Farm Review: Leland Irving

by Hayley on May 6, 2011 3:45 PM PDT in The Prospective Prospect Prospectus Bureau

Before we get into the Draft stuff (the Flames actually have a first round pick this year--yay!), I think now would be a good time to begin looking at some players already in the Flames' system, particularly some of the rookies that saw their first full-time AHL action this past season. Today, however, we'll start with the goaltenders--in particular, the seemingly anointed goalie of the future in Leland Irving, who appears to have taken over the role of starter for the Heat.

By the numbers, Irving, a first round pick of the Flames in 2006, had what was by far his best season in the American Hockey League; in 61 games, the third year pro had 30 wins and eight shutouts with an overall SV% of .913, beating out Matt Keetley and Jean-Philippe Lamoureux for the starting job as the Heat missed out on a post-season berth in their second season. As an RFA this summer, Irving's play this past season has likely made the decision between himself and ECHL-fodder Keetley (UFA) an easy one for Flames brass, especially with Joni Ortio coming over from Europe and signing an entry-level contract.

In the context of the entire league, Irving's numbers aren't all that impressive. His save percentage puts him 18th amongst goalies who played 1560 minutes or more and he ranks tenth in terms of GAA, although he did lead the league in shutouts. Just how terrible this year's Abbotsford team was is reflected by the fact that Irving ranked sixth amongst AHL goaltenders in terms of saves made, stopping 1386 pucks, allowing an average of 2.30 goals per game while playing the most minutes of any AHL goalie (3437).

In a recent interview, Irving stated that his goal for next season was to "get stronger and faster" and come into Flames training camp lean but with "a little more body fat" to avoid injuries. While Irving remained fairly healthy and certainly took a step forward this year, he's not exactly dominating the AHL--although it would be interesting to see what he could do with a capable team in front of him, as Abbotsford was far from that this past season for a multitude of reasons, chiefly a negative goal differential and a lack of offence that saw them finish dead last in the league in goals with 186--130 of which came at even strength.

With Henrik Karlsson potentially hitting the UFA market on July 1, we briefly discussed Irving's chances at the backup role on this week's podcast, and the general consensus seems to be that another year as a starter in the AHL would benefit his development more than would sitting on the bench and making an occasional appearance in relief of Miikka Kiprusoff in Calgary next season. What say you?

Poll

Has Leland Irving earned a promotion to the role of Flames backup goalie next season?

Yes, get him in there and see what he can do

7 votes

No, he needs another season in the minors--remember Curtis McElhinney?

27 votes

34 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

I guess the question is seeing if he can play in the NHL. He is obviously an AHL calibre player. Is there much more sense to keeping him in the AHL when the team really need some young players to step up? kipper cant keep mediocrely backstopping the club forever.

by Jeremywilhelm on May 6, 2011 9:56 PM PDT via mobile reply actions

While that is true, is he going to develop more as an AHL starter or backup in the NHL? The former, more likely. He’s not an NHL starter. No need to rush, even if Kipper is traded.

We know two things: Shitty Hockey and Booze.
Go Flames Go!

by Justin Azevedo on May 6, 2011 10:38 PM PDT up reply actions

I totally stole that rationale, by the way. Thanks, Robert!

We know two things: Shitty Hockey and Booze.
Go Flames Go!

by Justin Azevedo on May 6, 2011 10:38 PM PDT up reply actions

“(the Flames actually have a first round pick this year—yay!)”

I’ll never understand why fans/bloggers seem to blow Daryll’s trading of one (ONE!) first round draft pick completely out of the water. It’s a comment that is pretty far off the mark IMO. here’s why:

the fact is the last time the Flames did not have a pick in the first round was 1989….. in other words this is not an organization that has a reputation of dealing first round picks without one coming back in some form or another (see 2008)

I don’t know, maybe I just don’t understand the logic, but to me it’s not that big of a deal. If it takes the flames another 21 years to deal a first round pick without one coming back in some form or another, it probably is just not that big if a deal.

Using this as a point of criticism against Daryll/the organization seems a little disingenious and/or misinformed. Had the Jokinen trade worked out like 95% of us did when the deal was made, we aren’t talking about this.Do the Flames really miss Matt Lombardi that much? What has Bradon Gromely done? if the Flames don’t make that trade do they end up with the 13th pick in 2010? do they take Gromely? Does Gromely somehow make the Flames a better team in 2010-11? Seems like all these questions just lead to a BS revisionist discussion where everyone has a 20/20 view of the things we ‘should have done.’

In short, that comment is a poor one, and it’s completely played out. It’s the same kind of drivel one can find ad nausium on Calgary Puck. brutal take and just not funny.

by joey joe joe jr shabadoo on May 7, 2011 10:53 AM PDT reply actions

When Sutter traded last year’s first round pick, he was mortgaging the future to “win now,” something he did repeatedly over the course of his tenure as GM, trading prospects and other picks away for older, more expensive players that he thought would push the team over the edge into “contender” territory. It doesn’t matter that there wasn’t a first round pick involved in any of the other deals he made, the consequences are still the same—sell the future for a theoretical shot at the Cup. Sometimes players chosen in the second round or later turn into better players than those selected in the first round, and Sutter largely showed a disregard for that.

Maybe we wouldn’t be talking about this if the Jokinen trade(s) had worked out, although that doesn’t change the fact the Sutter gave up what was potentially a good, young player who is capable of development and growth in favour of an expensive, aging player who has plateaued in Olli Jokinen. This is not about Matthew Lombardi (who may never play a game in the NHL again thanks to serious concussion issues) or Brandon Gormley (whose accomplishments it is completely unfair to judge less than one year after he was drafted when he spent most of the season in Junior), it’s about Sutter’s short-sighted approach to running a hockey team. Like you say, hindsight is everything—there’s no way to tell if the Flames would have taken Gormley with the 13th overall pick and if they did, it seems highly unlikely that he would have even played a game for them given the amount of defenders in their system, nevermind made them a better team.

My “comment” was meant to be a light-hearted, sarcastic dig—the Draft isn’t even that great this year and it’s likely that the Flames end up with a middling prospect who may never make a significant contribution at the NHL level—I’m sorry if it offended you in some way. And if you think my writing is of similar quality to what you would find at Calgary Puck, then I suppose there’s no reason for you to hang around here when you could just read it there.

Matchsticks and Gasoline

by Hayley on May 7, 2011 11:57 AM PDT up reply actions

To add on: you speak of the Jokinen trade that involved said first rounder (which some people here actually recognized as being bad from the second it was announced)-if you look at the path of that trade, it goes something like this:
-Jokinen for Lombardi, Prust + 1st
-Vandemeer for Prust
-UFA-to-be Jokinen and Prust for Kotalik and Higgins
-Higgns Walks

So you’ve basically traded Lombo, Prust and that 1st for 12 million of Jokinen and Kotalik. That is terrible, no matter how you slice it. Also, if you look at the table a little ways down the page here, you’ll understand why first round picks are so important/relevant to a team’s success. Trading the pick away was just a symptom of the problems prevalent when Daz running the team.

We know two things: Shitty Hockey and Booze.
Go Flames Go!

by Justin Azevedo on May 7, 2011 12:12 PM PDT up reply actions

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