Expectations for Adam Ruzicka this season

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts

He was producing when on the top line and inexplicably Sutter put him in the dog house who knows what happened but he had 0 points after that.

Hard to say what we have with him until we see a full seasons body of work.

He has talent, but does he have the drive to show that talent with consistency for a full season.

Not sure about inexplicably.

He became a no show and lost his perch. Last one into a puck battle, and often on the wrong side of the puck.

Just disappeared.

You do that and you lose your role.

[Reggie Dunlop]

He and Kylington are the question marks.

Things could go south for either one of them. If they turn it around, they'll be important players in the overall scheme of things.

[Jiri Hrdina]

When I think about the Flames line-up he's the guy I always forget to include.
So hopefully this year he reaches the point where he's not easy to forget.

[Reggie Dunlop]

Anyone thinks he's a guy who could end up on waivers? I think a few teams might grab him given the low cost...

[Naitix]

I do not think Ruzicka was particularly more lazy than others players, I think the issue was that in the first ~10 games he was really good - winning board battles, fore checking very well etc. Later on he played at decent effort level but clearly not as much as he showed initially and I bet Sutter wanted to play his mind games to bring out Ruzickas maximum effort

[dissentowner]

He is an absolute wildcard. The talent and size is there, let's see if he can put it together .

[Cycling76er]

Needs a lot more, and consistent, GAF.

[HighLifeMan]

This kid led the team in scoring for over a calendar month during the only stint he received in a top nine role with 17 points in 19 games. This came directly after he sat in the pressbox for an entire month to begin the year. There is going to be up's and down's with these young kids and patience will need to be shown. Throwing him in and out of the lineup in a role his skillset is simply not suited for is not a way to properly develop him at this level. Hell, Darryl didn't even dress this kid in the final game of the year with nothing to play for.. That had to be incredibly frustrating and discouraging for him.

He may or may not have the chops to stick long term at this level, but his play and production warranted him getting a significantly longer look than he was given, and his skillset+size combo is not something you want to see flourish away from your organization.

[activeStick]

My expectations for him are low. I hope he does well, but I haven't seen anything to warrant high expectations. Consistency is the game in the show...

[timun]

Originally Posted by HighLifeMan

This kid led the team in scoring for over a calendar month during the only stint he received in a top nine role with 17 points in 19 games.

The last 19 games he played he had no points at all.

I'm pulling for Ruzicka, I've always liked what I've seen of him, but as Cycling76er and others put it the "GAF" factor needs to be consistently high if he is to succeed.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by HighLifeMan

This kid led the team in scoring for over a calendar month during the only stint he received in a top nine role with 17 points in 19 games. This came directly after he sat in the pressbox for an entire month to begin the year. There is going to be up's and down's with these young kids and patience will need to be shown. Throwing him in and out of the lineup in a role his skillset is simply not suited for is not a way to properly develop him at this level. Hell, Darryl didn't even dress this kid in the final game of the year with nothing to play for.. That had to be incredibly frustrating and discouraging for him.

He may or may not have the chops to stick long term at this level, but his play and production warranted him getting a significantly longer look than he was given, and his skillset+size combo is not something you want to see flourish away from your organization.

Yup he was great for 6 weeks - had 2 games where the line wasn't producing, and Sutter stapled him back to the 4th line again.

No leash at all, and needed to get Lucic back into the top 9 because he was so much better.

[HighLifeMan]

Originally Posted by timun

The last 19 games he played he had no points at all.

I'm pulling for Ruzicka, I've always liked what I've seen of him, but as Cycling76er and others put it the "GAF" factor needs to be consistently high if he is to succeed.

I understand that but that involved him bouncing in and out of the lineup playing under 9:00 minutes a night in a role that he has never been tasked to play and that his skillset is not equipped for alongside Milan Lucic and Trevor Lewis. We saw Sean Monahan suffer immensely with the very same placement the year prior and they are very similar players in terms of engagement and playstyle. He was put in a position to fail down the stretch, and that's exactly what happened. The fourth line stunk.

[Sylvanfan]

If he can be consistent enough in his effort to get into the lineup 75 times barring injury, then it's a good season for him. Getting that consistent effort over long time frames has always been the challenge with Ruzicka.

Be consistent and stay in the lineup and the other stuff works itself out

[Finger Cookin]

30 NHL games played and 2-3 threads on Calgarypuck before he's moved.

[timun]

Originally Posted by HighLifeMan

I understand that but that involved him bouncing in and out of the lineup playing under 9:00 minutes a night in a role that he has never been tasked to play and that his skillset is not equipped for alongside Milan Lucic and Trevor Lewis. We saw Sean Monahan suffer immensely with the very same placement the year prior and they are very similar players in terms of engagement and playstyle. He was put in a position to fail down the stretch, and that's exactly what happened. The fourth line stunk.

Forget the "bouncing in and out of the lineup": he played 35 straight games (Nov 8 vs. the Devils to January 18 vs. the Avalanche), and did SFA in the last 11 of those 35, averaging 10:23 a night.

Also don't forget that he was still given powerplay time: in those 10:23 per night he averaged 1:15 on the PP (incl. none in the games on January 8th vs. the Blackhawks and January 10th vs. the Blues; in the other nine games he averaged 1:44 of PP time per night). Fourth-liners Brett Ritchie/Milan Lucic/Trevor Lewis did not get that powerplay time, and I'd hardly call that "being put in a position to fail".

Generally I still thought he played decently, but he wasn't helping to finish plays and was eventually playing sheltered minutes with almost entirely O-zone starts. His ice time was given to Walker Duehr and Jakob Pelletier instead. Such is life.

[Reggie Dunlop]

The Slovakian Joe Colborne.

[Mass_nerder]

He's shown plenty of skill, but needs to find consistency.He's also still only 24 years old. Sometimes it takes a little longer for big guys to put it all together.

[BagoPucks]

Hard work, get stronger, get faster and get consistent

[Mindtravellee]

Be good to see him start with Backlund and Coleman to get him to work on his 2nd and 3rd efforts from the 2 guys that live on that stuff.

Probably the best center to put with Huberdeau. Could he play RW on that line?

[Iceman57]

Without full explanation I just believe in Adam Ruzicka, I feel it in my bones that he can take that next step this season and one of the main reasons why I think dealing Lindholm is the right move.

Ruzicka has all the tools and just needs a coach to show him some faith. I believe Huska is that coach and will provide him with the proper tool box.

I think a line of Huberdeau-Ruzicka-Dube would be phenomenal