travel_dude

Yeah a bit bad. Not like having the usual Oilers broadcasr team though. They actually have been reasonable, until the Oilers scored. One really bad shift by Lucic's line, completely caught out of position. A 2 on 0. Bad look. Tanev with Guddy Zadoeov I think.

Nice sequence with Mangiapane and Tkachuk, with Lindholm finishing in the slot. Bit of a blender line, from last year.

Watching a stream because the one on Flames TV sucks. Full intermission and music. Can't tell you the name of it though.

See topic thread for BOA game...

Place to post. Tkachuk and Gaudreau each with a goal so far.

In most cases, a 29 year old D-man that just finished a contract averaging $4m cap does not sign a PTO and gets paid close to what he got. Is he worth it? That's a different story.

I too am curious. The time to waive Gudbranson is right now, while teams are still evaluating. Gives us some daily cap savings and pays him exactly what he signed for. Gives us the ability to carry him as an extra without paying for an extra. I think they will keep Kylington up as the #7 at worst. Mackey goes to the AHL to get the needed reps. Stone will get waived no doubt if Gudbranson does not. The funny thing about Gudbranson is he fought Kassian and ended most of his season. I think it might be safe to say that either Gudbranson or Ritchie will be in any BOA games this season. I think that could be a mistake, but who knows. We certainly don't want to play river hockey against EDM.

No doubt, though I expect the refs to protect the goalies too. I am looking for Zadorov to frustrate players like that. He's not as big as Chara, but he's no kitten either.

As I said elsewhere, Zadorov meet Hyman and McDavid. Keep your heads up kids and try not to skate into the crease.

EDM will rely on him with their lack of depth. As much as I liked what Ryan did in the faceoff dot, he was easily pushed around a lot. A little old for our mostly young team now. They can have him, 600 year old Smith, 400 year old Keith and 90 year old Koskinen.

I would say he is an expensive insurance policy. Can send him down and use Kyl and still save $300+k of cap. He's also a trade candidate come TDL, though he would have to be much better than he has been. Catch 22; too good to trade or not good enough for teams to want him. It's difficult to pin this on BT. Sutter wanted him. Owners likely told BT to sign him.

It's a strange situation. He hasn't been at the Flames TC, but he hasn't been waived from the NHL roster either. He won't be able to go to the AHL until he is waived.

Lines and pairings from today's skate: Gaudreau-Lindholm-Tkachuk Mangiapane-Monahan-Lewis Dube-Backlund-Ritchie Lucic-Richardson-Duehr Hanifin-Andersson Zadorov-Tanev Kylington-Gudbranson Valimaki-Stone Markstrom (Starter) Vladar

Some good perspective on Zaddy. I really hated playing against him in the playoffs with COL. Maybe I am overly hopeful, but I want him to be guarding the net a little more than we have seen in the past. Too many times players go to the net, without any resistance. Big Save was run over a lot. Too many players in tight getting multiple whacks at the puck, and we can't clear the garbage picking players? Tkachuk lives there in the O-zone, so we need somebody to get rid of his type in our zone. Think Hyman... He's going to be there playing with McDavid.

I think you lose some of the creativity if he's not on his strong side.

Francis played something like 3 shifts last night. Had an early penalty. Not sure, but I think they want to take some time with him. Exposing him to the rest of TC and start to the season if a lot to ask for a 19 year old with no pro experience. Gawdin is being give a long look. I think Richardson has the edge, but really I like the isea of a hungry young player in the mix. Lewis and Ritchie are what they are and don't need to be in every game. Pitlick is injured as well as Zary. My thinking is we need to balance out Pitlick and Lucic with a two way C. Gawdin is good on the D side, just needs to find the open ice more. Richardson is a safe player.

Lucic is first a power forward and second an enforcer. Thrives on disruption. If he can get back to the way he played a few years ago, then he would not need to fight every game. He scored at a 15 goal clip this past season. I doubt he will maintain that away from Mangiapane and Backlund. I think he would be best suited with a skilled C and decent winger like Pitlick. We may not have that C, though I think Gawdin may be the best bet right now. Two skilled forecheckers.

So that leaves the following: Gaudreau, Linfdolm, Tkachuk Mangiapane, Monahan, Coleman Dube, Backlund, Pitlick Lucic, Gawdin, Lewis Kirkland, Froese, Duehr Richardson, Ritchie Not sure if they include Zary. 10D left. I can thinkof the top 8, so Poirier and Kinnvall must be included too.

The cuts are in... Didn't waste any time with the typical AHL guys like Phillips, Ruzicka, Pospisil and Pettersen. Also Desimone, Wellinski and Gravel. Wolf, Pelletier and surprise surprise Ryan Francis. Didn't expect Francis. Still have Froese and Kirklan, among others. 18F, 10D and 3G left in camp.

Go with what works. I'm sure they could and have tried it. I like Gaudreau on the off-wing on the PP

I think that Mangiapane is the least of the worries. It's not like he has ever had Gaudreau as a default linemate. He's had everyone from Backlund to Tkachuk to Dube to Lucic. I would even suggest that he would be better away from Gaudreau. So, just some things that stood out for me. Mangiapane needs someone other than Ritchie as a linemate. Gaudreau-Lindholm-Tkachuk is a thing. Kylington looked like a great match with Tanev. His positioning has gotten better, and while it's preseason, he has looked poised with the puck. Zadorov with Ras wasn't as bad as I expected, in fact they were fairly solid. Mackey is close to NHL ready if not now.

He looks in mid season form. Total control of the puck.

Flames had a stretch where they had 100% control, even with the silly passing. Was about 90 seconds or more sustained. The Shift. Garland took a slapper off the foot. Ask Zary what that can do for you.

Wolfie looking good out there.