Calgary Flames 20/21 Roster and Lines

[MP5029]

On 3/4/2021 at 3:22 AM, travel_dude said:

 

I didn't understand why we went away from the Hanifin-Ras pairing just because we got Tanev.

Tanev looks slow, but no more than Ras.

Or you use Valimaki with Gio.

Or Kylington with Gio.

 

Hanifin-Ras

Valimaki-Tanev

Gio-Kylington

 

It should not matter how you number the pairs.  Gio and Tanev get PK minutes.  Valimaki and Ras should get the PP minutes.  I would actually swap Valimali with Ras for PP units.  

Or you look at building 2 new Gio/Brodie pairs and put Gio with Kylington to develop home some before he retires:

 

Hanifin/Tanev 

Valimaki/Anderson 

Gio/Kylington 

 

 

[travel_dude]

2 minutes ago, MP5029 said:

Or you look at building 2 new Gio/Brodie pairs and put Gio with Kylington to develop home some before he retires:

 

Hanifin/Tanev 

Valimaki/Anderson 

Gio/Kylington 

 

 

 

No doubt that could work too.  The key point is splitting up Ras and Gio.  I just don't see it working.  They look good at times, but I don't think it's the best idea to continue it.

[travel_dude]

30 minutes ago, JTech780 said:

 

 

Interesting that we still have Ritchie on the 2nd line, but again it's just a player there right now.  Sutter will use that for now and probably line up the player he plans to play there at some point.  Could be mid-game or in a morning skate.  

[cross16]

Every coach in the NHL is going to make decisions that make you scratch your head so I expect no different with Sutter. 

 

Playing Ritchie with Mony/Johnny absolutely fits in this category. It makes no sense. 

[cross16]

Bennett's first comments. Totally get where he is coming from. 

 

Be interesting to see what Sutter sees his role as. Center vs wing, score vs checker, pk? Few options

 

 

[Heartbreaker]

24 minutes ago, cross16 said:

Bennett's first comments. Totally get where he is coming from. 

 

Be interesting to see what Sutter sees his role as. Center vs wing, score vs checker, pk? Few options

 

 

Really rootin' for that guy.

Love.

[JTech780]

I wonder if we will see Alex Petrovic get called up at some point soon. He brings the size and physical play that Sutter likes on the back end. He has also put up 11 points in 9 games with the Heat this season. He is also a RHS.

[cross16]

I wouldn’t like that. He’s a good veteran presence down there but he gets burned a lot imo. He’s scare me at this level as I don’t find him very stout in his own zone. 
 

phillips is the guy who should get the call. Put Phillips with Lucic and Backlund and move Mang with Gaudreau and Mony. 
 

balances out really nicely imo. 

[travel_dude]

59 minutes ago, cross16 said:

I wouldn’t like that. He’s a good veteran presence down there but he gets burned a lot imo. He’s scare me at this level as I don’t find him very stout in his own zone. 
 

phillips is the guy who should get the call. Put Phillips with Lucic and Backlund and move Mang with Gaudreau and Mony. 
 

balances out really nicely imo. 

 

Petrovic looked terrible in his brief stint with the Oilers.  Not that is mans much, since they can make lots look bad, but he doesn't do anything for me.  

Phillips with either Monahan or Backlund would be fine.  Maybe a bit better balanced with Backlund, but better scoring chances with Gaudreau.

Eeeks, that might be a bit scary in the D-zone.  Phillips is fearless, but I don't know if I want two small wingers (one tiny) trying to defend.

 

Actually, come to think about it, you could have Dube, Mangiapane and Phillips on line 2, 1 and 3.

Dube's speed with Gaudreau would be interesting.  You know Mangiapane fits with Tkachuk.

3 home grown RW's.  

[Radster]

15 hours ago, cross16 said:

Every coach in the NHL is going to make decisions that make you scratch your head so I expect no different with Sutter. 

 

Playing Ritchie with Mony/Johnny absolutely fits in this category. It makes no sense. 

Really ?from what ive seen from ritchie it does.  

Weve tried every other option. So why not. He can skate he can put the puck in the net. He isn't afraid of hitting.  Remember ferly?   
 

[cross16]

7 hours ago, Radster said:

Really ?from what ive seen from ritchie it does.  

Weve tried every other option. So why not. He can skate he can put the puck in the net. He isn't afraid of hitting.  Remember ferly?   
 

 

His career arc woudl suggest these 2 things are not true. to each their own but I'm not for putting unskilled players in my top 6. It's not worth getting mad about it's just something I would never do. 

 

I do remember Ferly and Ferland is still one of the most talented guys at his size i've seen in a while. Ritchie doesn't come close to the skill level Ferland had. 

[cross16]

A random thought I had last night on Phillips, is I wonder if the Flames will keep him in the A for the whole year and try to hide him from expansion. He's eligible to be taken and if they call him up and he does well does he become an option at that point?

 

He's trending towards looking like a top 6 forward and could be a sneaky value add from Seattle if they like him. If I was Seattle and picking between Bennett, Phillips and Gio, Phillips would look mighty attractive. 

[travel_dude]

15 minutes ago, cross16 said:

A random thought I had last night on Phillips, is I wonder if the Flames will keep him in the A for the whole year and try to hide him from expansion. He's eligible to be taken and if they call him up and he does well does he become an option at that point?

 

He's trending towards looking like a top 6 forward and could be a sneaky value add from Seattle if they like him. If I was Seattle and picking between Bennett, Phillips and Gio, Phillips would look mighty attractive. 

 

I'm afraid they will know about him by doing scouting on team's available prospects.

If you want to hide him, hide him in plain sight.

He's going to need an adjustment to the NHL as it is.

Then again, he could become a top 6 F in literally months.

[travel_dude]

Here's an interesting comment from Sutter about Bennett:

 

“I think we just want him to be a 200-foot, straight-line, work-hard, honest player. That’s sort of how I envision him coming in and that’s basically how we’ve addressed it with Sam. Obviously, I like those kind of players.”

[travel_dude]

Projected lines for tonight (there still could be changes):

 

Tkachuk-Lindholm-Dube

Gaudreau-Monahan-Ritchie

Lucic-Backlund-Mangiapane

Bennett-Ryan-Leivo  

 

Giordano-Andersson

Hanifin-Tanev

Valimaki-Nesterov

 

Markstrom

[JTech780]

I would be really curious about loading up the top line with all our best offensive players.

 

Gaudreau-Lindholm-Tkachuk

Mangiapane-Monahan-Dube

Lucic-Backlund-Ryan

Leivo-Bennett-Ritchie

[dieselmarble]

10 hours ago, Radster said:

Really ?from what ive seen from ritchie it does.  

Weve tried every other option. So why not. He can skate he can put the puck in the net. He isn't afraid of hitting.  Remember ferly?   
 

 

Agree 100% I was hoping for that line, those other two will get less cheap shots maybe play better with the protection

[robrob74]

the biggest thing I think this team needed was clear instruction on expectations and roles. Maybe other coaches have explained this before, but sometimes I just wondered if they did as players seemed to be shifted around so much that roles became quite clouded. 
 

Bennetts comment on it the other day makes me think that this has been something that hasn’t been clear to some of the players. This may have been only one win but I would like to see some stability that we haven’t seen the last few seasons. I hope it continues and that we can get some lines and roles that work. Good start tonight, let’s see how Saturday goes! 
 

i think the play has been very cloudy and this game seemed to be one of the more clearer games I’ve seen in a long time. 
 

GFG!

[cross16]

I really liked the Bennett-Ryan-leivo line but i still can't help but feel Leivo is the best bet alongside Gaudreau-Monahan. He's looked good there, results were good there and I think they just went away from it too quicky. Now that Leivo has his game I think they should go back to it. 

[travel_dude]

It's one game and two practices, so I'm not going to read into it too much.

But, I think there has been better game management.

Maybe the roles are clearer, but there is still some tweaking that needs to be done.

When the 4th line is your best line, that shows something is still not quite right.

I don't think you break up the line, but I do think you need to revisit the use of Ritchie with Monahan.

There is opportunity to look at game tape and adjust the line.

I don't think Ritchie hurts the team, but you may need to use him on a line that more suits dump and chase.

 

The team seems to have bought into Sutter games.

Winning one is nice, but I don't want the team to consider it a big feat.

It was a win against a tired team with one of their best D-men sidelined.

The season is so short that every game is going to be hard fought.

There is room for improvement in every zone and situation.

I thought they did some things well, some were a product of a tired team and some need to be improved.

Guarding the house seemed better most shifts, but there was a breakdown at times.

One resulted in a scramble, the other a goal.

[MP5029]

17 minutes ago, travel_dude said:

It's one game and two practices, so I'm not going to read into it too much.

But, I think there has been better game management.

Maybe the roles are clearer, but there is still some tweaking that needs to be done.

When the 4th line is your best line, that shows something is still not quite right.

I don't think you break up the line, but I do think you need to revisit the use of Ritchie with Monahan.

There is opportunity to look at game tape and adjust the line.

I don't think Ritchie hurts the team, but you may need to use him on a line that more suits dump and chase.

 

The team seems to have bought into Sutter games.

Winning one is nice, but I don't want the team to consider it a big feat.

It was a win against a tired team with one of their best D-men sidelined.

The season is so short that every game is going to be hard fought.

There is room for improvement in every zone and situation.

I thought they did some things well, some were a product of a tired team and some need to be improved.

Guarding the house seemed better most shifts, but there was a breakdown at times.

One resulted in a scramble, the other a goal.

I agree 

[redfire11]

I actually saw some effort out of the Flames last night. Johnny and Tkachuk looked a little lost and mostly ineffective. 3rd and 4th lines stepped up and that gives me confidence going forward. 

Hanafin is starting to break out (need him on the PP)

On Ritchie;   All game I was comparing him to Josh Anderson (which BT tried to acquire for that position) and am glad we didn't break the bank to get him. As TD said Ritchie needs to understand the workings of JG and Mony but if he can he will create space for the duo.

Mangiapane; Just love his game as I think he brings effort with a big E. 

I would like to see a Mangi Ryan Dube  line  a little small but all 3 play 2 x larger.

[cross16]

Kylington in today at practice, Nesterov demoted. 

 

I'm kind of done with the Nesterov experiment personally. I really likes his chemistry with Valimaki early on but now I just think he makes the same mistakes over and over again and isn't adjusting. I'd love to see them run Kylington for a string of games. 

 

Not thrilled they are keeping with Ritchie up there but also not surprised. 

 

 

[JTech780]

2 minutes ago, cross16 said:

Kylington in today at practice, Nesterov demoted. 

 

I'm kind of done with the Nesterov experiment personally. I really likes his chemistry with Valimaki early on but now I just think he makes the same mistakes over and over again and isn't adjusting. I'd love to see them run Kylington for a string of games. 

 

Not thrilled they are keeping with Ritchie up there but also not surprised. 

 

 

 

Yeah there was a few plays last night where Nesterov overhandled the puck and turned it over, he was able to recover, but shouldn't have needed to. I really think that getting a RHS for that 3rd pair is going to be one of Sutter's first asks, or at least an upgrade for that 3rd pair. I have thrown out Gudbranson in the past, and I know it isn't a popular choice, but I think he fits what Sutter likes to do on the back end. 

 

I didn't mind Ritchie too much on that line, I found seemed to be the one that was having trouble finding his way in the offensive zone. I do wonder if Sutter will want him going to the net harder, as he tends to like to delay at the blueline and wait for the pass in the high slot.

 

I think it is only a matter of time before Mangiapane gets moved up the lineup.

 

I found it interesting that Bennett and Lucic both saw time on the PK. Bennett was less surprising, but Lucic caught me off gaurd.

[cross16]

12 minutes ago, JTech780 said:

 

Yeah there was a few plays last night where Nesterov overhandled the puck and turned it over, he was able to recover, but shouldn't have needed to. I really think that getting a RHS for that 3rd pair is going to be one of Sutter's first asks, or at least an upgrade for that 3rd pair. I have thrown out Gudbranson in the past, and I know it isn't a popular choice, but I think he fits what Sutter likes to do on the back end. 

 

I didn't mind Ritchie too much on that line, I found seemed to be the one that was having trouble finding his way in the offensive zone. I do wonder if Sutter will want him going to the net harder, as he tends to like to delay at the blueline and wait for the pass in the high slot.

 

I think it is only a matter of time before Mangiapane gets moved up the lineup.

 

I found it interesting that Bennett and Lucic both saw time on the PK. Bennett was less surprising, but Lucic caught me off gaurd.

 

I thought Ritchie dragged down that line last night IMO. I thought the puck died on his stick and he really struggles to keep the play going north which means you are essentially cutting off half the ice for that line. Monahan already goes to the net so IMO that line will flourish with someone who can either be able to accept rims around the zone, or go and get the cross ice dumps from Gaudreau. I think they need to spread the ice out to let Johnny work. 

 

They were the only line that did not hold their own at ES and were under water in ever category. 

 

I'd rather move Valimaki to the RS and acquire a physical LS dman. I think Valimaki looks really natural on the RS and I think it really plays to his ability to see the ice and make passes. Would likely open up options if they wanted to go the trade route too. I'd just run Kylington-Valimaki for a while if it were me, but I get where you are coming from.