travel_dude
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Everything posted by travel_dude
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My only point is that Brodie is the best D-man we have, and one of the top ones in the league. I though my theme of posts had said that. If not, let it be said now. In a few years, the top 2 will be Brodie/Hamilton. Not that Gio will decline, but that these two will be in their prime. They are pretty darn good right now.
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If I was BT, I would never let that though even enter my decision making process. I would add Bernier if I thought he was a goalie that could be better than Hiller and Ortio. Otherwise it makes no sense. GM's either make calculated risks or they bet the farm. Raymond was a calculated risk. It didn't work out. Going into the off-season with no goalies signed is a huge risk. Your scouts and goalie coaches have to provide you with info to make those decisions. If Ramo becomes a true #1 in CGY, he is going to cost $4-6m. Still need a backup. Anyway, I am not arguing for bringing in Bernier, just that we could do worse riding out Hiller. Dubie is an example of a goalie that rebounded after a bad season. Just saying.
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That's the age old debate. Does Brodie make Gio look better than he is? Brodie doesn't have name recognition. But on any given night he is arguably the best player on the ice, except for Gaudreau. He leads in ice time, is better at zone entries, and is the only positive +- defenseman, except for Engelland.
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What is the worst case for trading Hiller for Bernier. You have to buy out Bernier at a cap hit of $2.7m next year and $750k the following. Or you waive him and his cap hit is $3.2m. You also can't bank on what may happen in the off-season. There may be no goalies or tons. Bishop could crap the bed the rest of the season. The asking price could be crazy-high next summer.
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In his 20 year old season he posted pretty decent numbers for a 1b goalie: 41 gp, 21w, 12 losses, 0.920 SV% 2.56 GAA. Not bad for a guy his age. Even if we signed a $6m goalie, we still have ways to fit the top guys in. If it needs to happen, it will. We don't need to then spend >$2m on a backup.
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Some of Brodie's miscues come from playing on the wrong side. It's difficult to backhand a pass across the ice. Here is some info about Hamilton/Russell I found quite interesting: Dougie Hamilton led the Flames with a 62.96% ES CF. There were times throughout the night he was the only positive possession Flame at even strength, and by a considerable margin (think 69% near the end of the second period, and Joe Colborne was the runner up at 50%). He also played 19:23, fourth on the Flames in defencemen for ice time, with just 10 more seconds than Wideman. Wideman played 5:00 on the power play, for all the good that did them, while Hamilton got in a mere 27 seconds. Wideman also played 1:54 on the penalty kill, a situation Hamilton seemingly is not allowed to partake in, even though there's reasonable evidence to believe he has the potential to succeed in the role. Hamilton was quietly one of the Flames' best players of the night, has been one of the better defenders outside of his disastrous start, and isn't being played as such. He played better away from Russell (60.00% ES CF with compared to 71.43% without; Russell was 55.56% without). I bolded and underlined a few items that are fairly telling. It kind of points to setting up the pairings effectively. Brodie/Hamilton and Russell/Engelland. Double shift Brodie with Gio if you need to reduce Wideman's minutes with Gio.
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What worried me about the Nashville game was the inability of the 3rd pairing to get simple things right. Engelland was lost. Wideman was ok at time, and really bad at times. Forcing one to play their wrong side is not helping. I have been all over Russell this year, and even though he looked good for most of the game, would like to see him in the 3rd pairing. Somebody needs to stabilize that. He is mobile enough to come back when needed. Wideman needs to play with an effective LHS D-man. I understand that the defense looks fairly stable now, but we took baby steps to get players adjusted. I think we can make some adjustments that long term will help us out. The most minutes should be played by (in this order) Brodie, Gio, Hamilton, Wideman, Russell, 6th D.
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Ramo may be able to replicate this kind of game, but he hasn't been able to do it for any long string of games. He showed that last year with B2B shutouts followed by a let-down game. It happens. Ramo could turn into Carey Price in the next few years, but we are concerned with today and next season. Making a team better today and for the future is always the goal. Goalies are too important to waste time waiting for them to recover their form. I don't see how Hiller is going to get out of the doghouse. He was just ok in his last two games. Ramo gets the start after those two Hiller wins. When is Hiller going to be trusted again? He is in the same boat as Ortio now.
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It's not like we are going to re-sign him in the off-season. Even with one of the best goalie coaches, Berra is still not even up to Ramo standards.
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Hiller for a 3 night stay at Ghilla River Resort.
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Kassian needs to work with Big Ern to deal with his demons. No thanks for now.
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That puts Anaheim's GM on the hot seat. None of his goalies are performing. He hasn't cleared much cap. Maybe they make a deal now with one of the 3. Can I interest you in Hiller ++ for Anderson???
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I don't know if you can even make the claim when you have 23. Unless you hear something about Granlund today, the claim is not going to happen. I really wonder what value Hiller has to the team now. Hartley should have started him, if he was only bad due to being sick. Ramo got the nod today. The only thing that happens is that Hiller gets starter time in Stockton while we evaluate the new guy. If he didn't turn out, we waive/offer him back. Cost money and cap, but at least does something.
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I know. Just thinking that the only way to put in a claim would be to paper demote Granlund and waive Hiller today. That would allow Granlund and the goalie to both be available for Tuesday's game. Only risk is that a team below us gets first crack.
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Bouma is expected back this or next week. Would need to waive Bollig/Raymond/Jooris and Hiller, if Granlund is only a temporary assignment. We likely have enough (if they show actual cap hit and don't subtract Bouma's) space. The small relief for Hiller and other would be about $1.9m as well. Lot of money tied up in the AHL.
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As a cheap-ish pickup, it makes sense. The problem is the roster has to be clear of the player before you could claim him. Only solution would be a paper demotion of Granlund to allow time to waive Hiller. As well, we don't have the cap space to claim him. If the Flames were intent on this, they could allow Khudobin to pass through and deal for him with a current roster player. That way we could keep him in the AHL until we get him up to NHL level again (and do something with Hiller). On a side note, Ramo gets the start on Tuesday. That speaks volumes.
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I thought that Khudobin was a good backup when he was in Boston, but last year and this year his numbers look surprisingly bad. Carolina might do that to you, but he hasn't been great as a Duck in his limited play. I don't know that he much better an option than Hiller right now, and possibly worse going forward. The Toronto goalie situation is much like Calgary's, no true consistent #1. Bernier's confidence is gone, after being called out by the coach as not being a good option. His numbers are better than Hiller's (except for wins) on a lesser team. Big risk on his contract, but not anymore than Hiller for game play.
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At worst, we have to buy his final season out. $2.7m retained for 2016/17 and $716k for 2017/18, Not great, but a calculated risk. The upside is we have a starter signed through next season.
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Those three would be my preference. If none are available until the off-season, then I would prefer to do something about Hiller right TF now. The hockey gods have given us an opportunity to make the post-season if we have good enough goalies to get there. Bernier doesn't solve the long-term problem, but gets us away from Hiller's play.
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I don't recall saying that you waive Hiller without having a replacement. I said make a move and waive Hiller. Ortio is not the answer this year, and possibly never.
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He is needed when Wideman plays. Wideman/Engelland is a bad idea. Engelland can play well enough. I would prefer to upgrade on Russell or Wideman. Russell did not have a bad game, but I watched the same zone struggles. Russell on the 3rd pair is fine for now. Would prefer to upgrade to a LHS #4D for him. Smid as a 7th D is fine. Wideman is a waste of cap for a 5/6D. Trade him or Russell for a top 6 winger. Trade the other for a LHS D-man.
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There is no proof that Ortio can ever be an NHL goalie. Many goalies have done equal to him with NHL games. Maybe he didn't get a real chance this year, but he isn't helping his cause with inconsistent play in the AHL. We have spent this much time on him, so we can ride it out with him in the AHL this year. He may even get another injury callup. He has had up and down years in the AHL, so I am not that confident that he is going to make the translation to the NHL. Gillies is another story. He has the size needed. He is athletic and technically sound. Ortio has 2/3.
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Next season is next season. I am loathe to wait till then to solve it. There are legit things we can do right now to improve, and it involves moving Hiller. At the very least, we should waive him. He isn't even the short-term answer anymore. Make the move now to improve. Evaluate the rest of the season with Ramo any whomever. Look for a permanent solution in the summer; that may include the whomever.
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Both are a concern right now. As much as I hate to do it, I would suggest we trade or demote Hiller, contingent on another goalie being signed. A proper backup or a real #1. That is the only way forward this season. Do it now while Bernier is still on a stint and Toronto is still questioning their goalie situation. Or do it where teams have multiple options.
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If he had played like that early in the season, he would have received another game, sick or healthy. But it wasn't goaltending that won the game, it was the play of Johnny and Monahan and Granlund. If both goalies are healthy tomorrow, I would still give the game to Ramo; he has been the tender that kept us afloat for the last month. I hear what you are saying, though. Saying that Johnny has a mediocre game would have to be compared to Price having one. Neither Hiller nor Ramo should get a pass. If Hiller was 100% healthy, last night would have been one of his better ones. Low standards, hey?
