Quote:
Originally Posted by Dajazz
Russell is a great shot blocker because he needs to be. He's Mini-Butler, can't get at hold of the puck, can't keep it, can't retrieve and gets hemmed in his own zone. To make up for this he takes pucks in his face, gut and chins. Good little warrior, not a bad first pass either, but man he can't win a puck battle against a snow man in summer. He's a 5-6 on a decent team, that's not a bad hockey player, but he should not be close to 20 minutes a game, yet he plays 25....
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I'd also add that most of Russell's shot blocks are just him being in the way. There is a way to block shots that can lead to gaining possession if you're actually skating the direction the puck is going to deflect off you. When you're just standing there and the puck hits you - you rarely are changing possession.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher
Don't understand people complaining about Bouma's salary. That guy would probably be the captain if Gio wasn't here. He's an identity player. He's hard to play against. He's an ideal 3rd liner. Busts his ass, sacrifices his body and has the skill and smarts to pot a few as well. I'd take more Boumas at that price. Replace Jones, Hudler and Colborne with 3 more Boumas and we'd be light years ahead of where we are.
Ramo is our starting goalie so I don't think you can call him a depth player. Nor is he massively overpaid to be a starting goalie. If anything Hiller was the bad signing. Engelland has been solid and really his price tag wouldn't be an issue if Wideman wasn't overpaid and we didn't have Smid who could fill the same role as Deryk. I think the Engelland signing is perfectly fine.
As for Raymond that is by far, by far, Treliving's worst signing. Terrible term and money for a useless no good player. I'm sure he regrets it.
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So far in Bouma's contract - he's had more stints on LTIR than points. I agree with his style of play being good for the team, but its also replaceable. You've got Hathaway or perhaps Austin Carroll in a year who can play a similar role while making less than $1M/year.
If you're going to maximize your spending on the cap - you should only pay for irreplaceable pieces - like scorers, big possession guys, top centers and top defense.
The Flames currently have a ton of overpaid replaceable players - Jones, Raymond, Smid, Engelland, Ramo, Hiller. You need to limit your cap mistakes - its working out fine now because the best forwards are still on their ELCs. But once you start having to pay them - you can't have 1/3 of your cap tied in bad contracts.