Have to start asking yourself why he gets himself a shorter leash, when other young guys like Zary, Pospisil, Pelletier and co. get lengthy looks even during dry spells. I know “play the kids more” is the theme of our board currently, but when he’s the only one of the kids getting singled out may want to start asking why, especially across multiple coaches now.
You’re right though, he had his best stretch playing LW with Lindholm and Toffoli, and remained productive for a while when he got shifted to Backlund’s LW. Never had more than a single point with any other iteration of forwards.
Don't really have to ask myself why, it's fairly obvious. I think most in this thread can recognize that he struggles with consistently using his tools effectively. So do a lot of guys in their early mid 20s. Sometimes things click for em and sometimes they don't. 100GP is a good sample size but not enough for me to definitively say he's going to be this or won't be that. I'm not even saying his play has warranted more ice time, just that it is hard to find consistency as a NHLer when you're getting 7 minutes a night.
He's kind of in no mans land where the team has 9 fwds better than him but he's not waiver material either. I don't think his skillset is really suited for the 4C position. Sounds like I'm making excuses for him but I just don't think he's currently in a great position to succeed, and with the aforementioned lack of consistency it's not super surprising that he's been mildly disappointing this season.
Would be curious to see what a Ruzicka - Lindholm - Sharangovich would look like. I'd be loathe to break up the Kadri line at the moment but we have to get Huberdeau going somehow. Pospisil is the type of player who's game doesn't really rely on linemates anyway.
Zary - Kadri - Huberdeau
Ruzicka - Lindholm - Sharangovich
Mangiapane - Backlund - Coleman
Greer - Dube - Pospisil
I think this says it pretty well tbh. Though I do think he could be alright as a centremam on faceoffs at least. But I hardly know what to think anymore because he's never had consistent minutes or roles with skilled players beside him.
I compare his usage to practically any other Flame in our top 9 and almost any other player of note has been given really long chances to do nothing over large chunks of games. Dube is probably the prime example, but so has Mangi who for years now can have hot streaks but then can go cold for weeks on end (as in non-existent practically). Guys like Zary are shining and are well-deserving of their minutes, but both he and Posp have at least had significant stretches of play in the top 6. It just felt like Ruz got 2 or 3 games, maybe 5 games then if he had a hiccup he'd be demoted several lines or sat or even sent down. I'm a broken record I know.
Basically I'm agreeing with Bounces that it's pretty difficult to show much with 4th line minutes and meh linemates.
Yeah I mean scoring streaks are just part of hockey. Players go hot and cold production wise all the time. But the other parts of the game you need to establish a baseline if you want a long career like Coleman or Backlund.
If I have one wish for Ruz it would be to work on being assertive. He has a tendency to try to read a play and pick off passes with his reach, which tbf he's pretty good at it. But sometimes the better option is go win the puck using that big frame of his. Doesn't need to be laying guys out to be effective physically.