[News] Flames reassign Mark Jankowski to Stockton

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

The weird part of it is he is so much more effective offensively as well when he is playing that physical game.

Had a couple flashes of speed and skill this season that do leave you wondering if there is more room for offensive growth.

Biggest thing for me is that he needs to work REALLY HARD to play the game the way he has played this year and IMO that will hold back his offensive production.

He can play that way for 11 minutes a game, but not sure he can play that way for the 16/17 minutes that he would need to play to be a true top 6 forward.

I think it's a lot to ask of any player to be able to bang for 16/17 minutes and still maintain intensity. It's one of those things where if he had more offensive upside the coach could sacrifice some of the physicality and give him more TOI. However he seems to be at his best when he's playing hard, physical hockey so I think right now he's being used perfectly by Gulutzan. I expect the longer he plays in this role the better chance for his confidence to grow and the better the chances of unearthing any untapped offense in his skillset. Time will tell but he's night and day better than last season for sure.

[Calgary4LIfe]

I agree with FDW in what Ferland is today, and what he can be tomorrow.

Not every player maxes out at his age. This is his second year in the NHL. He is 24 years old. Why is it hard for people to accept that this kid has more room to grow?

Last year, I saw a rookie being inconsistent. However, I also saw times where he dominated teams physically. He also was really great in the corners, and had soft hands and made intelligent plays on the ice. He was just inconsistent.

This year you are seeing more consistency in his game. It is not a surprise to see that happens as a player matures. Granted, some players never do, but to suddenly put a ceiling on Ferland after 1 full NHL season is at the very least premature.

I think he does have the POTENTIAL to be a 20-20 guy in this league - maybe a bit more - who excels in the corners, is a brutal to play against, and who can really help this team win all over the ice. That is who I think Ferland can be, and I don't think he is that far away really. He might plateau this season, maybe next, but I don't think we have seen his ceiling yet.

People still think Gaudreau can be a 100pt guy one year if everything goes right. He is 23, and has one more year of experience (never mind the fact that he played in the NCAA which (IMO) acclimates prospects better for the pros as they have more complex systems and are on average bigger and older players).

Ferland is not a finished product. We ALL have seen growth this season so far from last season. He is on pace for ~13 and 32 points. He is already so good in the corners. He is becoming a better net-front presence. He has been having MORE games where he is noticeable than last season when he had more games where he wasn't noticeable.

Players don't plateau at 22, 24 or 27. They plateau when they plateau, and to me, it seems he is taking a nice big step in his development.

[gunnner]

Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe

I agree with FDW in what Ferland is today, and what he can be tomorrow.

Not every player maxes out at his age. This is his second year in the NHL. He is 24 years old. Why is it hard for people to accept that this kid has more room to grow?

Last year, I saw a rookie being inconsistent. However, I also saw times where he dominated teams physically. He also was really great in the corners, and had soft hands and made intelligent plays on the ice. He was just inconsistent.

This year you are seeing more consistency in his game. It is not a surprise to see that happens as a player matures. Granted, some players never do, but to suddenly put a ceiling on Ferland after 1 full NHL season is at the very least premature.

I think he does have the POTENTIAL to be a 20-20 guy in this league - maybe a bit more - who excels in the corners, is a brutal to play against, and who can really help this team win all over the ice. That is who I think Ferland can be, and I don't think he is that far away really. He might plateau this season, maybe next, but I don't think we have seen his ceiling yet.

People still think Gaudreau can be a 100pt guy one year if everything goes right. He is 23, and has one more year of experience (never mind the fact that he played in the NCAA which (IMO) acclimates prospects better for the pros as they have more complex systems and are on average bigger and older players).

Ferland is not a finished product. We ALL have seen growth this season so far from last season. He is on pace for ~13 and 32 points. He is already so good in the corners. He is becoming a better net-front presence. He has been having MORE games where he is noticeable than last season when he had more games where he wasn't noticeable.

Players don't plateau at 22, 24 or 27. They plateau when they plateau, and to me, it seems he is taking a nice big step in his development.

To each their own. Angelo Esposito hit his plateau at 16

[Torture]

That's funny, I thought this was a thread about Mark Jankowski and I came here to see how he played last night in a game I couldn't watch. I seem to have stumbled in to the Ferland thread, I'll show myself out.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by Torture

That's funny, I thought this was a thread about Mark Jankowski and I came here to see how he played last night in a game I couldn't watch. I seem to have stumbled in to the Ferland thread, I'll show myself out.

He didn't play last night, so you didn't miss anything.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Long standing CP rule is all threads are about Jankowski, except Jankowski threads.

[getbak]

And, he's gone...

Calgary Flames ‏@NHLFlames

The #Flames have assigned Mark Jankowski to the @AHLHeat ~ http://cflam.es/2grjehK

He'll be back.

[mrdonkey]

Janko Chained.

[belsarius]

Originally Posted by getbak

And, he's gone...



He'll be back.

He got some time with the big team on the road. Got a pretty decent first game in, got his feet wet and a decent X-mas paycheque bonus for a week. Show good things in Stockton and get rewarded. Some people might be disappointed we didn't see more of him but I like the message it sends and now he's had a taste lets see if the hunger grows. Hoping he gets one more call up and I except a real good fight for a spot out of him next September.

[Robbob]

He didn't take the pre-game skate last night so he probably went back yesterday.

[Fischy13]

Bouma returning? He would be the only on close right?

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

I was one of Ferland's distractors last season

How did you do it?

[cannon7]

Would've liked to see another game, but if Gulutzan isn't gonna play him then Stockton is where he needs to be.

[AC]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

I was one of Ferland's distractors last season and I can assure you it wasn't because I missed replays, come on FDW.

Physically and offensively he looks better in both regards. He's finishing his checks this year, with more consistency. Plenty of times last year he'd bump into a guy and yeah it would count as a hit but it was a nothing moment. This year he's smashing into players more often with devastating results.

I have to disagree actually. I think Ferland was consistently physical last year but didn't get recognized for it, or for his good offensive play for whatever reason.

I just went through my video of his 2015/2016 and counted of the hits I showed 47 what I would consider big hits in 71 games (66% of games). That's also 47 big hits out of his 207 official hits (23% of hits).

This year through the 21 games I've pulled highlights from he has 12 big hits (57% of games), and that's 12 out of his 49 official hits through 21 games (24% of hits).

Nothing super scientific, but as someone who looks through the games for each hit he makes the numbers should be pretty accurate.

[Yrebmi]

Wow. Should have added "Update" to the title when edited.

I ended up re-opening the first page wondering why posters were excited he was sent back down.

[StrykerSteve]

Originally Posted by Yrebmi

Wow. Should have added "Update" to the title when edited.

I ended up re-opening the first page wondering why posters were excited he was sent back down.

Me too lol

[Oil Stain]

Originally Posted by TheoFleury

I think Jankowski will eventually be a 35-45 point, middle 6 center who is elite, or near-elite, defensively. Basically a 6'4" version of Backlund, and not really much like Stajan at all. Matty only scored when he was younger and thrust into a top 6 role on a bad team. He is more of a jack of all trades type, who is good at nothing, average at everything. Basically, he's a bottom 6 character guy who doesn't embarrass himself out there. Obviously he has some skills, but the offense only ever showed when he got steady top 6 minutes and PP time, but he was only ever going to get that on a bad team.

Jankowski has some tantalizing tools that Stajan has never possessed despite what his score sheet from a seven or eight years ago says. Actually I'm not really sure what Stajan's offensive peak has to do with anything at all with regards to Jankowski. It was a total mirage as many players would be good enough to rake up some points in the NHL while the team loses game after game. Someone has to score on bad teams after all.

Sorry to interrupt the Ferland discussion but I thought I would touch on this post.

I see a lot of fans with this attitude towards veteran players and prospects. Cogliano was going to be Marchant with hands for instance. Turns out their career ppg is identical at the moment, and Marchant was a better defensive player, hence a better player overall.

I'm not saying Jankowski vs Stajan will turn out this way, but it seems some fans are much more willing to give the benefit of the doubt to a player that is unproven versus one that has actually accomplished something in the NHL.

Stajan is discredited by saying that he could only put up points on a bad team, but when Stajan was 22 he scored 39 points on a team that finished the season with 91 points. That was a better team than the Flames were last year and what they are on pace for this season.


If we go by the cold hard numbers, Jankowski at 22 is lagging behind Stajan at 22 thus far. Jankowski has some real work to do to catch up to Stajan's career path. It'll be interesting to see how it plays out.

Other interesting guys to look at would be Joe Colborne, and Blake Wheeler for the fact that they are also big men who played at lower levels predraft and went to University. Wheeler in particular was drafted out of high school hockey in a situation similar to Jankowski.

[bigrangy]

I think that the Flames might feel that they can survive with only 13 healthy forwards when they're at home or on the west coast (i.e. near the farm team). The Flames play at home on Friday, then in Anaheim on Sunday (ugggh, just as the season was turning around) then in Dallas and Arizona later that week. The Flames have 13 healthy forwards up right now, so I don't think that this move means someone's return is imminent.

The Heat play Friday and Saturday in Stockton so any call ups for Sunday's game might be pretty tired but they won't have to go far. Sending Janko down banks a little cap space for later in the season as well. It's not much, but every little bit will count when the Flames are as close to the cap as they are.

[Fighting Banana Slug]

^^ The Duck game is here in Calgary.

[bigrangy]

Originally Posted by Fighting Banana Slug

^^ The Duck game is here in Calgary.

Indeed it is, I messed up looking at the schedule. I could have sworn the homestand was longer than 2 games.

I wonder if Stockton to Calgary is a trip that is doable to get a player here for a back-to-back. I know Wotherspoon played 3 in 3 (2 AHL then NHL) last year but I don't know where Stockton and Calgary were at the time.