cccsberg

I agree that Hiller SHOULD agree and go down for a conditioning stint. Hopefully it happens.

Yes, agree. Berra is #1 Save % in the NHL at the current moment.

From what I've read and heard I'm pretty sure we don't really know what we have in Poulin at this point, nor his potential to play effectively in the NHL.

I tend to agree with the 4 good goalie games to date. Assuming Ortio gets the game in Washington (Friday), we can project he is either stellar and stays up, or terrible which makes it even more unlikely he gets claimed so its a win-win regarding goalie issues. With Poulin now in Stockton perhaps after a few games there he could be a call-up if everything is still meh at best here.

Well we just acquired Kevin Poulin from TBL for Future Considerations. He has been assigned to Stockton. He was originally drafted by the NYI and claimed off waivers by TB. He is 25 years old and has played 50 games in the NHL.

Ortio carried the Adirondack team last year, was an AHL All-Star and was looking at play-offs there until he got injured. After which the team went in the tank and missed the play-offs. Although he started slow last year he more than made up for it and did great during his call-up. The game he lost was in Anaheim where the team hasn't won in like, many, many years.

2-3 more games like Thursday and he'll be moving up fast.

Agree, you never know what's going to happen with the puck, bounces, rebounds, tiny holes in the goalie, etc. Even if its one of Backlund's muffins from the blue line, most of the time the goalie catches it and its an offensive zone face-off. Keep shooting. Ortio has played pretty great overall for the chances he's had with the Flames. Think last year especially. I'm not down on him and believe he'll get more chances to earn his keep. Pretty much so far this season the team has been playing poorly, its hardly just the goalies...

Nothing is working. Can someone please take the ball and run with it. Hint: that means win a game!

I agree about Frolik, he needs to be on one of the top 2 lines. Backlund on a shut-down line would be better, even though he seems to be more dangerous offensively with Frolik.

They said they have made the decision but haven't talked to the goalies yet, nor told us the decision. BH said we wouldn't be surprised so I'm taking that as Hiller starts and I have no clue about the other two... We'll know soon enough.

I agree with some that Hiller is the calmest and the best goalie of the three at this time. However he lost his focus several times last year letting in early goals and twice again in the playoffs. I wold also agree that Ortio is more like Ramo so if you want a balance of styles Hiller probably stays and Ramo goes down or gets traded. No matter what they do I think they will do OK.

This is wrong on so many levels. Wow. Look, addressing their goaltender development obligations is EXACTLY what the Flames did last year. They give primo games/minutes to all three of their developing goalies and all had great seasons. In addition, they addressed their TEAM development issues by bringing in a short-term solution for the Flames which helped the team as a whole make a huge leap forward last year. This year they continue that trend with Ortio and whichever of the vets they keep. Next year they can keep Ortio and either bring up Gillies if he's ready, or re-sign a vet for another year. The only issue is resigning Ramo when it appeared they could trade Hiller to SJS but that fell apart with their trade with Boston. So now we have to choose one of the vets to send down/trade, so what? I'm not seeing that hurt us in any way whatsoever.

Interesting comments from Elliot Frieman this morning about major trades and some GMs not even knowing that the player might be available. From his experience (with a couple anecdotes) the issue seems to be the ability to keep a potential trade quiet until completed and reluctance to shop players widely because some GMs can't keep it quiet which can lead to trouble if the deal isn't completed. Although it is frustrating not hearing anything from the Flames about signings/trades until they are completed (e.g. Hamilton, Giordano), that exact thing along with BT's determination to talk to everyone is likely one of the main reasons why he seems to be successful. Friedman was relating that BB only found out about the Boston trade of Thornton 15 minutes before it was to be finalized and in spite of being very interested and making many players potentially available, it was too late and he lost out. Bet knowing what is potentially going down in the league was a high priority he reiterated with BT when he first came on board.

His early signings were subpar, but he was trying to reach the Cap Floor, and our defence was tenuous at best. I mean, come on. Neither Giordano nor Brodie had completely broken out at that point and fully established themselves, Smid was like our number 3 with Wideman our number 4 and little if anything beyond that. His problem was signing term to bad contracts rather than requiring to get a 1-2 year deal done and then reassessing. Plus, with Engelland he was buying D protection for Gaudreau who a lot of people were excited about but paranoid he would get creamed his first game out of the chute.... BT has been doing great since and my, how things have changed. And even as much as we want to complain about certain players, the team made the playoffs and won a round, their best finish since 1989 so perhaps even his early signings were great too, but we just don't realize it due to the parameters we are using as measuring sticks...?

On a different thread someone was projecting the Flames 2017-18 defence as: Giordano-Brodie-Hamilton-Morrison-Andersson-Hickey, with Kylington others noted as the spare. That's assuming 4 new guys make it, but also that Wideman, Russell, Smid, Engelland are gone and none of these guys make it: Wotherspoon, Culkin, Kulak, Nakladal, Kanzig, Bruce, Roy... That's a big WOW! What a difference a year makes. There is tremendous competition and hopefully a few of these guys will really break through and force their way onto the team, or force BT to move some very good/promising D-men.

Well they have made some space, but not enough. We currently have 3-4 excess bodies with no spots available, and that's not including any more prospects graduating. The excess is including Ferland, Shore, Granlund and Ortio so I guess if you are of the view they are not ready then you would be fine with the current situation. I think they are, and Raymond, Bollig, Engelland( Nakladal coming in...) and Jones are being 'gifted' spots others deserve. I guess we will see come TC, and whether Poirier, Wotherspoon and Hathaway, plus the aforementioned can force their way onto the team or not. From what we saw last year, not likely, barring massive numbers of LT injuries like last year which finally gave Jooris the chance he had already earned.

Trades: A- (Hamilton, Shore, Kylington, Reinhart, Bollig, Baertchi) Home Run winner(s), Toughness, moved Redundant/Disgruntled pieces... UFA signings: B+ (Hiller, Ramo, Morrison, Nakladal, Engelland, Setoguchi, Raymond, Diaz, Schlemko, Hathaway, Frolik) Meeting Cap Floor, Toughness, Scoring, D Depth & Upgrading Possession. Underestimated Prospect Readiness. RFA signings: B+ (Bouma, Jooris, Byron, Agostino, Van Brabant) Solid signings at good Cap rates Prospect Signings: A (Carroll, Kylington, Kanzig) Advancing potential key prospects Contract Extensions: A+ (Giordano, Backlund, TJ Brodie, Hamilton, Ortio) Core pieces for LT at Under Market Value Prospect Advancement: A- (Jooris, Ferland(?), Gaudreau, Bennett, Granlund, Shore, Ortio) Clearing Roster Spots: C+ (Potter, McGratton, Setoguchi) Limited movement, dramatically more REQUIRED. Drafting: A (Bennett, McDonald, Smith, Hickey, Carroll, Andersson, Kylington, Mangiapane...) Cap Management: B+ Resisted overpaying vets except for Engelland, has a definite visible pathway forward to sign key Core pieces in the next two years. Overall I'd say BT has done an outstanding job his first full year on the job. The one area of "weakness" has been clearing roster spots for emerging prospects which also happens to be his current most pressing need. He has a plethora of options for the team at all positions but may be hindered by too many guys, and too many contracts. He currently needs to lose 2-3 contracts just for the status quo with limited prospect graduations, and even more should Hathaway, Poirier, Wotherspoon, Ortio and etc make a solid case for full-time NHL come Training Camp. If no trades are made prior to season opening, several vets likely to be Waived (and potentially lost for nothing), and you plug the Prospect Pipeline when several players are prepped and ready to emerge. This was a foreseeable need last Summer and unfortunately Raymond and Setoguchi were added, though secondary scoring was an issue at the time and Jooris had not yet emerged. This Summer it has become Critical and definitely needs to be addressed asap.

Personally I would love to see Giordano and Brodie stay together as well as Wideman and Russell, leaving Hamilton anchoring the 2nd pair with one of the youngsters making the jump to play with him. I believe Nakladal is likely the closest to ready, though I'd love to see Morrison who is also mature and may be ready too. Of course Wotherspoon has previously been touted as the next one in line but he needs to really step it up with big effort or he's going to get left behind quickly. This TC isn't do or die for him, but its getting close. That would leave Engelland and Smid as extras with one getting traded or sent down where they could mentor the kids there, unless some team plucks them off waivers which wouldn't be a terrible thing assuming one of the prospects makes the jump. Come TDL the Flames will have to make decisions on Wideman and Russell and if the kids are ready they can be moved. If not, kept on for another year or two till they are. In two years time or less, I'm expecting a huge battle between all the prospects for the potentially 4 available D spots and with Kylington and Andersson entering the mix by then, and Kulak, Culkin, Kanzig et al fully steeped with AHL training, it'll get very, very interesting to see who breaks through and perseveres.

Notwithstanding your numbers on the clean-up are likely way, way out to lunch, the Flames aren't asking for money there as its going to be a public clean-up no matter what happens. Their proposal is a catalyst for the governments to get off their butts and get moving, before all the pollution enters the Bow River.

It's funny how intertwined a GM is with players' future performance versus the realities of a situation at the time of a signing. Looking at Raymond as an example he was signed as a very fast 20 goal scorer who finally got his game back on track with the TML, and a local boy coming home. For what he offered not a bad deal at all at the time, especially considering the hole he was filling for the newly rebuilding Flames, also helping them get to the Cap floor. If rated then, probably a B rating as a signing. A year later, after he struggled with injuries and scoring with the Flames, and especially after getting passed by upcoming prospects who over-performed reasonable expectations, the signing looks bad and he looks excess but still 2 years remaining on the contract. That's the nature of the game, and the fickle fans with short memories who only want to hear about the here and now. But strange non-the-less. As far as BT goes he's done really well so far. Now let's get Ferland and Giordano signed and a couple players moved out and then let's bring on the Young a Stars Tournamentin Penticton.....

Pretty much agree, every signing was well thought out and reasonable in context of the team needs and prospect knowledge at the time. Even with the current space crunch, a couple key trades and we're fine even with several prospects forcing their ways onto the team.

In the new CBA you only have to clear Waivers when you are sent down.

Long time, no news. Anyone got a further update? It seems like this is stretching out forever....

Agree that the times I saw Kanzig he was fine too. It will be good to get him in the AHL and directly under Flames control so he can specifically work on areas of need. Next year I think we may have a player in Morrison, could have a player in Hickey, Kulkin or Kulak and should have a player in Wotherspoon.