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Originally Posted by Oil Stain
The initial standout to me is how many guys the Flames brought that played pro lat season. 8 guys who played substantial AHL/NHL games.
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Let's see:
Bennett - 12 NHL games
Kulak - 26 AHL games + 1 NHL game
Culkin - 37 AHL games
Poirier - 20-year-old going into Draft+3
Should all be no-brainers to play.
That's three guys with less AHL/NHL level experience than Draisaitl and a kid who
could have been playing Junior last year without being an overager. The other four:
Agostino
Arnold
BVB
Sieloff
Arnold and Agostino probably could have taken a bye, but this is only their second opportunity to even play in this tourney as they're NCAA guys, and it's a good chance to guage their progress after a year pro. Same applies to BVB, who was forgettable in his rookie pro season and could use any opportunity he gets to show his stuff.
That leaves Sieloff, and he's missed
so much development (2012-13, 2013-14, and pretty much Sept through December 2014) that every opportunity to get him into anything resembling a game is a good one. Even last year he was a regular healthy scratch as he tried to get the hang of playing hockey back and only participated in 48 games.
Quote:
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Oilers brought Draisaitl, Winquist and Moroz and left guys like Yakimov, Simpson, and Oesterle at home.
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Slepychev and Laurikainen both played in pro leagues last season as well. And the KHL / Liiga are considered to be higher level of play than the AHL.