulak and Culkin will wrap the last of the guys under Flames control. I will also be doing write ups on several of the walk on guys Jason Fram, Lukas Zejdl, Dawson Leedahl, Casey Bailey and Cole Huggins.

I'm no goalie critique but to me MacDonald looked like he was approaching each outing as a practise, not really trying to impress by stopping every shot. He was trying to get in position while deflecting the rebounds to the side. To me that showed confidence in his status with the Flames.

[hymarker]

Very intelligent post, thank you. Most people on this site seem way out there ??

[Coach]

Originally Posted by Caged Great

Mikael Backlund for example would probably score a 2.5-2.75 with his shot, but would get a 4 for his hockey sense. A potential 1st liner would/should have mostly 4's.

Just a small nitpick here as I commend your work.

Backlund consistently has had one of the hardest shots on the team, and from what I can recall is generally in the top 2 or 3 for hardest shot at the skills comp.

[Bandwagon In Flames]

Originally Posted by MattyC

Just a small nitpick here as I commend your work.

Backlund consistently has had one of the hardest shots on the team, and from what I can recall is generally in the top 2 or 3 for hardest shot at the skills comp.

This is the first I've heard of Backlund having a hard shot. If that is indeed true, I feel comfortable saying that he's never used it in game. All of his goals are from either close range deflections, back-hand or soft wristers.

I'm not saying he doesn't have a hard shot, but he certainly needs to start using it if that's the case.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by Bandwagon In Flames

This is the first I've heard of Backlund having a hard shot. If that is indeed true, I feel comfortable saying that he's never used it in game. All of his goals are from either close range deflections, back-hand or soft wristers.

I'm not saying he doesn't have a hard shot, but he certainly needs to start using it if that's the case.

Shot 99.5 mph at 2011 Skills Comp. That's a pretty heavy shot and has likely gotten harder as he's gotten stronger over the last 3-4 years.

A good trend from Backlund last season was controlling the puck and driving off the wall. If he can master pulling it off the wall and just ripping it, he'll probably get more outside goals. but the fact that most of his goals come from fighting in front of the net is not necesarily a bad thing.

[Tyler]

Originally Posted by MattyC

Just a small nitpick here as I commend your work.

Backlund consistently has had one of the hardest shots on the team, and from what I can recall is generally in the top 2 or 3 for hardest shot at the skills comp.

Hey, remember when Ed Ward had the hardest shot on the Calgary Flames? Yeah.

[Bandwagon In Flames]

Originally Posted by MattyC

Shot 99.5 mph at 2011 Skills Comp. That's a pretty heavy shot and has likely gotten harder as he's gotten stronger over the last 3-4 years.

A good trend from Backlund last season was controlling the puck and driving off the wall. If he can master pulling it off the wall and just ripping it, he'll probably get more outside goals. but the fact that most of his goals come from fighting in front of the net is not necesarily a bad thing.

Agreed, but if he could properly utilize his heavy shot, he'd go from having a 2nd line ceiling to top line potential.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by Tyler

Hey, remember when Ed Ward had the hardest shot on the Calgary Flames? Yeah.

Hey, not saying it's a sign of anything substantially great, (Ales Kotalik had the hardest shot during his time here going around 105 a few times). But if you're ranking players objectively based on certain attributes, giving him a base-line mark for shot velocity is just not accurate.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by MattyC

Just a small nitpick here as I commend your work.

Backlund consistently has had one of the hardest shots on the team, and from what I can recall is generally in the top 2 or 3 for hardest shot at the skills comp.

Good slap shot.

Wrist shot needs some work, especially getting it off during in game situations.

[TheDebaser]

I don't think I've ever seen Backlund take a slapshot in game.

[mile]

Backlund may have a great shot, but he doesn't have the finishing skills to use it regularly in a game.

[AC]

Originally Posted by TheDebaser

I don't think I've ever seen Backlund take a slapshot in game.

Yeah this goal is probably the closest he's come to a full slapper, more of a snapshot.


He's got a beauty of a snapshot though.

[Tinordi]

Baertschi is almost telegraphing that he'll be one of those 4th year in the NHL type prospects whereby he'll really blossom in his 4th season. This is coming up on season 2 now.

[bubbsy]

Originally Posted by AC

Yeah this goal is probably the closest he's come to a full slapper, more of a snapshot.


He's got a beauty of a snapshot though.

man, as much as i love the summer, it's this lull period where i miss hockey the most (jul-aug)

[Caged Great]

I haven't watched Backlund practice, which is more or less the scenario I am basing my evaluations on for these players. I have only watched him in game situations, which is where I based my low 2.5/2.75 rating on. I can recall only a couple of times that I remember him shooting the puck with any real authority out of all the times I've watched him in person. I actually remember the goal in the gif that AC posted and was shocked that it was him that did that.

I was unaware that he had as hard of a slapshot as that, because he never uses it in game action. If he did, he might become better than a 2nd/3rd line guy offensively.