travel_dude
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Everything posted by travel_dude
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I like that BT is looking long-term at the roster cost. Every move he makes takes the cap in 5 years into account. He has not overpaid for any player that will hurt us long-term. Even guys like Engelland and Raymond can be lost for nothing, and it is still just FA signings that we are out, no picks to get them. Getting a pick for a guy we were not going to keep was great. In one sense, it shows committment to the player to retain and trade. On the other hand, it is good asset management.
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MacDonald is too young this year to join the Heat, if that is what you were thinking.
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The "Playing Season Waiver Period" shall begin on the twelfth (12th) day prior to the start of the Regular Season and end on the day following the last day of a Club's Playing Season. Subject to the provisions of this Article, the rights to the services of a Player may be Loaned to a club of another league, upon fulfillment of the following conditions, except when elsewhere expressly prohibited... So, that means Sept.25th is the last day to send him down. That appears to be in the middle of pre-season.
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There seems to be a bit of confusion about the rules. Deeds posted that he can be sent down 12 days prior to the season start without waivers. It's not the first time I heard that either. The majority of people believe he will need to go through waivers to play in the AHL. Period.
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I like the move. Gives us the option of Hiller/Ramo, Ramo/Orio, Hiller/Ortio with the option of sending down the worst of the bunch or trading one of them. We don't lose Ramo for nothing.
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I think that the Sharks traded for and signed Jones to be that #1 goalie. Think they are out.
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I like the deal, as it makes three guys need to be their best in TC. TBH, I think that the coach and BT lost faith in Hiller, so he may be a trade in waiting.
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The general feeling seems to be that Hiller is being shopped. Yes Talbot could have way more upside than Ramo, but the body of work isn't there to back up the numbers yet. Ramo is a safer bet in the mid-term, as we don't know if Ortio will ever be a starter, and we don't know how long Gillies will ripen in the AHL. Being tied to Hiller for one year is not a safe bet longer term. He may also have asked to be traded due to his usage in the playoffs. I don't see Dubie as a realistic alternative (even if it would make the Oiler fans cry), as he inflated his value with a stellar season with a good defensive team. The other guys may be valid options, but Ottawa always wants the sun and the moon for their "stars".
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BT and Ramo's agent are negotiating. That leads me to believe they don't have faith in Ortio or Hiller. Ramo won't get more than 3.5 in FA, as his body of work isn't enough to warrant any more. If Dubie gets a deal soon, there will more of a comparable (not that they are in the same league).
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In 2013/14, he played 40 games. That was with the Berra and MacDonald love-affair early that season. 40 games is pretty close to being considered a starter. In 2014/15, he played 34 games, which was partly due to being injured twice. These are not typical backup numbers.
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He was signed to be a starter out of the KHL, where he was a starter. He played 1a/1b minutes in two years. His body of work is greater than most of the backups out there. If he gets an offer, it will be for a starter job.
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Well, he already had a 2 year contract paying 2.6m and 2.9m as an NHL "rookie". I can't see him signing for less as a backup, but the market will set his price. We will see if the Flames hedge their bets and sign him with Ortio still recovering. Injuries to Ramo and Ortio late in the season really messed up the starting/backup job for next year. So did Hiller's underwhelming performances in the playoffs.
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Ramo is happy in Calgary. Offer him an extension and he probably takes it, if it is short enough. His body of work is too small to get the big bucks, so he may want to prove he is a number 1. Key to this is to get him signed now, while his heart is in it. Drag it out, and he would feel like he is being pushed out the door. That all assumes they want to keep him at all.
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The only thing he is sure about right now is that you can't go with 3 goalies into the season. Hartley echoed that last season. I don't think he is married to any decisions he has made. He needs to figure out how to fix any mistakes he made. And he would like to do it out of the eye of the media. If he is leaning towards singing Ramo, he doesn't want to say anything until the ink is dry. Otherwise you PO the other goalies needlessly. For all I know, Gillies is going to be the NHL starter at some point next season, with Ramo the backup. That might sound crazy, but Gillies could be that good and the others that bad.
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I found Hiller's comments to be different than the party line Hartley was saying the whole year about having two great guys that fed off one another. Hiller did say that it suited the team, but he hates to get stuck on the bench when he feels he is ready to play. Most of that was probably due to losing his spot in the 2nd round. Had he played game 2, we may have seen another Hiller, but Hartley believed the book was too well known to be able to come back. Goaltending was good to great last season, but our biggest asset was team scoring. No way we would have made the playoffs without getting (near) league-leading scoring. Our games weren't 2-1, 1-0 as often as we could have used. Hiller/Ramo is our best bet to repeat next season. If Hiller starts to regress, then we move him out prior to TDL.
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Manny was always a guy I though could help us. His FO% is through the roof, always has been. But he is to a point where his game is mostly ineffective. It would make sense to have him as a mentor for taking faceoffs, whether he was the 14th forward that only came in for limited duty. Get him on the ice when we needed a FO win, then get him off.
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Breen isn't really comparable. Breen was slow even for the AHL, and was softer than when Colborne first put on CGY silks. Take either of those two, add about 40 pounds, add a dose of Seilof snarl, and a throw in some Wolfie. I would like to see him spend some serious time with a power-skating coach, and mature in a good environment. A goon is useless, but a monster that can skate and defend and doesn't get goaded into fights every game is worth his weight in gold.
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I think the skating issues are overblown. Whenever I saw him (WHL level, mind you), he looked fine. I was using Kanzig only as an example of size, though. Saying that, it will be interesting to see him at the AHL level to see what he can do.
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Hiller was lights out for a good stretch in the early season. The Chicago win was one where he stole the win. In the playoffs, Hiller started against the Nucks, for every game, and was really good for most of the series, except for the last game. I don't really fault Hiller for that game, but it almost cost us. Against Anaheim, the first 2 games was the most important, but Hiller was just OK. Ramo came in and did a good, not great, job. My only point is that stats on paper look deceiving. I think signing Ramo is a low-risk move, since the alternative is going with Hiller and Ortio. Ortio's body of NHL work last year was great, and bad. I can't tell you which Ortio will be here next season.
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Ramo is trying to get teams interested, if it comes to that. He would be really happy to stay, and would probably even be open to a sign and trade deal. FA for goalies can be great or not-great, depending or needs. If they offerred him $3m+ he would likely take it, over stewing by the phone July 1st through whenever. Raymond was an overpayment for a 1-dimensional player, both in term and dollars. Not a big deal, since he seemed like he could be a good fit at the time, but his entire body of work should have been looked at, not just a year in TO. Seto was a guy everyone was avoiding. Not a big deal because he was demoted rather quickly, but his presence likely accounted for at least one or two losses. I'm not sure where you saw any great examples of Raymond's "defensive" game. I don't think he really has one, other than transition to offense. His speed would be helpful on the forecheck, but really Ferland has more tools in that respect.
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The fact that Ortio is still rehabbing is very concerning to me. July 1st will come without knowing if it affected his play going forward. If Ramo is signed elsewhere, he would not be a good starting goalie option. I agree about your assessment of BT. He is going to make minor mistakes (Raymond, Seto), but he also isn't spending 10m on one player.
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His comments were somewhat telling: Possession Bigger but only with skill/speed Bigger by itself was not the answer Signing Gio, Bouma and Backlund Carrying 3 goalies does not make sense, but didn't say which two he wanted to keep Already had a idea of the guys he wants to move forward with, and those he doesn't Defensive depth killed us Wants T-Spoon to come in a "take" a spot away from someone Seemed to be leaning towards re-signing Schlemko No "final piece" at the expense of long-term goals will be hunted 5-year cap plan for signings Poirier and Arnold were mentioned, so they may get a real shot next year. Talked about how Arnold was derailed by the serious injury, as was T-Spoon's pre-season recovery that messed up his season start. From that I took away the idea that guys like Bollig, Raymond, Potter and Diaz may not be Flames next season. Lesser lights like Byron (possession) may get resigned, but would be more of a speciality player. Engelland may end up being a 7th D.
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Giving Wideman 28 minutes was a mistake, but the only reasonable solution without disrupting both top pairs. Playing him 20 minutes allows him to make use of his (limited) speed. Russell did cover his deficiencies, but at the same time, left us with a physical guy smaller than 75% of the forwards he was facing. Pair Wideman with a physical, bigger version of Russell and you are set. Pair Russell with a bigger physical guy and you are set. All three pairs have a balance of power and can be rolled with similar minutes.
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He has been pretty consistent in putting up points over his tenure with the Flames, so there is no reason to believe he can't put up similar numbers this year. If it drops off, then you have to ask whether he is worth investing long term. But you also have to wonder what you are going to get to replace his numbers. Are you going to have to pay $6m plus in FA, which seems to be a growing trend. Do you have to add some decent prospects to get a younger version of Hudler? Again, how much will that cost and will they be the right type of player. As a top 6 player, we have none better yet. In a year's time, will we have relagated him to the 3rd line? If so, they he is expendable.
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Saying Wideman is slowing down seems strange, since he had a career year. The previous year was bad due to multiple injuries. If he is your offensive D-man, then you pair him up with the guy that gets the defensive work done. Trading him makes us weaker offensively. Russell could up his defensive game if his backup was a defense first player, but his best year was still only 7 goals. Wideman and Gio both have 2-3 really good years ahead of them before we see much tailing off. Likely Gio tails off due to his hard-nosed play.
