cross16
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Everything posted by cross16
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The success on the Oilers is going to depend completely on the development of that blueline. If Nurse can become the top pairing guy he projects as and Klefboom can stay healthy they have the makings of a solid core. If those 2 things don't happens, they are in big trouble, unless they pull someone like a Brodie out of the draft and I don't see that in their system right now. I don't think they have the assets to get a top pairing dman, not without creating other holes. To get a top pairing dman you are trading Hall, McDavid or a package including Draistil and I'm not sure the OIlers entertain that. Trading the likes of RNH or Eberle will get you a decent dman but not a top pairing one and trading Hall opens up a huge hole down your left side so i would question if that makes you better. The Oilers still have alot of work to do and they will need to great creativity and much better at drafting before they become scary. You can't win with the type of blueline they have right now in Edmonton.
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So far the goalies left in the play-offs are Matt Murray, Andrei Vaslilevsky, Martin Jones and Brian Elliott. Which one of those is great? I don't think you need a great goalie or a top 10 goalie. I think Crawford is right on the cusp of being a top 10 goalies, and the only one of that list I think might be a top 10 goalies is Murray and one of those 4 is going to win a cup. I don't think you need a top tier goalie anymore and with the cap I would actually argument it's detrimental to put so much money in 1 position in order to get that goalie. That is why i don't understand this logic that the Flames have to aim so high on a goalie or settle for someone like Ramo. I think you need a good (which I would qualify as better than average) goalie in order to have a contending team and I think there are plenty of recent example of exactly that. It you are doing your job right, it should not be that difficult to find a good goalie.
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5.5 mill actually and there was a rush. Hamilton was offer sheet eligible within a week of acquiring him to that was his deadline. Gaudreau isn't offer sheet eligible at all, and Monahan isn't until July 1 (around there I'm not sure what the exact start date is).
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Its been a groin the last two years. Not sure if it was an issue before or not but his usage really spiked so it might be an overuse thing. Either way, worth looking into before thinking about acquiring him. I think its a long shot but it is one of the many options you could consider. I'm not so sure Columbus is going to be so quick to move him.
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Exactly. Makes him much more affordable and reflect what I think he is worth. He isn't worth 6 plus which is why i would want salary going the other way
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I actually don't mind the idea of Bob to be honest. When healthy he is still a very decent goalie with the ability to steal games. I think the World Championships showed that when Healthy he's great, but staying healthy has been a bit of a concern for him. Do I think he is a Veznia calibre goalie, no but he's not that far behind.. again when healthy. But they would need to either eat money or the Flames send them Stajan, I would not do the deal any other way. There is no other contract I would want to send other than Stajan so if they balk at that i'm not interested. however, if they were willing to take Stajan I think the Flames could actually fill 2 needs in 1.
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I didn't like it but o agree it's a convenient excuse in hindsight. I don't agree it lead to the goalies struggling and if it did I think that's more on ththe goalies than the organization. A goalie has a job to do, stop the puck. Having 2 or 10 goalies on the roster shouldn't give you an excuse for playing poorly. MLB pitcher David Price always says his best "if you don't like, pitch better". If Ortio, Ramo and hiller played better it would have benn a non issue
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He reality is though is you could do this for just about every other team in the league. Top 60 goalies not panning out isn't only a flames issue its a league wide issue. They are just extremely tough to develop. Not saying the flames are fine at it because they arnt I just don't think the issue is that specific to the flames.
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Couldn't stay healthy. Most knee and groin injuries but I even think his back started to go towards the end. When're he could stay healthy he actually would look really good.
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Flames dealt 2 seconds and only had 1 left after the Hamilton trade. They traded back up into the first to get Kylington and gave up their 3rd rounder to do it. If you wanted talbot that means flames either can't make the Hamilton trade or wouldn't have either Andersson or Kylington. I'll take the two of them over talbot any day of the week.
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Not overpaying for an asset based on need is smart. Using your assets to fill a harder to find need, Hamilton trade, is smart too. Of course he still need to find a goalie but I'll take what he did last offseason and the result over having Jones or Talbot. Prices were high on goalies last summer and I think he was smart for not bitting in it and instead making the Hamilton deal.
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Agreed. Unless the person is someone special ala Price I'm pretty against using first rounders for goalies. Bit more open about he 2nd round but it's got to be for the right goalie but generally I don't like using top 60 picks. With the increased pressure on drafting and players bring ready sooner then later I think it's going to get tougher to be patient with top 60 picks and you need to be patient with goalies. Plus there is always talent available in later rounds you can be patient with.
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I think ether Gustavsson or Conor Hart will sneak into the first round. Someone always needs a goalie and I don't think either or those two are terrible late first rounders. I wouldn't be too upset with a goalie in the 2nd but I also wouldn't be a huge fan either. I don't think it's good value to use 2 2nds in 3 years on goalies unless the value is too good to pass up and I don't think it is this year. It's a down year for goalies IMO.
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Personally I don't think there is a goalie I would like in the 2nd round. Filip Gustavsson is my favorite goalie in this year's draft and even I have a hard time liking him in the 2nd round. I don't think its a strong year for goalies and you are rolling the dice on all of them and I don't like the idea of rolling the dice in the first two rounds on a goalie. Not enough upside for me for the goalies this year. 4th round or later I would like it. I do like Parsons and its hard not too. Such a competitor and a guy who battles all the time but I'm not sure he is a starter in the NHL. Dylan Well is a guy I really like in the 4th. He's a gamble, but there could be a payoff there if he can figure it out. For 4-5 years down the line though they've got Gilles/MacDonald and I don't think there is a goalie in this year's draft I would say was better than them at the same age.
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I still don't and never will understand how brining in a proven starter blocks someone from developing. Did Fleury block Murray? Did Luongo block Schneider? Did Halak block Price? I think it's a ridiculous concept to think that brining in a proven starter means the flames can't develop someone else. Makes zero sense. Flames need someone who can start and if Ortio turns out to be better then him fantastic what a great "problem" the flames have. Plan A would be to get someone in th right age range but if you can pick up someone like fleury for as little as a late 2nd it's a no brainer for me. He gives you better than average starting goaltending right away and IMO should for the duration of his contract. Allows the flames to start focussing on winning and not having to worry about crappy goaltending.
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Pittsburgh really has never been that great a defensive team and are middle of the pack at best. I would argue that opposite that if it wasn't for Fleury the Penguins would have been in a lot more trouble the last couple years. He is a top 10 goalie in the league and I really don't think there should be a question about that quite frankly. Is he the best option no. I do agre it would be better to get someone in a better age range but I also don't think fleury is going to be very expensive. If you can get a legit starter for someone like a 2nd rounder or less I think you have to strongly consider that. I don't think 5 mill for what fleury can do for you is a bad contact at all and a 3 year terms for me is perfect. That gives Gilles plenty of time to continue to grow.
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Correct. 2 more years of College and if he choose not to sign he would be a UFA.
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I don't really think its difficult to project ceilings. its tougher to know who will actually reach their ceiling but not to project it. Hickey is, IMO, the best skater of the 3 and has the best hockey sense, that's why I say he has the highest ceiling. All Hickey needs to do is become more comfortable taking some risks offensively and then the sky is the limit. I don't think Anderson will ever have the skating of defensive awarness to be anything more than average defensively, and while raw I dont' think Kylington will ever have the size/grit to be a top guy either. That's why I say Hickey has the highest ceiling, agree its had to say who will get there but based on their talent/traits I don't agree you can't project a ceiling. Of course but the Flames should not have deal 6 overal to get a goalie or get Vasilevsky. If that was the price for Vasilevsky, you move on. I'm not sure its that they are untouchable is what you getting in return? do you HAVE to give them up for a goalie? I really think the prices are not going to be that high to get a good to very solid goalie this summer. Expansion draft will go through IMO and its going to create a very active market with lots of options with few buyers. Its not that I think Hickey/Andersson/Kylington are necessarily untouchable, its that I don't think you have to move them for a goalie. I'd move guys like Shinkaruk, Porier or some of their other wingers before I moved D. I'm all about building depth on D because I think you need that to win, you can get by with lesser wingers. I think Draft picks are their best currency especially with 4 2nd rounders over the next 2 drafts. I agree the 6th isn't an option and as I just said I don't think you will need to deal 6 to get a goalie. If the Flames are starting conversation offering up 2 2nd round picks for a goalie they are going to get conversations going. Maybe its a 2nd and a 3rd but when you start offering mutliple top 60 picks you will get teams listening. Especially this summer I think.
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I don't think anyone is saying a 2nd round straight up is going to get Vasilevsky and of course you will have to give up something just don't give up D prospects with high upside. does Vasilevsky have to be the guy? I don't think he does. I see Vasilevsky as being a good, but not great, starting goalie in the future. I don't think you are talking about him as a top 5-8 goalies in the NHL so am I prepared to pay big for that? No. Not when I think there are going to be many other goalies to pick from who I think can be just as good or at least in the ballpark.
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Craig Conroy admitted in an interview on the fan that Hartley likes Ramo and its been wildly reported by people close to the organization that Hartley liked Ramo. I get what you are saying, but that's just not what has been put out there.
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I don't agree Hickey has been passed. I would trade Kylington and Andersson before Hickey in a heartbeat. His upside is greater than those 2. I wouldn't be quick to part with any of the 3 though because I don't think the Flames are in a position to deal from depth on D. Looks good on paper, but logistically probably 1 of those 3 will turn out to be a solid NHLer. Don't reduce your odds at this point. You can get good goaltending by giving up picks/lesser prospects. I really don't think the prices are going to get as high as some think. I think plenty of goalies are going to be available and the Flames are 1 of 3 that will be heavily shopping for a starter. That gives them a lot of control over what they want to pay.
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I don't think it will take that much. Semyon Varlamov had more, IMO, NHL pedigree than Vasilevsky and it took a first and a 2nd round pick. I'd personally rather keep McDonald because IMO the upside is high. I think you can get Vasilesvky without giving up good prospects like Hickey or McDonald.
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I don't know either and we will likely never know. It is well known Hartley was a Ramo guy. the only thing I can think of is they saw a flaw in Ramo's game that they wanted to correct and hoped a couple of AHL games would allow for that correction. I think Hiller was a lost cause at that point but that is me speculating. They wound up getting him to be more aggressive. At the end of the day thought is that really an indictment against Treliving? Ramo missed 5 games and barely over a week of being sent down was this team's starting goalie. Sure, maybe not handled the best but use that to blame Treliving for not fixing the goaltending seems to be a reach to me. It's pretty rare to fix your goaltending mid season. If you are in trouble to start the season you are likely going to stay there.
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I agree and to that point its not like he didn't try. Flames were linked to just about every goaltender last season but the prices were high and it looked they had decent back up plans so why pay a high price? Looking pretty smart now too that it appears alot of goalies are going to hit the market and now fewer teams are looking. I don't have a problem with how Treliving has handled the goaltending either. I didn't love the Hiller signing but it did make sense and they don't make the playoffs without Hiller last year. He had a terrible year but his fall from decent goalie last year to out of the league was pretty rare. Hard to blame that on Treliving. Not helping Hartley pick 2 out of the 3, I do blame on Treliving.
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It wasn't a lack of opportunity or an issue with utilization it is a communication issue. I understands it's speculative and by no means does anyone have to believe it but I've heard it from enough people and enough people I trust to believe it to be true. Hartley is not an easy guy to play for, never has been so I don't think it should come as a surprise that players soured on him. OK, my apologies then JJ if i crossed the line and you felt I made it personal that was not my intention. IN regards to the play in front of the net that was a coaching issue and not a talent one. There were teams with far less talent than the Flames that were able to do a better job of limiting in tight and scoring chances. Flames chose to leave the front of their net unprotected and instead focus on blocking shots. How many times this year did we see someone wide open in front of the net with no one with 3 feet of them? That's not an individual talent issue or not a defender issue that a systems issue and that is what I think Treliving meant by that. I think the Flames have more than enough talent to not be ranked almost dead last in scoring chances given up or high danger scoring chances given up.