[getbak]

I don't think there's anything negative about Kulak going to the ECHL this season. He's one of the youngest guys in the system playing North American pro hockey right now (only Monahan, Poirier, and Sieloff are younger), and he's only in the first year of his ELC.

If anything, I'd say it speaks to the team's trust in him that they knew they could send him to play in the ECHL, where he wouldn't be under constant supervision by the Flames, and know that he'd still commit to playing hard and working on his development.


I think they didn't send Ramage because he's in the final year of his ELC and they wanted to have eyes on him to know where he fits in the depth chart to determine where to go with him next year. What type of contract do they give him, how much do they pay him, and how long do they sign him for?

For Sieloff, I think it was again a case of wanting to monitor his progression this season after he missed so much time last year. Also, I think he was considered to be one of the players most likely to step up and get some time in the NHL this season, so again, he's a player you want to have close-at-hand if that time comes.

I think it came down to Kulak or Culkin, where one would stay in Adirondack and the other would get sent to Colorado. Culkin had the better start to the season, putting up a bunch of points just before Kulak was sent down.

I wouldn't be surprised if the plan was to swap Kulak and Culkin between Colorado and Adirondack during the season, but now Culkin has worked his way into the conversation for a callup and Kulak is playing well in Colorado. At this point, they'll probably just stick with what's been working.


They probably also didn't expect both Calgary and Adirondack to remain so healthy on the blueline so far this season. A couple of injuries and Kulak gets called up to the AHL pretty quickly.