'HE'S GOT ALL THE TOOLS'

Adam Ruzicka brings a lot to the table.
Size, skill and physicality.
His game continues to evolve and improve, gaining the trust of the coaching staff with his play.
And he's just scratching the surface.

"I'd like for him to just keep going to be a full-time regular," Flames head coach Darryl Sutter said Tuesday. "It's a position (centre) that is like a d-man. Do what's right for him, and we are now. I think at the start of the year, Mitch Love and their staff in Stockton did a really good job with him because he needed to be pushed and they pushed him.
"We're trying to work him into a higher role as a centreman, there's no advantage to him to play as our fourth centreman. It's all up to him. I'll call it analytical patience."
"He's got all the tools. He doesn't lack anything expect kicking that door down once and a while, that's it. He's got all the tools and has to use them."
The jump from the AHL to the NHL is a big one, but with every game he's looked more and more comfortable and gained some extra swagger to his game.

The message this year has been to never be satisfied, not just from a team standpoint but as an individual as well. Ruzicka has embraced that mindset, knowing there's more to give and more he needs to do in order to fully maximize the potential the Flames saw in him when they drafted him in 2017.
"Consistency. That's what I need to do," he said. "Work hard every single day and show it in the games. It's all about mindset, coming to the rink prepared and just be ready.
"Just have to come in and put everything into what I do, in face-offs and every battle.
"He's (Darryl) giving me the chances and it's up to me to grab it."
Ruzicka has nine points (5G, 4A) in 23 games this season, playing recently between Andrew Mangiapane and Tyler Toffoli before missing the last outing.
"Since I came up here I've played with great wingers," Ruzicka said. "Every single guy has been very helpful. Learning a lot of information from them and taking it game by game, shift by shift.
"It's exciting when you are giving the chance to play a higher role and I'm ready for it."