Jusso Valimaki - forgotten D

[travel_dude]

Could not find a thread for this guy.  Went back to 2019 and gave up.

So, I started a new one.

 

Bit of a weird story today.

Valimaki is waiver exempt this year.

Becaose of the injury he had, he didn;t accrue enough years.

 

Not saying it's the right thing to do, just an option.

The AHL has a pretty wird schedule.

Between now and December 22nd, the Heat play 10 games.

Tough choice.

Send the poor guy down (making NHL money) before Christmas.

Or possibly get him in 2-12 games here.

 

[sak22]

Maybe good to send him down for the upcoming trip, he can go to Cali with the team and then go to Stockton and the team can recall him on the way home.  Keep him close in case they need to recall him early.

[travel_dude]

48 minutes ago, sak22 said:

Maybe good to send him down for the upcoming trip, he can go to Cali with the team and then go to Stockton and the team can recall him on the way home.  Keep him close in case they need to recall him early.

 

They would send Kylington down to the taxi squad just to save a few dollars.

I don't like that.

If you are doing it, it has to be for a good reason.

Play a bunch of games to get back in game shape.

That's all well and good, but why bring him back unless you are going to play him.

 

He has to be better, but you can't be better if you have nothing other than a practice to prove it.

AHL is fine, but Ruzicka is yet to play.

We are 1 and 1 since he was recalled.

Neither were blowouts, but I thought we lost the ball against WPG.

Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and play a guy.

Let him show what he has in consecutive games.

Valimaki did enough to warrant a 2nd game, but the choice was different.

Him and Zaddy provide different aspects, but both are valuable.

[sak22]

1 hour ago, travel_dude said:

 

They would send Kylington down to the taxi squad just to save a few dollars.

I don't like that.

If you are doing it, it has to be for a good reason.

Play a bunch of games to get back in game shape.

That's all well and good, but why bring him back unless you are going to play him.

 

He has to be better, but you can't be better if you have nothing other than a practice to prove it.

AHL is fine, but Ruzicka is yet to play.

We are 1 and 1 since he was recalled.

Neither were blowouts, but I thought we lost the ball against WPG.

Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and play a guy.

Let him show what he has in consecutive games.

Valimaki did enough to warrant a 2nd game, but the choice was different.

Him and Zaddy provide different aspects, but both are valuable.

I don't view it as a game shape move, more to see if he can build himself up between the ears.  I believe Sutter runs his practices in a way that keeps guys in game shape, so I don't find that an issue.  Bring him back after the trip because Calgary is where he wants to be, keep him ready because things can change very fast, look to the North for example

[travel_dude]

5 minutes ago, sak22 said:

I don't view it as a game shape move, more to see if he can build himself up between the ears.  I believe Sutter runs his practices in a way that keeps guys in game shape, so I don't find that an issue.  Bring him back after the trip because Calgary is where he wants to be, keep him ready because things can change very fast, look to the North for example

 

I just haven't seen any positive results from being sent down.

Not to say it wouldn't, just none that I can recall that had immediate effects.

Mangiapane stayed up once he started playing well and started scoring.

Dube maybe came up early, but really he was fine up to this year.

 

[robrob74]

5 hours ago, travel_dude said:

 

I just haven't seen any positive results from being sent down.

Not to say it wouldn't, just none that I can recall that had immediate effects.

Mangiapane stayed up once he started playing well and started scoring.

Dube maybe came up early, but really he was fine up to this year.

 

this is why he should have gone to the AHL in the first place. He’s only a borderline NHLer and those types that are that young, should have been in the A… 

[travel_dude]

1 hour ago, robrob74 said:

this is why he should have gone to the AHL in the first place. He’s only a borderline NHLer and those types that are that young, should have been in the A… 

 

I wouldn;t describe him as borderline.

Did he have a setback - sure but Ras did last year.

He played himself out of it.

Gio was a bad fit for him.

 

Here we are talking about a player that hasn't even been given the chance to play his way out ofit.

So, we don't know.

 

I would sit Zaddy.

Play Kylington with Guddy and put Valimaki with Tanev.

Kylington has shown that he has grown.

Doesn;t need the training wheels.

 

I'm saying this because we saw that Tanev and Hanifin were the IT line last year.

This year it's Tanev Kyl.

Even last year, they would move a player to work with Tanev to build up the depth.

[MP5029]

9 hours ago, travel_dude said:

 

I wouldn;t describe him as borderline.

Did he have a setback - sure but Ras did last year.

He played himself out of it.

Gio was a bad fit for him.

 

Here we are talking about a player that hasn't even been given the chance to play his way out ofit.

So, we don't know.

 

I would sit Zaddy.

Play Kylington with Guddy and put Valimaki with Tanev.

Kylington has shown that he has grown.

Doesn;t need the training wheels.

 

I'm saying this because we saw that Tanev and Hanifin were the IT line last year.

This year it's Tanev Kyl.

Even last year, they would move a player to work with Tanev to build up the depth.

I agree with all of this….having said that, Valimaki needs to play and Sutter seems pretty entrenched on his current D pairs, although I think your 100% right and Sutter should go with your pairing, but given how Sutter gets stuck into a particular group of guys, pairs and lines I don’t think Valimaki will see much game time it may be best to

send him down for

a bit till Christmas let him stay close while the AHL schedule works for this option.

[travel_dude]

There is some suggestion that Valimaki will get sent to Stockton this weekend.

For sure, it can't happen with B2B games tonight and tomorrow.

[travel_dude]

It's offocial, he's been assigned to the Heat.

[The_People1]

18 minutes ago, travel_dude said:

It's offocial, he's been assigned to the Heat.

 

I hope he takes it well and uses it as motivation to get better.

[robrob74]

11 hours ago, travel_dude said:

It's offocial, he's been assigned to the Heat.

I hope he can take it as a positive move. He knows it, a lot of us knows it, he has to play!

 

what I wonder is how the flames didn’t know that he was still waiver exempt? You’d think it’s something the Flames should have known.

 

on top of they, we can have a better “ normal” balance of forwards to D ratio.

 

plus this will be a good experiment to see if the theory that it doesn’t end well, a player going to the A this late in their career. 
 

They probably did, but I hope they gave him some good homework and praise for the stuff he does well. This is about getting him back on track and not demoting or making him feel less of a player.

[travel_dude]

15 minutes ago, robrob74 said:

I hope he can take it as a positive move. He knows it, a lot of us knows it, he has to play!

 

what I wonder is how the flames didn’t know that he was still waiver exempt? You’d think it’s something the Flames should have known.

 

on top of they, we can have a better “ normal” balance of forwards to D ratio.

 

Oh, I think they knew all along.  They probably checked once they became aware that he was exempt for the expansion draft.  It's the exact same reason.

BT probably felt that Zadorov or Kylington was not going to last, and we would be waiving or sitting one of them most games.

Valimaki was still positioned to be 6D.  Unfortunately, he was passed by two guys.

 

Love it or hate it, we have two vets that are playing better overall than Valimaki was.

Early on, you can't risk things too much and have to go with the safe play.

You know what kind of PK you get from Zaddy.

You don't know what kind of game you will get from Valimaki.

Consistently average or great to really bad.

Zaddy is more consistent, with the highs and lows being closer.

Valimki is like Bennett was; a really good game followed by a really bad one.

 

[redfire11]

I have changed my opinion of Zadarov's play from dislike to NOT dislike. He is a quiet force doing his job without drawing attention. He will have to regress to give his job away to Valimaki. It also looks like he has matured under Sutter (not taking stupid penalties which he was known for).

[travel_dude]

27 minutes ago, redfire11 said:

I have changed my opinion of Zadarov's play from dislike to NOT dislike. He is a quiet force doing his job without drawing attention. He will have to regress to give his job away to Valimaki. It also looks like he has matured under Sutter (not taking stupid penalties which he was known for).

 

The two things I have liked about him are his ability to contain a player and his hard checking.

Those are two key things we were missing.

It's infectious.

Kylington is using his body to separate the player from the puck.

That's a far cry from what Brodie did; saying that both are effective, but Kyl is able to do it without risking a hooking call.

 

The more underrated thing about Zaddy is his shot.  He has the leverage for a hard shot and his wrister seems to be accurate.

 

Taking it back to Valimaki, he needs to do what Kylington did; work on his decision making.

Know when to step up, know your limits for getting back, see the ice.

[robrob74]

2 hours ago, travel_dude said:

 

The two things I have liked about him are his ability to contain a player and his hard checking.

Those are two key things we were missing.

It's infectious.

Kylington is using his body to separate the player from the puck.

That's a far cry from what Brodie did; saying that both are effective, but Kyl is able to do it without risking a hooking call.

 

The more underrated thing about Zaddy is his shot.  He has the leverage for a hard shot and his wrister seems to be accurate.

 

Taking it back to Valimaki, he needs to do what Kylington did; work on his decision making.

Know when to step up, know your limits for getting back, see the ice.

I wonder how much of that is communicating. I really don’t mind D pinching because it’s like you said, it’s about knowing which situation is good to. Is someone able to cover? Is leaving Gudbranson alone a smart pinch in the neutral zone? Etc … 

 

 

[travel_dude]

14 minutes ago, robrob74 said:

I wonder how much of that is communicating. I really don’t mind D pinching because it’s like you said, it’s about knowing which situation is good to. Is someone able to cover? Is leaving Gudbranson alone a smart pinch in the neutral zone? Etc … 

 

 

 

There is and should always be communication.

Look out wide.

Wheel.

Time. Time.

But this is about a 5 man unit.

The F have to know what's going on.

[robrob74]

1 minute ago, travel_dude said:

 

There is and should always be communication.

Look out wide.

Wheel.

Time. Time.

But this is about a 5 man unit.

The F have to know what's going on.

Yup! Should always know where everyone is. It’s weird that some need that reminder because it’s such an easy concept. 

[jjgallow]

 

He definitely regressed.

 

He's had a lot of injuries for a 23 year old.     I don't doubt his work ethic and I would suspect one of his past injuries cold be involved.  It is unfortunate.  He was over-rated on here imho, people were way too excited about him, but he is for sure better than the AHL skillwise.   Hopefully he recovers from whatever is ailing him and makes a strong return.

[travel_dude]

11 minutes ago, jjgallow said:

 

He definitely regressed.

 

He's had a lot of injuries for a 23 year old.     I don't doubt his work ethic and I would suspect one of his past injuries cold be involved.  It is unfortunate.  He was over-rated on here imho, people were way too excited about him, but he is for sure better than the AHL skillwise.   Hopefully he recovers from whatever is ailing him and makes a strong return.

 

Well, let's be fair.  He made a lot of mistakes early in the season.

He wasn't trusted enough to be able to play through this into the good stuff.

Zaddy has made a ton of poor reads and cost us at least one game, but there is more time for him becaue he has other tools.

Valimaki has mobility, offense a a good shot.

He was not using any of those enough this season.

 

Sutter and BT both said he needs to play games.

The in one out one wasn't helping.

He was also good one game not so much the next.

And he needs to play in all situations.

PP, PK, even, last minutes, etc.

He was also described as not playing with enough pace.

 

I don't think he's overrated at all.

He's a rookie in the Sutter team.

It's not like playing in EDM where all you need to do is pass it to McD and you are a god.

The minutes are tough and the situations can end up in the net so easily.

He wasn't playing with the same attention to detail as Kylington.

He wasn't able to play that well with Guddy, which is not a major fault, just you need to fit right.