Follow Colin on Twitter! Follow @ColinDJD The Calgary Flames development camp has opened as of Friday where players took part in off-ice testing, and Saturday where they hit the ice for the first time.
The Flames had an interesting and rather diverse group of players present this year; some such as Kenny Agostino who will be partaking in his 4th prospect camp, and many others like Sam Bennett who will be taking in his first.
That said, there are players such as Johnny Gaudreau who are really excited and eager to make their mark at camp. Despite the fact that he’s expected to turn a few heads with his overall talent, Gaudreau continues to express some concerns with his size. The 5’8-5’9 player (depends on who you ask, it seems), could still stand to put on a few pounds as he readies himself for the NHL.
Playing against other young and inexperienced players is one thing, but if he’s aiming at a full time spot in the NHL, he will need to have an impressive summer, in respect to his camps and training. Taking advice from Martin St Louis, Johnny offers that he will need to focus his training on his legs and likely core muscles. During a recent interview, he stated that it wouldn’t be wise to spend too much time trying to add size to his upper body as he feels that it would restrict his stick handling.
And that’s just it, people need to realize that Gaudreau’s successes comes from being shifty, quick, and agile out on the ice. While having added size and strength is certainly an asset at the NHL level, it may impede his natural abilities and ultimately cause his game to suffer. A great example of this is looking at Toronto’s Nazem Kadri.
Kadri came into the league a little small and was instructed by the coaching staff to put on some weight over the summer for next year’s camp. Well, Kadri did put on some muscle and weight, but his overall speed and finesse struggled. Admittedly, it appeared that perhaps Kadri put on weight a little too quick and it would take some time for him to return to proper shape.
Calgary fans will need to keep this in mind with Gaudreau. He is going to be a small player, and he’s going to be pushed around. The types of muscles he will need to focus on in order to be most effective, as mentioned, will need to be his legs and core. Don’t expect the kid to be spending too much time on the bench, it won’t do him any good at this point. For Johnny, strong legs and a strong level of confidence will be key to finding success this off-season. His first year or two of NHL games are likely going to prove to be difficult for him given the size differences that he’s likely accustomed to, but provided that he maintains his foot speed and on ice vision, he could end up doing quite well playing against the world’s best.
For those interested, you can catch the live prospect scrimmage here: http://video.flames.nhl.com/videocenter/console?catid=616&id=627924&navid=DL%7CCGY%7Chome
In other news, it appears that Joe Colborne will file for arbitration as the two parties have been unable to come to terms on a new contract. Andy Strickland reports that many teams have been talking to Chris Butler and that the Flames haven’t fully closed the door on bringing him back.
Although I’m sure that the team hasn’t “fully… closed the door yet, I get the impression it’s because a sock got in the way and once they realize this, they’ll pull the sock back and the door will close.
What I mean to say is that the Flames are not likely to be interested in bringing Butler back. They are looking to improve upon each year and by bringing Chris back, they don’t really take a step in the right direction, in my opinion. Expect Butler to sign a 1 year deal with a mid-low cap budget team as he tries to prove his worth to the NHL.
Last note for today – David Wolfe looks rather large. The 6’2 216lbs winger is certainly going to be interesting to watch if he can keep up to the foot speed of the current NHL. It is understood that Burke and Treliving are looking for truculence from their team moving forward, but mark my word – if players can’t also skate, they won’t have a spot on the team.
That’s all for today folks, thanks for reading!