Claimed: A look at Laflamme [1/2]

[Laflamme 376]

A Look at LaFlamme

 

Xavier LaFlamme has never really been a household name in Seattle, however, when he was first brought into the Bears organization he was a player who was looked at to potentially bring in some strong change. When the Bears took the chance to draft him, he was a pretty solid player who was fairly consistent on development and improving important attributes and was an even better person off the ice. The combination of both of these was something the Seattle Bears were unable to pass up. However, within a short amount of time, that all seemed to fall off and  LaFlamme took a back seat in the Seattle Bears organization. With development being at an all-time low for him, the Bears and company took a lot of heat and  criticism on the fact that they chose him in the first place, but also because they held onto a prospect who was mediocre at best for so long while still finding ways to high praise him. It could been too early to tell, but at this moment, Seattle seems to be winning the battle.

 

Now, LaFlamme isn't a #1 liner who puts up a point per game or really does anything that heavy for the organization. In fact, the last couple years he's struggled strongly and during the S58 campaign so far he's only managed 1 goal in 17 games and a very below average 7 points. To make things worse, he's averaging 28+ minutes a game and he's doing so with a pretty excellent firepower organization who isn't afraid to rack up the points. For LaFlamme and the Bears, this is slightly still a problem. Both sides to the party are expecting him to be a little more active on the score sheet and be much closer to a point per game than what he's at now. However, if you think of it, it may make sense. He's the weaker of the group he's playing with while the others are much more dominant. While he should be scoring more goals, having more assists is going to be the norm for him on the Bears rosters. 

 

Aside from the lower level of offensive production, his development has seemed to pick up from where it was at and he's now striding along to becoming a solid depth piece for the Bears organization. Eclipsing 300 TPE  was huge for him and he's had some significant gains in the last couple weeks that have really pushed him forward. In our eyes though, without some major attention to some other attributes, it may be a hard lesson throughout the rest of the year for LaFlamme if he doesn't find his game and how to improve it.

 

I'd love to find my game, who wouldn't, but if you look at this year and compare it to others, it'll be a career year. Of course it won't be a booming one where I extend my totals by a large margin, but it's going to be a good enough season that I've made my strides and myself and my organization can see that I've made some good improvements and that it was the biggest mistake by keeping me around. I wouldn't like to pick up my play and see my point totals rise and I know for the team to really take control of the season, especially against Toronto, that I will need to become some sort of presence more so on the ice. 

 

Time will tell what happens, but I'm feeling good on the ice and off it in Seattle. Just waiting for the moments that come to me and try my best to better capitalize on them. 

 

+6 for LaFlamme

[DollarAndADream 3,357]

Review:

I'm always a fan of the players you make, and they're interesting to follow.

Laflamme obviously didn't become a superstar, but he is still valued and a good depth piece.