Tidbits from THN's Future Watch

[Reggie Dunlop]

If they're looking for a veteran AHL scorer I'm sure the team can find one. One that is on a more team-friendly deal.

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by Bingo

How can a guy with 1 NHL game at age 23 force anyone's hand?

The Flames will likely have a take it or leave it offer with the expression of wanting him to stay in the organization.

Sign or don't.

Age 24, but who's counting? And I don't think an extension works for either party, so I question whether the Flames will re-up Phillips or if he would even accept the offer on the table.

The NHL team needs to think about the future and developing NHL talent. A long-term contract with a player that is not in their plans doesn't make sense. Why sign a player that is not in your plans, especially when you have a number of players coming into the minor league system that need playing time? The team needs to keep push these guys forward and keep churning out NHL talent, not AHL minor leaguers. When a player ages out, they need to move on. Phillips is aging out.

The player needs to think about his future and to maximize his earnings. They don't care about who they play for. They are all mercenaries, so the thing they hope to achieve is the quickest path to the NHL where the money is the best or start looking for avenues where they have the greatest earning potential. The AHL is not that place for most players. You can make more money in Europe than you can in the AHL and have a much easier lifestyle. So why would anyone with some level of control over their future elect to sign a long-term two-way deal for AHL money? Especially a team where you are clearly not in the NHL plans? Go big or go to Europe and secure some cash for your future.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Button has posted his top 10 prospects for each Canadian club, for the Flames:
1. Wolf
2. Pelletier
3. Coronato
4. Zary
5. Kerins
6. Poirier
7. Beck
8. Philips
9. Stromgren
10. Kuznetzov

I would say inclusion of Kerins and Beck shows that Button has a more current view of things.

Compared to THN:
1. Coronato (21st overall)
2. Pelletier (36th)
3. Wolf (73rd)
4. Zary (93rd)
5. Pospisil
6. Poirier
7. Kuznetzov
8. Stromgren
9. Mackey
10. Kinnvall

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by Lanny_McDonald

Age 24, but who's counting? And I don't think an extension works for either party, so I question whether the Flames will re-up Phillips or if he would even accept the offer on the table.

The NHL team needs to think about the future and developing NHL talent. A long-term contract with a player that is not in their plans doesn't make sense. Why sign a player that is not in your plans, especially when you have a number of players coming into the minor league system that need playing time? The team needs to keep push these guys forward and keep churning out NHL talent, not AHL minor leaguers. When a player ages out, they need to move on. Phillips is aging out.

The player needs to think about his future and to maximize his earnings. They don't care about who they play for. They are all mercenaries, so the thing they hope to achieve is the quickest path to the NHL where the money is the best or start looking for avenues where they have the greatest earning potential. The AHL is not that place for most players. You can make more money in Europe than you can in the AHL and have a much easier lifestyle. So why would anyone with some level of control over their future elect to sign a long-term two-way deal for AHL money? Especially a team where you are clearly not in the NHL plans? Go big or go to Europe and secure some cash for your future.

You act like they have three precious spots in the AHL for prospects and that's it.

Winning at any level is good for developing players. Phillips is a very good AHL talent with a chance to pop to the next level. The Flames would want him back, but they're not going to paint themselves into a corner to do so.

[looooob]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

Button has posted his top 10 prospects for each Canadian club, for the Flames:
1. Wolf
2. Pelletier
3. Coronato
4. Zary
5. Kerins
6. Poirier
7. Beck
8. Philips
9. Stromgren
10. Kuznetzov

I would say inclusion of Kerins and Beck shows that Button has a more current view of things.

Compared to THN:
1. Coronato (21st overall)
2. Pelletier (36th)
3. Wolf (73rd)
4. Zary (93rd)
5. Pospisil
6. Poirier
7. Kuznetzov
8. Stromgren
9. Mackey
10. Kinnvall

I get that the player is not perfect, but a bit surprised not to see Ruzicka scrape the bottom of either list. I'm rooting for Phillips as much as the next guy but Ruzicka is a year younger, 50 pounds heavier, outscoring (per game basis) in the AHL, and higher on the current NHL depth chart- as one example (if for some reason he's considered graduated, then ignore)

[TheScorpion]

I talked to my friend at THN and he confirmed to me that they made an eleventh-hour decision to call Ruzicka a graduate. Wouldn't be surprised if Button did the same.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by looooob

I get that the player is not perfect, but a bit surprised not to see Ruzicka scrape the bottom of either list. I'm rooting for Phillips as much as the next guy but Ruzicka is a year younger, 50 pounds heavier, outscoring (per game basis) in the AHL, and higher on the current NHL depth chart- as one example (if for some reason he's considered graduated, then ignore)

I agree that Ruzicka should be higher. He has progressed every year since he was drafted to the point he appears to be at the top of Treliving's speed dial list. He has also been fairly productive as a rookie with bottom 6 minutes and IMO, passes the eye-test on most nights.

I think it's a case of balancing ceiling versus likelihood to play in the NHL. Guys like Stromgren, Kuznetsov, Beck, and Kerins are all possibly high-ceiling guys, but I would be surprised if more than one of them becomes a full-time NHL player, just based on the typical odds. Ruzicka I believe, has shown that he is likely to be a full-time NHL player in the near future, even if his ceiling is more of a middle 6 guy.

It's kind of like how Hathaway was never at the top of any prospect rankings, but at the end of the day, he carved out a better career than many of the prospects in the Flames system back then.

Edit: Missed Scorp's post above.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

Button has posted his top 10 prospects for each Canadian club, for the Flames:
1. Wolf
2. Pelletier
3. Coronato
4. Zary
5. Kerins
6. Poirier
7. Beck
8. Philips
9. Stromgren
10. Kuznetzov

I would say inclusion of Kerins and Beck shows that Button has a more current view of things.

Compared to THN:
1. Coronato (21st overall)
2. Pelletier (36th)
3. Wolf (73rd)
4. Zary (93rd)
5. Pospisil
6. Poirier
7. Kuznetzov
8. Stromgren
9. Mackey
10. Kinnvall

Solid list from Button - knowledgeable and up to date

[shutout]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Solid list from Button - knowledgeable and up to date

Which begs the question of why Philips is on there at #8.
If the organization or league sees him as somebody without a future, why would Button who must talk to various people around the league and in each of the organizations include him and so high on the list of Calgary prospects.

Flames may find that they have an opening and place for Philips next year depending upon where Gaudreau, Tkachuk, and Mangiapane end up playing.

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Solid list from Button - knowledgeable and up to date

Words rarely stated.

Originally Posted by shutout

Which begs the question of why Philips is on there at #8.
If the organization or league sees him as somebody without a future, why would Button who must talk to various people around the league and in each of the organizations include him and so high on the list of Calgary prospects.

Flames may find that they have an opening and place for Philips next year depending upon where Gaudreau, Tkachuk, and Mangiapane end up playing.

Well, he talks to his brother. I doubt anyone else around the league would mention Phillips in anything but passing.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

Button has posted his top 10 prospects for each Canadian club, for the Flames:
1. Wolf
2. Pelletier
3. Coronato
4. Zary
5. Kerins
6. Poirier
7. Beck
8. Philips
9. Stromgren
10. Kuznetzov

I would say inclusion of Kerins and Beck shows that Button has a more current view of things.

Compared to THN:
1. Coronato (21st overall)
2. Pelletier (36th)
3. Wolf (73rd)
4. Zary (93rd)
5. Pospisil
6. Poirier
7. Kuznetzov
8. Stromgren
9. Mackey
10. Kinnvall

Nice to see Kerins get some love. I assume Craig talks to his brother on a regular basis so the list probably reflects that the Flames think they have a player here.

[Hot_Flatus]

Don't sleep on William Stromgren, Jack Beck and Arseni Sergeev either. To me they are huge upside prospects that are still flying under the radar big time from everything i've seen on them.

Mackey and Wolf should be top 5 on this current list as well. That is all.

[TheScorpion]

Stromgren took a huge step back this year.

[timbit]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

Stromgren took a huge step back this year.

Is that from an inside source ? I have not heard that.

[TheScorpion]

When the Flames drafted Stromgren, he looked primed to break into the Allsvenskan second-tier Swedish pro league or the top-tier Swedish Hockey League full time. He had ripped up the Swedish J20 league with 10 goals and 18 points in 14 games in 2020–21 and also played 27 games in Allsvenskan.

This year, Stromgren's production has stagnated a little bit and he hasn't spent any time at all in Allsvenskan. He had 13 goals and 36 points in 44 games in the J20, which is not really the kind of progression you want to see from a scoring forward in his D+1 season. Players picked in the fifth and sixth rounds had significantly more productive seasons in the J20 league, while other Swedes taken closer to Stromgren (Simon Robertsson, Anton Olsson) spent the entire 2021–22 season in the SHL.

Stromgren only played six SHL games with very limited minutes at the end of the season, which isn't really what you want to see. Now, reasons for optimism: his age (he's a June 2003 birthday, young for the 2021 class); his frame (6'3", which could help him adapt to the Allsvenskan or SHL once he's given a longer leash in either — plus he's only 176 pounds, which means he has room to bulk up); plus, he had a good (albeit brief) showing in two games with Rögle's top-tier team in the Champions Hockey League.

Stromgren wouldn't have been my pick at 45, I really wanted the Flames to take Stankoven or Räty, and it's been a little disappointing to chart his progression this season, but he's in a good development tract overseas and he has a lot of the tools needed to bounce back. For now, I'm a little concerned, but I'm certainly not writing him off.

[Sandman]

Jack Beck is tied for 27th in the OHL for ppg, at 1.18. He is the only member of his team to even be NEAR a point-per-game, and he's way over. He's also one of the few players on the 67's to have a positive plus/minus, at +2. I think it's fair to say that his stats would be even more dazzling if he were playing on a better team.

Edit: The 67's are 14th out of 20 teams in the OHL standings, but they are dead LAST in goals scored, at 193 in 66 games.