Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan
I watched a period and a half, so take my thoughts with a grain of salt:
1) I think Kylington made a case to make the opening night team. He was much more solid than I've seen in the past. Still takes risks, but less glaring mistakes. My only concern is handling NHL size from the opposition. The rest can be figured out at the NHL level.
2) Dube is going to be on the Flames next year. He's young enough that another year in junior is best for him, and he doesn't have that essential skillset of a Monahan or Tkachuk to warrant him making the team as a teenager. But he's going to be a really good middle six winger for a long time. I think he'll eventually be Frolik's replacement.
3) Gillies surprised me with how athletic he can be tonight. The downside is that his rebound control and positioning needed work, but that can be worked on this year in the AHL. He's still got a lot of potential and I think he'll eventually be an NHL goalie. It might only be as a backup, but that's still valuable to have come from within the organization.
4) I thought Lazar looked pretty good tonight. I thought his IQ was actually a step above most of the other players, and there were some shifts where the puck followed him around because of it. He's not dynamic enough to create offense by himself, but he should be a valuable complementary player on a bottom 6 line.
5) Kulak really hurt his chances at that #6 spot tonight. Regardless of playing with Bartkowski which could hurt any player's chances, he was slow and behind the play at times, and did few good things in his own zone. I would like to see him away from Bartkowski to see how much of it was his awful partner and how much of it was him. However, this is the same thing I saw from him last year: He looks really solid for a couple of games, and then looks like a bad AHLer in other games. Consistency from him is needed if he's going to land a spot.
6) Bartkowski was bad and he should feel bad. For a bubble player, he seemed lazy and disinterested. He was much better last year, even though he would still make some mistakes.
7) Tanner Glass put himself in the conversation for a roster spot to begin the year. Now, it's possible that this is the best we'll see from him, and that other players we've pencilled in will pass him, but for now he deserves consideration. Meritocracy and all that.
8) Jankowski was ok tonight. Some nice plays, and some lackadaisical plays. He could use just a little more urgency in his game at times.
9) Valimaki impressed again, but he's so young that some seasoning will polish him up nicely. Like Dube, I could see him making the team next year if he improves on consistency.
10) Andersson was solid, but unspectacular tonight. He read the play well all night and could be on the opening night roster as well, especially considering the play of Kulak and Bartkowski.
The rest didn't do enough to impress me one way or another. Time in the AHL/Junior for the rest of these guys, although Mangiapane had some nice shifts. The rest of the PTOs were virtually invisible.
The 10 I mention above deserve to stick around past the next round of cuts (maybe not Bartkowski), but everyone else can be sent down at this point.
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