Michael Ferland... What's the deal?

[Flamenspiel]

I think its just a quality of opponents thing, they beat the Islanders, Detroit, Rangers, Canucks and Minnesota. Only one playoff team, lets see if he can keep up the scoring when they start playing better teams.

[thymebalm]

Have always loved Ferland.

So happy to see him succeed and to see our new players thrive as well.

Could this be a rare win-win all around?

[CalgaryFan1988]

I'm glad Ferland is doing well. When he is at his best, his game is exactly what I love about hockey. Hard hits and goal scoring.

You have to give to get in trades and Ferland is a competitor.

[Street Pharmacist]

Win or lose, the trade is over. I hope nothing but success for a man who turned his life around and is an excellent role model for an awful lot of native youth struggling to find one

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by bigrangy

Ferland is a unicorn. There is nothing he isn't above average at hockey wise. His shot is very good, his hockey sense is strong, his puck handling/carrying is upper half of the roster caliber, his defensive play is well above average for a winger.


Even without his tremendous physical presence he still can make a difference, and he's probably a top 10 forward in the league in terms of his physicality, and one of maybe three who can do so while playing top 6 minutes.

Look I don't want to be a Debbie Downer but I feel like there are two Ferland's being discussed in this thread. One in an alternate universe and the other that actually played for the Flames the last two seasons. Ferland was not an intimidating player, was not a fighter, and was Bennet-lite when it comes to being a physical presence. Wasn't he also one of the guys singled out in rumors for not hating to lose enough?

That said it's nice to see him having some success in the early stages of the season. I hope he parlays his play into a nice contract with Carolina or another team.

[PugnaciousIntern]

I wonder how much life events like having children affects NHL careers. You’d need to adjust for the reality that older players have kids. But Ferland isn’t the first player I’ve seen lose his overly aggressive edge after becoming a father.

Those factors may not be related at all. Perhaps it was just a natural transition in his game. But becoming a parent changes perspectives on just about everything, and for somebody who broke into the NHL crashing and banging, I am certainly curious if it impacted his game style.

Regardless, I couldn’t be more proud of him. He’s the first non-Flames jersey I’ve considered buying. Although, I’m not so sure how long he’ll stick in Carolina!

[Geeoff]

Didn't Ferland have pretty much the same start last year?

[puckedoff]

Ferland for Neal but it has to happen now to make sense

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by bluck

Ferland is absolutely killing it in Carolina! With another goal tonight that brings him to 6 goals, and 9 points on the year to go along with 21 hits in 9 games.

I just don't understand how he was not able to do that with Guadreau and Monahan for extend periods of time? Are Aho and Teravainen really that different? Yes I know it's early.. and we have seen Ferland do this for bits of the year then completely disappear; however, I've watched a lot of Canes games and he looks REALLY good. Contract year maybe?

Ferland was really good last year up until his injury. Fans have a short memory and tend to only remember the end of the season, where Gulutzan basically killed the team with his brand of cyanide. Even includig Ferland's decline following his injury, his 2017-18 5on5 production ranks 62nd among the 299 forwards who played 700+ minutes - certifiably first line production when playing a first line role.

As for physicality, he was never going to appear physical here as he would always be benchmarked against his 2015 Canucks series rather than sustainable physicality.

As for Aho and Teravainen, it's funny. I recall arguing that he would likely see himself on their line back when he was traded and people rejected the notion of Ferland showing competency away from Gaudreau and Monahan. Ironically that line is outproducing Gaudreau-Monahan-Lindholm 5v5:

GML - 50% GF 43% CF
TAF - 87.5% GF 57% CF

Even if some of those things level off, I think the Canes have a solid top line and we have a top line that needs to prove it is solid rather than chasing the puck all game.

I don't know but I am kind of disappointed he is not in our lineup anymore... I mean we gave Neal 5 Mil to play on the third line...

As am I, but our PP needed a right shot and Ferland being a left shot had no fit outside of even strength. Not that Neal is.

[GordonBlue]

Originally Posted by Yrebmi

I wonder how much of it if any was coaching.
Ferly is not the only player to show better without GG

wonder if canes fans are saying the same thing about their team and not having Peters.
is their team that different from the previous year?

[madmike]

It sort of sucks to see him doing so well, but at the same time he's going to be a UFA and frankly with Tkachuk's deal coming up, the Flames likely wouldn't be able to afford a UFA Ferland contract.

[kman35ca]

You gotta give to get. I loved Ferland and wish we could have kept him somehow. But I think all things included, especially the long term contracts we got on Lindholm and Hanafin this was a great trade. Of course it’s early, but so far I’m liking it.

Plus Idk if that new owner in Carolina is gonna start putting more cash into the team, but if they stick to their normal trend of being a budget team. I doubt Ferland is there for too long.

Ya he was streaky, but I think that concussion last year had something to do with it. And playing under GG probably didn’t help... Or maybe I’m wrong and the rumours of him not hating to lose enough are true. But He just doesn’t seem the type.

[EVERLAST]

Ferland is the next Taylor Hall.
He will put the canes on his back and win the scoring title .

Ok. Maybe a reach but I bet he is top 3 in scoring for the canes .

I wish him well .

[Otto-matic]

I think Ferland suffered a bit of Glencrossitus. He stopped doing what made him successful, as well as being extremely streaky.

Wish him all the best in Carolina but I wouldn't want to see the Flames shell out 4/5 million for him.

Christ we're already running Neal out of town and its only been 8 games.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by GordonBlue

wonder if canes fans are saying the same thing about their team and not having Peters.
is their team that different from the previous year?

You make a good point, but I'd suggest that 4 years is a long time to hear the same message from the same guy. It gets stale, and that's why coaches change often, even if they're good at their job.

However, I'm still going to say that goaltending is the biggest reason the 'Canes struggled in recent years. Bad goals are a team and coach killer. They've been getting some stabilizing goaltending early from McElhinney, but who knows if it will last. Still lots of hockey left to play.

[GioforPM]

It's not exactly surprising that a guy who (a) we know can score and (b) has sometimes had issues with consistency/not doing the things that got him there, would get off to a hot start under the motivation of playing with a new team, especially given the familiar role of a top spot with talented linemates.

The question is going to be whether he relaxes back into sometimes being invisible or keeps it in gear because he's more mature.

[Oling_Roachinen]

Yeah, ever since the Canucks series Ferland had intervals where he looked like a legitimate first line threat, even if he wasn't always scoring.

Whether it was motivation issues, or more likely just the physical toll of playing like that for 82 games, he's just hasn't been able to string together more than a dozen or so games before falling back down to Earth.

I'm fine with the deal, if he keep its up it would have been hard to pay him what he deserves and I think I'd be weary of him being able to keep up his play for any extended contract. But good for him if he does have a breakout season.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan

They've been getting some stabilizing goaltending early from McElhinney, but who knows if it will last.

Yep, that's the only thing that matters as far as the Canes' success goes. They'll be a good team apart from goaltending, and goaltending will either allow them to parlay that into a playoff spot or it'll sink them as usual.

That being said, when you realize where their top line came from, there's no reason it should be as good as it is. Aho was a 2nd round pick, Teravainen was a bargain bin acquisition because the Hawks couldn't afford to keep anyone and he wound up on the discard pile, and Ferland was the extra piece coming back in a trade that was heavily focused on three players. Hell, on the day the trade was made, I'd say he was a less significant chip than Fox was, from the Calgary perspective. I know who I heard more complaints about losing.

Obviously they'll come back to Earth, because they're scoring almost 90% of the goals when they're on the ice and I'm pretty confident they aren't the best line in the history of the sport. But they still appear to be a bona fide #1 line. And all three of them put together have roughly the same cap hit as Milan Lucic.

[Johnny Makarov]

Ferland's playoff performance against the Canucks was the biggest tease for Flames Fans since Phaneuf's first couple of years.

[Sainters7]

He's motivated, being on a new team. Hence why he was always so good for us in the playoffs too. I get the impression he's the type of player who is good when he's motivated...which is not as often as he should be.