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Khrox

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Everything posted by Khrox

  1. Khrox

    Goaltending

    I was so stoked about that Zagidulin signing. Yeah, he was a 1b on a fairly good KHL team, and goalies tend to look really good in the KHL (because of the style played), but his play and fundamentals reminded me a lot of Rittich as well (all the tools, and the skills, to make the NHL. Maybe not the flashiest, but definitely a good goaltender). Really hoping in a couple years we have a medium-term (I say medium, but like 4-5 years) duo of Big Save Dave and Big Snag Zag in net.
  2. Khrox

    Goaltending

    I wouldn't say full on workhorse, but definitely a starters load (60 games or so). That gives him 3 out of every 4. If he starts to falter we can cut him back to 2 out of every 3 or so (or even just 1 out of every 2, if he falters and Talbot heats up at the same time). I don't want to work him quite the way we did Kipper (who was doing 70+ games a year and seemed to just be too tired for playoffs).
  3. Khrox

    MILAN LUCIC

    Yes, Edmonton wanted Neal because next to McD, it's hard for him not to score 20 (he regularly makes 4th liners 20g players. Look at Chiasson who was a 4th liner here, 3rd liner Dallas, 3rd/4th liner in Ottawa, 4th liner/13th forward in Washington. 1st line and 22 goals in Edmonton). Neal is automatically one of their best wingers (and their best RW). It's hard to see him not stapled to McD and 1st PP. At worst he is playing on second line with Drai (who spends about half the season as 2nd C, the other half 1st LW) or RNH. Both of which are more than capable of doing the heavy lifting so Neal can be the triggerman. I'd be hard pressed to bet against 20g next season for him. In Calgary he was a 3rd/4th line winger, who could be replaced in house. With his 8-10 minutes a night 5v5 and 2-4 minutes on the second PP unit, he realistically wasn't going to score 20g here (and I'd say 15 would be the upper limit with that ice time). And in that much of a limited role, with his lack of physicality and poor defensive play, he doesn't fit that 3rd-4th line player we needed. Lucic on the other hand, fits what we need. A 3rd-4th line winger, who can chip in 20 points and crash and bang. He can kill penalties in emergencies (with how good our defensive forwards are, I'd imagine it'd take multiple injuries or multiple penalties by our PK'ers to ever have him out there), and he can take Neals spot on the 2nd PP in front of the net (and in honestly, if we're parking in front of the net, Lucic probably does better than Neal, I believe Neal should have been a shooter on the 2nd PP, not the net-front presence). Yes Neal probably looks a lot better next year. But for the roles and ice-time Neal vs Lucic would get in Calgary, Lucic fills our needs more. I don't believe it was a good trade. This was a sideways trade at best for Calgary. Toxic contract for Toxic contract. At this point though, Lucic is a Flame, so I'm gonna hope he just comes here, plays his game, and does well for us. If he hits 20-25 points and 200+ hits (which isn't unreasonable. Hathaway lead the team last year with 200, Lucic finished with like 240), he'll replace Neals points and Hathaways hits. And hopefully he has a small breakout next year (most players do recently when leaving Edmonton. Look at Perron, Petry, and Dubnyk for more recent examples).
  4. Khrox

    MILAN LUCIC

    Gonna quote myself from the HF Flames board on this topic: I definitely went through the stages of grief after hearing about this trade. I did NOT want Lucic here, but, I did not want Neal here either after his efforts. I truly believe Neal will be more likely to bounce back to that 15g+ range though. On the other hand, I do see why we did this. Neal as a third liner vs Lucic as a third liner, who do you think has more success? And in that case, I do feel like Lucic has more overall success in that role. Not happy about this, but Neal wasn't happy here, Lucic WANTS to be here (and has not only talked to Iggy about it, but also Big Ern, Cammi, and a few other former Flames as well). So we got the more effective third liner, and saved some cap space. Whether or not Neal scores 20+ next season, he'll be getting a lot more time on the 1st PP and top 6 in Edmonton. That was playing time he was NEVER going to get in Calgary. Lucic played some top 6 in Edmonton (which is a scary thought), but like Neal, that is playing time he is NEVER going to see here. Is Neal the better top6 talent? Absolutely. But as a bottom 6 guy, Neal is hot garbage. Lucic on the other hand, is actually a serviceable bottom 6 winger. His advanced (sorry, "fake") stats show that he can drive play. If he plays with Ryan (who can also drive play), it could help create a more effective third line. If Bennett plays there as well, I honestly feel like it could be the best third line (assuming you counted the DAG line last year as the 4th line) we've had in a while, and could actually help Bennett's game (I feel like Ryan can help bring out the best in them, while they can kind of split some faceoffs if needed. Lucic on the line means Bennett can actually focus on playing a bit more rather than being the toughest guy on the team). At this point, Lucic is a Flame. I hope he does well. A 10g-15a-25p stat line while being on the ice for more goals than he allows, and I'll be happy (because that's the kind of stat line Neal would have gotten in that same role, and he would have been on ice for a lot more goals against than for). Gonna quote myself on this topic from the HFFlames board:
  5. If we're doing two Czech goalies, I'd make a move for Neuvirth. coming off a an injury, and semi-rough season in Philly (but much like Edmonton, Flyers goalies tend to do well outside the organization, look at Bob). Shouldn't be a big cost to get him, and at worst, gives us someone to push Gillies/Parsons.
  6. Honestly, that Vali-Brodie pairing I think would have some real potential. Especially since Vali plays a game that is reminiscent of Gio, which means that especially with experience, Vali-Brodie should work as a pairing. Also, Fanta has been great. He is like Butler in that he doesn't stand out in really, any way (bad or good). Except unlike Butler, Fanta still does all the small things right that Butler would just not do.
  7. Probably. You forget that even some of Chia's decisions were made for him by Nicholson and the Brain Trust they have back there (including MacTavish, Lowe, etc..). Including that genius Koskinen signing (one of the more recent ones).
  8. It's not that Rieder sucks. It's that he has a career high of 16 goals, 37 points (2 years ago). And Edmonton signed him expecting those numbers. You don't sign 4th liners and expect 15 goals 40 points out of them, you're only gonna disappoint yourself. Especially when the depth of the team is as bad as theirs.
  9. Playoff experience isn't necessarily about "experience" per se. I always figured it was getting used to the second grind. We always talk about how college kids are in for a shock their first and second pro seasons because they go from playing roughly 30 games a year to playing 80 games a year. Now, we have a bunch of guys who are used to playing 80 games a year, now we have to get them used to playing 105 games a year (I go for about 105, because I figure 16-7 on route to the cup win). It's still a big jump. Playoff experience to me, is experience in that extra time. That is still an extra 6-8 weeks of games and practices. That's an extra 6-8 weeks of flights and hotels. That's where that playoff experience comes in. Also, credit to the development staff (and Huska) on Andersson. Despite conditioning issues, they have turned him into a guy who looks to be key for our D in the future.
  10. Holy crap, Andersson playing almost as many minutes as Gio. More minutes than Hamonic or Hanifin. The coach has some serious trust in that guy. Love everything about that. And I remember people being so doubtful about him making it to the NHL this year (or even with the Flames) and this guy is already getting ready to take over some big minutes.
  11. And again, statistically, this season is one of the best seasons the Oilers have had since their cup final appearance in '06. That should say something about how bad it's been. It's definitely not just Chia, but the moves Chia made compared to the moves Tre made just compounded the issues. They trade a first and a second for Griffith Reinhart, we trade the same+an extra second for Dougie Hamilton. They trade Hall and Eberle for Larsson and Strome (Spooner). We trade Ferland and Hamilton for Lindholm and Hanifin. They make the playoffs once, we make it twice. They had a rebuild that was supposed to be finishing under Chia, while ours was just starting. Our rebuild is practically complete, and they basically are worse off than they started. As much as they have problems from the top down, it was just made that much worse from their biggest rivals down the block making similar moves and being successful from it.
  12. Yeah, which is sad. But 2 of their top 4 seasons in the last 13 years came under Chia. And they fired him just over halfway through one. That is just how god-awful that organization is.
  13. This is important to note. (Though this was done last night before we found out the GM got fired between periods).
  14. Khrox

    Goaltending

    Prout would likely be head and shoulders above the best Stockton D-man. Kylington was the only real prospect on D we had down there.
  15. 4th best forward on the team for a defenseman that can barely play third pairing. Seems legit. To top it off, Cag is apparently really close to McDavid (good friends, and even went to school together) while Manning broke McDavids collarbone and then made fun of him for it. How long before McDavid requests a trade? Like, this is the third time one of the players McD wants on the team got traded (Strome, Maroon, and now Caggiula). Also, Edmonton needs to dump salary soon, because if Sekera comes back from LTIR they are 3.3 mil over the cap
  16. Khrox

    Goaltending

    Not only that, but Rittich did well in Dallas, probably one of the only players to show up for the full game. Like sure, one of those two he probably *could* have had, but when he was being buried as much as he was, he still did incredible.
  17. Andrew Ference was on 31 Thoughts recently, and this is a transcript that I found about what it was like playing in Edmonton: On Lucic:He’s got as much pride as anybody, absolutely loves being in the NHLand loves playing an important role on a team. I see the same frustrations that I had too in going Edmonton about certain aspects of going there and especially coming from a really dialled in culture. When you’ve seen a dialled in culture and team and how its operating and you go to something different it can be extremely frustrating. Being from Edmonton and I grew up in Sherwood Park, Ive seen it a million times, there’s always a sacrificial lamb on the team that just gets roasted by the radio guys and the newspaper guys and then the fans just continue that on. I think he’s obviously taken that a bit and you always got the target on your back with the big contract and he’d been the first to admit he should be getting more points and scoring more goals, you get all that. But its tough, its really tough play there and and to be the centre of so much negativity and I dont care who you are negativity gets to you and doesn’t usually help you at all. Its tough for him and I think that its tough for any player transitioning from a really super important role on a team to a secondary role on the ice. I think he’s still incredibly important in the room and I think thats probably, whenever Ive talked to him, its goals and assists and sometimes your play can dip and change and sometimes its luck and sometimes your just not playing so good but you can always do the stuff in the room and create that culture and lead off the ice. You always have pretty much full control of that that shouldn’t dip and ebb and fall off the map. So I think for a guy like that thats where you have to maybe transition where your role on the ice isn’t so important but your role off the ice and in the room and as a leader, you have to magnify that yourself and really make yourself important in those ways as well.On the game changing vis a vis Lucic:Everythings changing yes, there’s probably not too many defensemen that still like playing against him. Him on the forecheck when he’s all rambunctious and running around, he’s not a fun player to play against. its just that when you’ve had really successful seasons, I don't know what his top line numbers are and his best years but your not hitting those same numbers you used to hit, your not getting the same playing time, your not scoring as many goals, does that mean your horrible?No, people will automatically look at your contract and have expectations where you should be and so they should but I think its just some people might adjust their own personal expectations a little quicker than others and just accept the fact Im not going to be that 40 goal guy 22 minute a night guy so what can I do. If you dont adjust that quick enough the frustration will be never ending.On the culture in Edmonton when he played and why doesn’t it work in Edmonton:(Elliott asking about being the After Hours guest in Edmonton where Edmonton got pummelled that night - he says with a laugh “Surprise!”)I don’t think it’s one thing. I think its a combination of elements that go into it. I think that aspect of feeling more scared to make a mistake and be the whipping boy rather than being bold and taking your chances and having that confidence to try a play. Some guys might get into that role of being scared to be the whipping boy. I don’t know if that makes sense (Elliott says "I have heard that theory before"). You take less risks, your urge to win and be bold is less than your urge to not be the whipping boy or stand out right? So I think that is one aspect. The quickness that radio or newspaper or fans jump and attack their own guys is horrible. I think that the quickness to defend players within the organization I remember Jeff Petry or Schultz getting raked over the coals and nobody coming to defend them and then just trading them when their value, after they’ve beaten them down for months, then trading them, its like God, its not just for those guys but its for other guys on the team and your looking at it and saying like well f… they don’t have his back, are they going to have mine when its my turn to be the whipping boy you know? But I think the most frustrating part for me as a player when I went in there straight from Boston was talk is cheap. I went in, Dallas Eakins is a fantastic coach, there’s another whipping boy who got dragged over the coals, he’s a fantastic coach that was dealt just a pure crap hand in a team that would actually listen. You got a group of players that talked about how they wanted to make the playoffs and talked about how sick they were of losing and then by game 3 after losing 6-1 they’re straight out to the bar till 3 in the morning lighting up the night life scene in Edmonton. Cmon give me a break. It was to the point where it was ridiculous, where the lifestyle was way more important than actually playing the game and making the playoffs but like I said talk is cheap. Even in practice, came from a group where you’re practicing against guys like Bergeron or Chara and your going at each other, game intensity and thats how you get better, thats how you be a playoff contender, thats how you be a champion and you try to instil some of those values, and we had some other guys had been on playoff teams and they had the same frustrations, they’d come and practice hard and theres a group of guys there that had, that were too cool to try hard, like derogatory terms for trying too hard in practice. Thats the culture right. So how do you break that? Well you come in and try to disrupt. Over the years there have been attempts to disrupt whether it was Eakins or I come in there or Pronger or whoever it was. Different people come in and disrupt but I know personally it was really hard for me. You come in as an older guy but far from being one of the better players on the team so you can be a leader with experience but I am not a game changer, I am a number 4/5 defenceman. Your voice only goes so far with people that only respect how good your toe drag is and wether or not you're out partying.So your voice doesn’t carry much weight with people that don’t put value on those aspects I was bringing from Boston or that Dallas was trying to instil in the team so was it not only frustrating but it really pissed me off because its a waste of those years in your NHL career where you never get those back and you see a coach like Dallas get really so unfairly treated. Like I said was he perfect, no and he’d be the first to admit that he would rather do some of those things different but taking the blame, what are you supposed to do with a culture like that?“You could have had any kind of defense or any kind of system. But if you go on a Western swing and your guys are out every single night until 5 in the morning, I mean, you’re not going to win too many games”
  18. Yeah, if he goes 0.5 points/game played the rest of the year, he still ends up at 62 points. A 60+ point shut-down winger who draws a ton of penalties (even if he does take a few) is worth good money. I highly doubt he signs for less than 7 AAV (But, I can see the contract worked out so that he is at 6.75/"The Gio Cap" for the duration of Gio's contract before he starts getting the 7.5 a year after for something that works out to a 7-7.25 AAV).
  19. I mean, I fully expect that to go up, as the 2018 draft class is currently in their draft+1 year right now (and I believe every pick we took that year was round 4+ and went the college route, so it'd be more fair for 2-3 years before even seeing if any of them are ready to turn pro).
  20. So, 2014 was Tre's first year as our GM (he was hired in april), so I imagine that year the draft while under Tre was mostly Burke inspired: 1st: Sam Bennett (278 games, 46 goals, 97 points) The other 5 picks (Mason McDonald, Hunter Smith, Brandon Hickey, Adam Ollas-Mattson, Austin Carrol) have yet to play in the NHL with only McDonald and AOM being in the organization still) 2015 the first year where Tre would have been 100% in charge of it all we got: 5 players, 3 are currently playing for the Flames at the NHL level (Rasmus Andersson, Oliver Kylington, and Andrew Mangiapane), 1 is playing in Russia (Pavel Karnuakhov, so I think we still have his rights but no contract offered), and 1 is playing Canadian College hockey after his OHL career (and not with the organization anymore): Riley Bruce. So 3/5, still with us, 1 is a full-timer (Andersson) and 2 are callups that have played very well. Not bad. 2016: We drafted 9 players, 1 is a full-time NHLer (Matty Tkachuk). One of the others started the year on the team, and has 20 games played before going to the AHL (Dillon Dube). 2 more are in the organization (Matthew Phillips and Tyler Parsons) in the AHL, 2 more are in College (I believe we have their rights for 1 more year?), 1 was used in a trade to get us Lindholm and Hanifin (Fox). I believe we still have rights to Eetu Tuulola . 2017: 5 picks, one was an NHLer to start the season (Valimaki). The other 4 we have rights to (one is in the ECHL, 2 in the CHL, 1 in Europe). I figure maybe one of them will become a tweener, but not high hopes (highest pick of those 4 was a 4th rounder). 2018: Way too early to see what we got here, but of the 5, 3 are PPG+ in their respective leagues, and I have a strong feeling that 2 of them will either make the NHL or become tweeners (Pospisil is likely a tweener that could basically be a 4th line version of Tkachuk, and Petterson I think could be a middle six winger). Overall, of the drafts we've had since Tre became GM, 7 of our 30 picks have NHL experience (with 3-4 being fulltimers and the others really pushing for it). 6 of our 24 picks after 2014 (where it would have mostly been Burkes image for the team) have NHL experience, with another 5 playing in our system (AHL or ECHL). Tre has done a good job so far (as has our scouting). Our development is improving over the previous 5 years as well (which has resulted in 7 full-time NHLers, only 3 of which are with our organization still, Monahan, Gaudreau and Jankowski, with Ferland, Baertschi, Granlund, Kulak all being gone, and you can argue an 8th fulltimer in Laurent Brossoit who is the backup goalie for Winnipeg this year, his third stint in the NHL, first where he started the season there), and we have 1 other pick in the organization (Gillies) still that isn't an established NHLer. In those previous 5 years we have had 32 picks. So we're putting about the same amount of people in the NHL, but we are retaining them, and they are a higher quality. So I'd say under Tre our development has improved as well since we're keeping more, and we're looking at a higher rate with NHL games (even if there are less full-timers currently, but give it a year or two and that could change).
  21. BPA is absolutely the right thing to do. Especially when combined with the GM's vision (as conundrumed pointed out). You're building your team a certain way, that means certain skills are more valued so outside of the top 3-5 players in the draft, BPA for teams changes a bit. But you have to stick to your method. Now filling for need is an option when you have 2 guys ranked roughly the same but play different positions (such as a LW and a RD who are both roughly the same skill-level and fit the vision, that your team has ranked roughly the same, that is where if you are full of LW and lacking RD, you can pick the need of RD since they both are roughly equal on the BPA for your team). But drafting for need over BPA is how Vancouver got Olli Juolevi instead of Matthew Tkachuk.
  22. It wouldn't be a far stretch to add Gio to the list. He wasn't drafted, but the only NHL team he's played for (and also AHL team) were the Flames and Flames AHL affiliates. Outside of that year in Russia (which was extremely beneficial to him), the only pro organization he's played for is the Flames. So while it isn't drafted, it is still heavily developed by us.
  23. Khrox

    Goaltending

    Main reason I suggested LA as the second game was not because of the whole "Every other game" thing, but LA has been the worst team in the league so far at scoring goals (43 goals in 21 games so far, and even doing Goals For/per game, they are still dead last). To top it off, their team has looked awful on the eye test when I've seen them (I catch a bit of most games while at work, so I see 5 minutes or more of almost every game and western conference games it tends to be higher as they are on later), their advanced stats have been garbage, and just stat-watching they look like trash. It's the closest thing to a "gimme" game that we can get Smith. Short of absolutely wetting the bed against Ari, that would still be a good chance to see him, unless you feel like Rittich could use an easier game and playing him 4 of our next 5 games (he's already played our last 3 games as well, so you'd be playing him 7 out of 8 games there if you give Smith Arizona.) Besides, the backup has to play at some point. We criticize every coach when they let the starter play so many games in a row, or in a shorter period, and we are currently running that risk with Rittich. He's still playing fairly good (his stats are dropping a bit, but he's a top 5 goaltender so far at this point of the season)
  24. Khrox

    Goaltending

    Smith against Ari I could see. I also want Smith against LA, they've just been bad this year and I could see him having a good game there (which could help fix his confidence issues).
  25. I remember Eric Nystrom. Always like him. I feel like the Bennett-Nystrom comparison is pretty accurate (except Bennett still produced better offense). I could see him being somewhere between a Nystrom and a Cleary (closer to Cleary points wise, but Nystrom with the willingness to drop the gloves). If he puts in 10 productive years in that kind of role and we get some success in the playoffs (where that kind of role tends to be what wins games, especially when combined with skill), I'll be more than happy
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