Prediction 14/15: Who makes the jump?

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by codynw

I don't want to be anywhere near this site if Gaudreau gets sent to the AHL.

Most here would be fine, very few would be angry

[Gaskal]

Originally Posted by codynw

I don't want to be anywhere near this site if Gaudreau gets sent to the AHL.

I'd be excited for Adirondack, to be honest. They wouldn't have him the whole season though.

[djsFlames]

I'd only be a bit angry if he lit the world on fire in camp and exhibitions and they still sent him down despite it. Don't think it'll be an issue though. Johnny Hockey hasn't done anything but exceed expectations at every level. They won't be able to justify putting anyone else in ahead of him.

[rmillions]

I'll jump in..why not..Gives MMF a chance to rip me. I think Sam Bennett makes it. Yes I know he is young. But my friends, (2 NHL Scouts, 1 NHL Coach and a NHL GM) tell me he is undaunted. Fearless, and wont quit. These guys know what they speak. I will abide by them.

[polak]

Don't get me wrong, I think Johnny will make the team out of camp and will meet expectations, just like he has every time he's played hockey in his entire life. BUT I have a hard time believing he is 160.

For a sport where 160 - 180 lbs is the norm look at soccer. Just going off the pics from Hartleys hockey camp you can see that Johnny is far smaller than your average soccer player. Realistically I'd say 150-155 lbs is where he is.

For example, David Beckham is listed at 6 ft and 165 lbs. There is no way that Johnny is even near that. He still looks like a child compared to Beckham who is also taller but still stockier that Johnny.

[codynw]

Originally Posted by rmillions

I'll jump in..why not..Gives MMF a chance to rip me. I think Sam Bennett makes it. Yes I know he is young. But my friends, (2 NHL Scouts, 1 NHL Coach and a NHL GM) tell me he is undaunted. Fearless, and wont quit. These guys know what they speak. I will abide by them.

I think he'll work his ass off, and possibly even make a strong case for staying up, but I believe he'll still be sent back to the OHL. It'll be nothing to do with his skill, he just really needs to put on some weight. Especially with his playing style, I could see him getting hurt if he stayed in the NHL.

[Ashartus]

I don't think both Gaudreau and Baertschi will immediately make the team barring a lot of injuries up front, but rather they'll be competing for the same spot. I'll pick Gaudreau to win.

For the second forward I think it will be someone who can play in a bottom 6 role; I went with Knight but wouldn't rule out Reinhart, Wolf, Arnold or even Granlund.

On defence I picked Wothersoon, but could see Cundari as a spare. I think most of the others could benefit from a full season in the AHL.

[heep223]

Originally Posted by rmillions

I'll jump in..why not..Gives MMF a chance to rip me. I think Sam Bennett makes it. Yes I know he is young. But my friends, (2 NHL Scouts, 1 NHL Coach and a NHL GM) tell me he is undaunted. Fearless, and wont quit. These guys know what they speak. I will abide by them.

Would love to see Bennett and/or JG this year stick with the club but just don't want them to start their careers off by getting hurt a lot because they're too small. I guess it's a fine line....who makes that call? Hartley?

[polak]

Originally Posted by heep223

Would love to see Bennett and/or JG this year stick with the club but just don't want them to start their careers off by getting hurt a lot because they're too small. I guess it's a fine line....who makes that call? Hartley?

And when do we make the call that they are no longer "too small"? Do we give up if they never make it to that size?

Honestly, I don't think Johnny Gaudreau will get much bigger than he is now. He might put on a few pounds of muscle in his leg but he's 21 years old. He's not all of the sudden one day hit another growth spurt and put on 2 inches and 20 easily maintained pounds of weight.

It's not like sending him down is going to stop him from being hit? If he gets caught in the NHL or gets caught in the AHL, it won't make much of a difference. No one is in the NHL over the AHL simply cause they hit harder.

[To Be Quite Honest]

Originally Posted by rmillions

I'll jump in..why not..Gives MMF a chance to rip me. I think Sam Bennett makes it. Yes I know he is young. But my friends, (2 NHL Scouts, 1 NHL Coach and a NHL GM) tell me he is undaunted. Fearless, and wont quit. These guys know what they speak. I will abide by them.

Wish you'd jump in more. I'd wager your opinion is more valued than MMF's as you have the contacts, and your life is in broadcasting the NHL and the Flames. Not trying to rip MMF, but we're just fans. You help add value and positivity to this site which is definitely coveted.

[heep223]

Yeah I don't know who decides these things, I'd assume it's the coaching staff as a whole. I would hope that they'd consult with Conroy as well, who actually had a successful career in the NHL and would have a better sense from ice level of these things. I think that's an additional benefit of employing an ex-NHLer.

Originally Posted by polak

It's not like sending him down is going to stop him from being hit? If he gets caught in the NHL or gets caught in the AHL, it won't make much of a difference. No one is in the NHL over the AHL simply cause they hit harder.

This is a great point. The NHL is quite a bit faster though - I would worry more about the speed of the game than harder hitting at NHL level. I think they have more of a chance at eluding hits at the AHL level than the NHL level due to this. These guys have a ton of skill and speed, I just would worry that at their size and experience level if they get their clock cleaned early in their careers it might really affect their development negatively. But you're right they're going to get hit in the AHL as well - arguably more as guys are trying to prove themselves.

Anyways this has probably been beat to death in one of the other threads.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by rmillions

I'll jump in..why not..Gives MMF a chance to rip me. I think Sam Bennett makes it. Yes I know he is young. But my friends, (2 NHL Scouts, 1 NHL Coach and a NHL GM) tell me he is undaunted. Fearless, and wont quit. These guys know what they speak. I will abide by them.

Those characteristics, along with his elite talent, are why I think he was the best player in the draft.

However, regardless of how well he plays and how determined he is, I believe the organization will send him back down anyway, simply because he is not physically mature enough for the NHL.

And IMO, they would be absolutely right in doing so.

His fate simply isn't in his own hands.

[dammage79]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Those characteristics, along with his elite talent, are why I think he was the best player in the draft.

However, regardless of how well he plays and how determined he is, I believe the organization will send him back down anyway, simply because he is not physically mature enough for the NHL.

And IMO, they would be absolutely right in doing so.

His fate simply isn't in his own hands.

Not disagreeing. I also share the opinion the Bennett would in fact benefit more from going back to Junior but the Flames are the land of opportunity right now. Treliving even left the door opened for him to earn a spot. He did say his expectation was Bennett would go back to Kingston but he did not matter of factly rule out the opportunity for Sam to make the team.

The only thing we can be sure of right now is that the Young stars Tourney will give us a good look at his progression since the draft and for us fans to get a good look at him in some real games. And that the upcoming training camp is going to be a blast to watch unfold.

I'll bet a few surprises arise from camp.

[ForeverFlameFan]

Sam Bennett at practice = not so good

Sam Bennett during scrimmage/games = clutch

I think he's going to give management a hard time.

[djsFlames]

That's a bold prediction from Roger.

I'd love for it to happen. I have no doubt that he'll bowl over some people and score some pretty goals in his efforts, I just think with guys like Treliving and Burke talking in Hartley's ear, I think chances are against him. Maybe 9 games to give everyone a taste of what he's gonna bring? I could see that.

He's going to be a heck of a player for us in a couple years, I'll tell you that much. Unless Leon grows some heart, we'll always have the player with more edge when the game is on the line.

[TheDebaser]

Originally Posted by rmillions

I'll jump in..why not..Gives MMF a chance to rip me. I think Sam Bennett makes it. Yes I know he is young. But my friends, (2 NHL Scouts, 1 NHL Coach and a NHL GM) tell me he is undaunted. Fearless, and wont quit. These guys know what they speak. I will abide by them.

Nice to see you drop by.

I think Bennett could make it, I really do, but there are really two different ways of thinking about whether or not a prospect should play in the bigs.

The first way of thinking about it is asking yourself the question: is the prospect capable of playing in the nhl? The other way of thinking about it is asking yourself: would playing in the nhl be the best choice for the prospects development?

Bennett could fight his way onto the team. The fan in me really wants to see that happen, but if he makes it, would that result in Sam Bennett 3-5 years from now developing into a different kind of player?

Bennett especially is concerning. One of his biggest assets is his compete level and his physical game. If he played in junior next year his size would be an asset. If he were to play in the nhl he would end up losing a lot of the physical battles. Over time I think he would end up having to pick his battles physically, essentially training himself to play a weaker players game. He might still be an effective NHLer, but I doubt that he would be improving as much as he could be if he were to play in junior for another season.

[Monahan23]

I really think we won't see Wotherspoon up here. Like it or not Engelland will start as an everyday player. They payed him 3mil a season and talked about how much they liked him. Don't want Wotherspoon sitting as well. I'd like him to get as much playing time as possible. I bet we'll see him later but at the start he won't make opening roster.

[djsFlames]

I dunno about the picking battles thing. I don't think Bennett gives a ####, at least that's what 6'7" Hunter Smith said when he apparently took him out in a game. It's in the nature of his game to be relentless despite the physical stature of the opposition, he's gonna do his thing. He may need to be careful in order to avoid injuries, but I don't think he's going to change his game despite the tougher level of competition. That's part of what makes him a great player. I look at Galchenyuk as a comparable. That guy is just a nightmare to deal with because he doesn't let off, and he's making it work at the NHL level. I'm sure Bennett can, too. He'll bulk up to 190+ and maybe 6'2 in a couple years and won't have much of an issue at all with the physicality at that point.

[TheDebaser]

I'm just worried that eventually he'll learn through repetition that hitting 200 pound men just doesn't work out so well, and that eventually he'll habitually play less physical than he would have had he been playing in a league where he could still throw his weight around effectively.

My thought process is pretty simple here. If hitting works a smart player will hit more often, if it doesn't work a smart player will hit less often. If you're playing in a league where hitting doesn't work you will eventually adjust your game to be the best player you can be in the short run. I don't know if you can retrain your habits in the long run.

Don't get me wrong, I still think he'll be a physical player either way, but when we eventually do get into the playoffs, I do think that keeping Bennett in junior for another year will help the flames win a round or two.

[stemit14]

I don't think I've looked forward to watching both the Calgary flames AND their farm team play this much going into a season... Both teams will be full of players I want to watch no matter who makes the big club.

Think about it... Worst case scenario is neither baertschi nor gaudreau make the big club. In which case, it'll be awesome to see them rip up the AHL with poirier and Reinhart/granlund. Along with knight, Arnold, etc. I'm hoping lots of adirondack games are streamed online this year.