2015-16 Report Card: Micheal Ferland

Micheal Ferland

LW

Grade: C

MarkParkinson14 – D

The Flames tried everything to get Micheal Ferland going this season. They tried scratching him. They tried meetings with Bob Hartley. They moved him up to the top line with Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan. While there were flashes from Ferland this season, they were just that, flashes. He never was able to put together a complete season. With that said, it’s not for trying. Points wise, Ferland was snake bitten. He shot the puck a total of 122 times this season, yet he only found the back of the net 4 times. Not every shot is a quality shot, but at some point you have to get lucky, not Ferland. While he shows that he can skate with the best of them, his effort was inconstant. When your coach has to ask you to throw the body around more (his 207 hits were tops on the Flames) and that’s what you’re known for, something is off. Ferland needs to decide what kind of player he wants to be. Does he want to be a 4th liner out there smashing people around or does he want to be a guy who can do a little of both? I think that’s what plagued Micheal Ferland this season. He’s not sure where or how he fits in. I think he has the tools to be able to be a physical player who can score, but he just didn’t show enough of either this season.

BizzleJ – B

Michael Ferland is another one of those guys that's tough to gauge. Another one of those guys whose offensive output isn't great, but in my mind also one of those guys that shouldn't be expected to have a big offensive season. Ferland's job in my mind is be a physical presence. To throw around his body and maybe occasionally assist or tap in a goal. In my mind, Ferland did that this season. He led the Flames in hits with 207 and was near the lead pack in penalty minutes with 45. When you take all of this into consideration and add it to the fact that Ferland is a player, like many, who are facing and conquering some personal issues and demons off the ice, I would say he did alright this past season.

Samwell9 – C+

It was probably quite the frustrating season for Micheal Ferland. He really burst on to the scene in the playoffs last year, perhaps being the most significant contributor to the Flames' playoff series win over the Vancouver Canucks last year. He was an absolute pest, getting under the skin of many veteran Canucks players, playing extremely physical and always managing to chip in offensively. It had people wondering what his potential would be for a full season in the NHL. Unfortunately, things did not go smoothly. Obviously its difficult to maintain the level of intensity he displayed in the playoffs last year over the course of a whole season, but it would have been nice to see Ferland bring his nastiness on a more regular basis. There was also consideration to Ferland being able to provide an offensive contribution to the team based on his playoff production and the fact he scored almost 50 goals in a season in the WHL. I think Ferland was terribly unlucky to only end up with 4 goals, he had some great chances where he would just miss, get robbed by the goaltender, hit the post, etc. He didn't mesh well on his off-wing with Gaudreau and Monahan, but had some flashes with Bennett who was also often snakebitten. I still have faith Ferland will be a big contributor to the Flames success in the future, I'm just unsure whether it will be as a 4th line pest or something more. Not a total flop of a season, but I'm giving him a generous C+/

FlamesMM – C

While expecting Micheal Ferland to play like he did against Vancouver over the course of the season was unrealistic, Ferland left more to be desired. More than anything Ferland struggled this season, although after his breakout playoff run, teams definitely had him on their radar which affected his play. Ferland at the very least deserves the opportunity to play a 4th line grinder and tough guy role, especially more than Brandon Bollig. If Ferland can even up his goals output to 10, and maintain his physical style of play on the ice, than he can become a key player for the Flames on the bottom six. C

HockeyGoalieEh – D+

Ferland gets a D+ by virtue of his numbers, but the D+ isn't necessarily a bad thing. He's a serviceable player in a fourth line roll and that's what everyone should have seen coming. He isn't a point producer, but he can carry possession. There's also the added physicality for those who are into that kind of thing.

He was incredibly unlucky this year in terms of numbers. He didn't have the luxury of playing with anybody that produced, thus setting him up for failure. Added in with the horrible goaltending and the goal differential looks worse than it was. If he can produce a bit more, he could potentially be serviceable in a lower end top nine roll. As it stands, he's a fantastic cheap asset to have on the fourth line. It's a shame that the Flames are littered with overpaid players who already fill those rolls.

by Mark Parkinson