Prospect Watch: Jon Gillies

Throughout the season, there have been many talks about the goaltending for the Flames. Be it the future or the present, it's still a debatable topic among the Calgary fans and media. As the team passed the 70 game point on Saturday night against the Oilers, we've got to see almost every Flames goalie in the system be tested at the pro level, except for Jon Gillies.

After the departure of Laurent Brossoit back in early November, there are only three goalies left in our system that can potentially crack the Flames lineup in the future. And I'm not a big fan of Olivier Roy as he is still adjusting to the North American game and is dealing with consistency issues. Although he will likely stay with Providence for next season, expect him to turn out as one of the top goalies from his draft class.

Prospect Overview

Born: January 22nd, 1994 (Age 20)

Position: G

Catches: Left

Height: 196 cm (6'5'')

Weight: 98 kg (215 lbs)

Country: U.S.A.

Jon Gillies has not yet proven himself to be a top-end goalie prospect, but with by polishing up some aspects of his game he could go onto to be a decent goalie in the NHL. His stats show that he is a consistent goaltender who has, so far, proven to be successful in all the levels of hockey that he has played in. During his draft year, he had a career year in the USHL with the Indiana Ice and did not slow down when he began to play for Providence.

International tournaments such as the Ivan Hlinka Tournament and World Junior Championships have been the low-light throughout Gillies' career. In the U-18, Gillies and Team U.S.A. finished seventh, with an abysmal record of 1-2-0-1, and his team finished fifth in this years World Juniors after a disappointing quarterfinal loss to Team Russia.

Strengths

Jon Gillies is an exceptional goaltender who uses his size to help him move from one post to the other very quickly and efficiently. He typically likes to play the butterfly position and he can get down with tremendous speed or rob you up high with his lethal glove hand. In his two seasons with Providence, he has shown that he can perform well for his team every night and is a consistent goaltender for the most part.

Weaknesses

As you may have noticed in the highlight videos above, Gillies tends to have trouble tracking the shot and positioning himself effectively. This leads to him having pretty bad rebound control and forcing him, or his teammates, to make a big save. This may be easy for him to do at the college level, but can be a costly mistake for him to make too often once he faces tougher competition.

Comparables

James Reimer, Tim Thomas, Jaroslav Halak