My personal opinion is, that if everybody knew these players a little bit better, especially Pospisil would get more love. I think that he's the best Slovak prospect for Calgary.
The thing I don't like about Pospisil is that he is a loose cannon. I watched the Oilers Flames prospect game in red deer two years ago, and he took a dirty run at a vulnerable player. IIRC that season in the AHL he tried to fight someone way up in weight class and got a concussion. I'm all for players with an edge, but do not like players who are looking to hurt others/ themselves.
Poirier until he gets there for me. Total boom or bust but improved his PPG year over year and his +/- went from -25 to -3. If he can figure out a bit of defense then I think he will be a top 4 D.
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Funny to see guys way down the list only to rise up quickly ... Rasmus Andersson. And guys that make it despite not getting any love from us year over year (Kulak, Rittich, Hathaway)
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Still Poirier, his offensive acumen is too much too ignore, 3rd in the Q for playoff scoring dmen, he played 6 games, the guys ahead played 19 and 15 games... plus loved how when he was drafted all he talked about was improving his defensive game.... he knows what he needs to work on, hopefully he takes some steps in that direction
Copy-paste from my vote last round: Kinnvall narrowly over Francis.
Downgraded Ruzicka very slightly from last year - where I was higher than the crowd it seemed - as I fear he may be moving into tweener category: can score in the American League but not enough creativity to do so at the NHL level as C2 and too casual defensively to slot into the C3/4 spots. I thought he grew his offensive game but is still too reliant on teammates in the defensive and neutral zones as a centre for my liking. Big season ahead to define himself. His biggest battle is always between the ears in that he hasn't been able to bring the work ethic and intensity expected and you hate hearing about guys who look back in their 30s and 40s realizing they had the skill to succeed but didn't put in the work. The bane of coaches and lesser-skilled peers.
Spoiler!
Considered
Johannes Kinnvall
Ryan Francis
I went with Kinnvall for pure upside and for the value of a right shot.
Johannes Kinnvall
A defenceman nobody will mistake for Chris Tanev or Niklas Hjalmarsson, the right-shooting powerplay quarterback brings an exciting up-tempo brand of hockey to table, for better or for worse. Already demonstrating an NHL-caliber ability to command a powerplay, Kinnvall offers the coveted dual-threat from the top of the formation keeping penalty killers from cheating either pass or shoot. And while there is no denying his defensive shortcomings, I think his defensive play is getting somewhat underrated due to circumstance. Consider that Kinnvall played for the worst team in the SHL - the recently relegated HV71 - with sub .900 goaltending and you have a situation where help is not abundant and goaltending was unable to bail the team out. Per pick224, HV71 was outscored 21-16 with Kinnvall on the ice, but 62-26 with him on the bench, for instance. The Flames have a big flashing spot at RD3 but would they use it on a soft, offensively-minded defenceman? Probably not, but maybe he wins the job at camp and we have our own Tyson Barrie for 1/5 of the cost. Let's see.
Ceiling: NHL powerplay QB
Probable: AHL/Euro league all-star (Style: Tyson Barrie)
Floor: Minor leaguer/Euro league all-star
Ryan Francis
Similar to Jakob Pelletier in both height and per-game production, Francis is another "undersized" player who isn't afraid to get to the tough areas of the ice. In fact, this season, a handful of Francis' goals came within an arm's length of the blue paint. Though not possessing notable straight-line speed, Francis can be described using a term that has become prevalent in hockey parlance: a waterbug. In the neutral and offensive zones, Francis has the ability to take advantage of his lower centre of gravity by controlling defenders' feet and hips with shifty and erratic movement. This season, I saw a regression in defensive play from the winger-turned-centre but that was offset by a commensurate progression in offensive ability - Francis actually outpaced the highly-regarded Pelletier albeit by a sliver. All those positives in mind, translating an offence-focused game at 5'10 is more difficult than a defensive-focused game so his time in the AHL will tell us a lot. Wide variance player.
__________________ "I think the eye test is still good, but analytics can sure give you confirmation: what you see...is that what you really believe?" Scotty Bowman, 0 NHL games played
Last edited by united; 08-18-2021 at 11:44 PM.
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Here is how the two public models see the winner of this round. Please note that the criteria each model uses for star and NHLer is different! JFresh/TopDownHockey will almost always be lower than Bader's as their thresholds are a much higher standard so adjust accordingly.
Hockey Prospecting
Calgary's own, and fellow Flames fan, Byron Bader runs the excellent site, Hockey Prospecting. You have likely seen his graphics before. At just $25/year his site is a wonderful resource for any fan interested in prospects. You can register here and support Bader's work if you are interested: https://hockeyprospecting.com/register/
Spoiler!
JFresh/TopDownHockey
JFresh and his partner TopDownHockey introduced their NHLe model this year. You will be familiar with the NHL player graphics they produce regularly. At $7/month the subscription is a no-brainer for any hockey fan. You can register here and support their work if you are interested: https://www.patreon.com/jfreshhockey
Spoiler!
__________________ "I think the eye test is still good, but analytics can sure give you confirmation: what you see...is that what you really believe?" Scotty Bowman, 0 NHL games played
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