Calgarypuck Prospect Ranking 2021 - Round 6

[Flames1217]

Originally Posted by dammage79

Ryan Francis today, Ryan Francis until he is ranked in.

Same.

[timbit]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

I'd be extremely hesitant to vote Ruzicka before Phillips considering how much of the former's offensive output is dependent on the latter.

One year younger, 9 inches taller and 60 pounds heavier.

Phillips has not lit up the AHL, nor has Ruzicka.

One of them has a very slight chance and the other has a fair to moderate chance.

I know you’re a huge fan of Phillips, but the last player of his size that I can remember making an impact was 20 year old Fleury. He was 2 points a game at the minor league level for half a season, before being a 3rd and 4th liner on a SC team.

IMO, it takes special talents to be an NHLer at that size.
I don’t see it with Phillips.

[Heavy Jack]

I’ve thought highly of the Phillips pick for sometime and he will be my pick until it happens.

[Fire]

I can't vote for a 24 year old prospect that will most likely not be anything more than a depth defenseman this high up in the rankings. So no Mackey or Kinvall for me at this stage. It was between Heineman, Ruzicka and Stromgren for me. It very close between them but I went with Ruzicka. With his size and having Sutter has head coach I could see him being a regular in the NHL this season.

[Fighting Banana Slug]

Originally Posted by Fire

I can't vote for a 24 year old prospect that will most likely not be anything more than a depth defenseman this high up in the rankings. So no Mackey or Kinvall for me at this stage. It was between Heineman, Ruzicka and Stromgren for me. It very close between them but I went with Ruzicka. With his size and having Sutter has head coach I could see him being a regular in the NHL this season.

You can pick whomever you like, of course, but I think Ruzicka may very well end up as a depth forward when all is said and done. I think you may be selling Kinnvall a little short as well. His path to the NHL may be al little different, but he is a high scorer as a defenseman in Sweden’s top league, so there is some pedigree.

[united]

Same as round 4, and by default round 5.

Considered
Johannes Kinnvall
Connor Mackey
Ryan Francis
William Stromgren

This round was a tough one and all are honestly pretty interchangeable, in my opinion. The classic ceiling versus certainty dilemma comes into play that's for sure. In the end I went with Stromgren for pure ceiling over likelihood of playing.

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

Connor Mackey
Coming out of the Mike Hastings-coached Minnesota State program, Connor Mackey quickly showed that not only was he legitimate at the next level, he was arguably far better than expected. Perhaps the result of recent NCAA free agent PTSD with Spencer Foo, some fans were highly skeptical of Mackey's ability - though to go on a tangent I will point out the common practice of rating all NCAA conferences equally is maddening and results in players like Foo getting baffling levels of hype. Consider the talent gap between the WHCA (Mackey) and ECAC is about as large as the gap between the WHL and the AJHL - imagine if those two leagues were treated equally? That out of the weight, I thought Mackey had some nerves at the NHL but quickly adapted to, then dominated, the AHL. I think there is little question Mackey is an NHL level talent but going into his 25-year-old season he is likely a 3rd-pairing defenceman.

Ceiling: #5 defenceman
Probable: #6/7 defenceman (Style: Jason Demers)
Floor: AHL/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.

Ceiling: 2nd-line winger
Probable: AHL tweener (Style: Dillon Dube)
Floor: Bust

William Stromgren
Already 6'3 at 17 years old, Stromgren possess the frame old school scouts drool over. Add in his above average skating ability and you have a prospect that has tremendous potential should he and the Flames' development staff be able to round out the rest of his game. The offensively-focused winger displays a pro-caliber ability to protect the puck downlow, isn't afraid to get to the paint, and can beat pro goalies clean with his shot. Stromgren's hockey IQ really holds him back as his defensive contributions are subpar to be generous and he struggles utilizing his teammates on offence. Stromgren is really raw talent with impressive tools and if he puts it together could be a Pavel Buchnevic-type player. That said, hockey IQ is tough to overcome - boom or bust likely here.

Ceiling: 2nd-line winger
Probable: AHL/Euro league (Style: Pavel Buchnevic)
Floor: Bust