Quote:
Originally Posted by OzSome
I always like Curtis Lazar but I won't say he deserves to play a regular spot right now. I am hoping he will be consistently good players every time he plays so he will force GG to play him all the time. Right now he is the 12A/12B forward, alternating with Tanner Glass. Glass plays against much tougher and bigger teams while Lazar plays against speed teams.
Before you disagree with me, I am just being realistic here. Lazar cannot unseat Ferland, Frolik, Jagr and Brouwer on RW. Yes I agree Brouwer has been playing garbage and he definitely plays better in the 4th line. Flames will NEVER bench Brouwer or send him to the minors because he is making too much money. To tell you the truth I can see some of the higher-ups from Flames right now getting ticked off at GG for putting Brouwer on the 4th line. Only way he won't be in the lineup is if he's injured or gets traded.
On LW, Lazar won't take the spot from Gaudreau, Chucky and Versteeg. In the middle, definitely can't take Mony, Backlund, Bennett but maybe can spell relief on Stajan. So I think Lazar will spend time mostly in and out of the lineup. He'll play against speed team, Glass playing vs big, tougher teams. He can also play be in the lineup if Flames have to sit Stajan once in a while. That is if Lazar stays consistent with his plays. If not, he might have problem playing over Freddie Hamilton, whom I still questioned why still in Calgary roster. F. Hamilton is a career AHLer. Maybe once Jagr gets in the lineup F. Hamilton will have to clear waiver for the purpose of getting sent to Stockton.
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The right shot versus left shot issue makes it difficult to simply replace Glass unless Stajan moves to left wing and Lazar centres 4th line. Flames really need to move Stajan with retained salary since final year of contract. I think much much more likely than moving Brouwer. We have so many NHL ready centres as it is.
BT likely waiting for a team to offer up a draft pick or a 7th defenseman in return. BT likely to get a 2nd or 3rd round draft pick at trade deadline for Stajan to shore up a playoff bound team's centre position so does not want to lose out on that opportunity by getting less now for sake of making room on roster. Good problem to have, but hard for us to remain patient.
Good news is that Lazar has the right attitude about being a 13th forward most nights and is still seeing good signs of progress!
Remarkable depth in the organization now at almost all positions. RW is really our only gap and Lazar is letting us know it isn't that bad either.