kehatch

Player re-signings / subtractions Byron 1 x 0.6 Hanowski 1 x 0.9 Colborne 2 x 1.3 Ortio 2 x 1.2 Bennett 3 x 0.9 Cundari 1 x 0.7 Bouma 1 x 0.8 Brodie 5 x 4.6 Bought out O'Brien, compliance buy out Did not sign Cammalleri, Street, Jones, MacDonald, Butler Smith, Galiardi He gets a solid B for me here. He smartly avoided overpaying Cammalleri and he signed Brodie to a long term value contract. Those were the only two moves of significance. Free Agents and Additions Raymond 3 x 3.2 Hiller 2 x 4.5 Engelland 3 x 2.9 Setoguchi 1 x 0.8 Potter 1 x 0.7 Diaz 1 x 0.7 Schlemko (waivers) Morrison 2 x ? (ELC) I give him a C here. Setoguchi and Potter are both poor players but they are low hit low risk contracts and he got a serviceable player in Diaz and Schlemko. You aren't going to hit on all of those. I really like the Morrison pick up. Hiller has had a major positive impact. We aren't in the playoffs without that pick up. On the other hand Raymond and Engelland are marginal players signed to contracts with too much cap and too much term. To their credit we probably aren't in the playoffs without bringing on these players or similar players to fill the role. Treliving also couldn't know how effective our top 4D were going to be or the immediate impact Gaudreau was going to have. But overpaying marginal players isn't a smart move. Hopefully we can chalk this up to rookie learning. The Draft 4 - Bennett 34 - McDonald 54 - Smith 64 - Hickey 175 - Mattsson 184 - Carroll It's way to early to rule on this. But I like the early returns. Bennett was the obvious choice, but it looks like a winner all the same. I liked the Smith pick-up at the time, though he isn't putting up the type of numbers I was hoping for. I really like the Hickey pick though and I think Mattsson could be a good later round pick. Carroll has also already earned an NHL contract. That is a win for a 7 rounder. I give him a tentative A for this draft. Understanding we won't actually know how successful it is for a few more seasons. Trades 3-round pick (CGY) for (CHI) Bollig Knight (CGY) for (FLO) Shore Glencross (CGY) for (WSH) 2-round and 3 round pick Baertschi (CGY) for (VAN) 2-round pick I give him a light B in this area. Shore is an upgrade on Knight. He also got a really good return for Glencross. I don't like the Baertschi trade, especially to a rival. I would have preferred to see him increase his value in the AHL and tried to trade him at the draft. I don't like Bollig and wasting a pick for a bottom line slugger is always bad policy IMO. Other points He has shown guts in waiving players like McGrattan and Setoguchi Treliving smartly was a light seller at the deadline. He stuck to his guns that this is a rebuild but he didn't gut the team. I don't like the constant up and down of some prospects (Baertschi, Poirier, Wotherspoon). Especially when they are called up to sit the bench or play in a limited role. Retaining Hartley was smart I don't like the lack of success on the farm team. They needed to do a better job of bringing on some support players. On the other hand, having the AHL team play the same system as the big team has made the transition of the prospects much smoother. The culture has been really solid and he plays a part in that. I like his thought style. I like how he speaks. I love that he seems to be sticking to the plan and he isn't jumping on the bandwagon to rush the rebuild. Lets call these intangibles. I give him a B+ Overall Signings - B Free Agents - C Draft - A Trades - B Intangibles - B+ Overall I give him a B+. I am biased to some extent. I haven't always liked the results, but I trust the guy and I trust the plan. I like what he says and what he appears to be trying to do. My biggest issues with him were the Engelland and Raymond contracts along with the Bollig trade. These were done early. Just about everything since has been really solid.

If he is ready I agree. It also gives you a chance to warm him up and see how he does in case you need him.

Morrison needs to be added as well.

When he is ready. They didn't think Gilles is ready. Disagree with that if you want. But the motive to signing a prospect isn't to have a fourth goalie option in case everyone else gets hurt.

They did something. They signed Hiller. Expecting them to be ready to have Ramo and Ortio both injured is unreasonable. And even with that they still have Hiller in the NHL. Expecting them to sign college prospects prematurely for the purpose of depth or bringing on more tenders just in case is unreasonable IMO.

I think he could play third pairing as soon as next season. But probably in an IR call up role. I see Culkin and Wotherspoon in the same situation with none making it out of camp if the team is healthy.

N-O to Kipper. All it would be is a distraction we don't need. Whoever we sign is being signed to sit the bench. Usually only one guy gets the playoff starts anyway and we only have 3 games left in the regular season.

Correct. Call ups due to injury are allowed.

Ramo hurt. Macdonald hurt. Ortio hurt. Tough season for Calgary tenders.

He had no support on the two goals against and he made the tough and timely saves that let us win the game. There were a lot of issues last night. Goal tending wasn't one of them.

Your right. But it wasn't that long ago that Hiller was the go to guy on a clutch. One bad game combined with a good game by Hiller and the argument changes once again. That said, I want Ramo to keep it up. I think he has a higher ceiling. I think he has long term value. And he would have to fail to fall, and the Flames can't handle that right now!

I think it depends how the rest of the season goes. GMs are as fickle as fans some times. If we make the playoffs and he is a rock star he will get a contract. If he and / or the team faulted down the stretch he might have trouble finding a decent back up contract.

Murray makes sense. He may never play a game. But with Smid, Culkin, and Giordano out for the season he is good insurance to have down the stretch. For both Calgary and Adirondack.

In terms of what is happening today, I agree. Who cares why. They have heart and are winning hockey games. We can debate the sustainability in the off season. For now, they are fighting against all odds to make the playoffs and are in a playoff spot late in the season.

You have to go back to Ramo IMO. He hasn't dropped the reigns yet. Not fair to have him lose them because he was rested in a back to back.

I am not getting into another pro/con advanced stat debate . But the Flames don't play some special system that requires special tracking.

Why do people keep saying this? They are where they are because they have found goal scoring. Because Gio and Brodie were one of the best top pairings in the league. Because they got impact performances from young players and rookies. Because of a high work ethic and a self belief. Because of great coaching. They have had great goal tending for parts of the season. They have also had average tending and sometimes poor tending. I am not sure why people are giving so much credit to the goalies. They deserve credit sure. But they aren't so elite that you change the plan and lose Ortio. Heck, four games ago Ramo was supposedly on his way to Europe next season. 4 games later he is untouchable?

Bouwmeester made Butler look like a top 4 D at times. Brodie is good enough to play with a marginal D. Engelland had a good game. Especially in the first two periods. But I am far from convinced he can do it for 20 more games. I hope I am wrong. But he has been pretty bad all season. I don't see more minutes and tougher minutes being the solution to his poor play. Even with Brodie.

I think something missing in the Ortio waiver speak is that Ortio has earned the right to play in the NHL next season. He has been great in the AHL and was great in his NHL contract. He is hinder contract for one more season after this one. Time to give him NHL games. I really think you need to pick one of Ramo or Hiller. A month ago I would have said Hiller. Today I would say Ramo. Which is why I don't think the Flames will make a decision until later in the season. Another thing being missed is that we are assuming Ramo will even sign an extension. He is a free agent after this season and he may want to go where he has more opportunity.

Our entire D was suspect in the third. When a Philly player is all by himself in front of the net three times in one period you have a problem. Not just Engelland. Russell blew his coverage on the second goal for example. Plus our bottom pairing barely played. I agree the first two periods were good. But as a whole I wasn't impressed with the D this game.

Brodie is really good. We forget sometimes, but Giordano wasn't a Norris candidate until paired with Brodie. That said, the real Engelland stood up on the first goal in the third.

There are 30 back-ups in the NHL. Ortio won 4 of 5 starts this season posting a .931 save percentage on the way. Are we suggesting that a team like Edmonton wouldn't pick him up to play over someone like 32 yo Fasth? Maybe you get away with it early in the season when every team figures they are still in the playoff hunt. But even then, a number of teams have back-ups they are rolling the dice on already and wouldn't mind rolling those dice on someone with more long term upside. I wouldn't be taking the risk of I was Calgary.

To be clear I am referring to his eligibility to play after being on the IR. He might not be healthy enough to play that soon. I hope so though.

Giordano can play as early as Thursday.

The Flames are apparently trying to get the KHL to release goalie Deslauriers so they can sign him to a contract. Colorado (or ECHL) team has brought in a full time replacement for Carr and it looks like they may not expect to see him back anytime soon. The fact that the Flames are trying to move Glencross in the midst of a playoff run show that Treliving hasn't deviated from the rebuild path and doesn't want to lose a free agent for nothing. Add that all up and there is speculation (just chatter at this point) that the Flames may actually move Ramo (or Hiller) before the deadline. Personally I think it's a depth move to replace Ortio. Even with that it doesn't make a bunch of sense to me. But there it is.