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Flames Draft Watcher · 09-29-2018, 03:51 PM

I only saw half the game but here's a few thoughts on the battles.

Andersson struggled a bit in the part I watched particularly when retrieving pucks in his corner and trying to evade the EDM forecheck. He definitely looked out of place as a top 4 guy IMO. With the depth on RHD I don't think he wins a job unless he looked like a top 4 guy. I'd send him down and keep Stone/Prout for now. Injuries are inevitable and that depth is great.

Valimaki looked decent. I think he has a better chance than Andersson of winning a job because there's a lot less depth on LHD. Valimaki basically only competing against Kulak. I think it certainly wouldn't hurt for him to start the year in Stockton but I could see it going either way. I think he'll be fine either way. Top pairing minutes in all situations in the AHL or coming along slowly on the 3rd pairing with Stone/Prout.

Dube I think has made the team. His speed and smarts are NHL calibre. He's versatile playing both centre and wing. His speed is a huge asset in today's NHL. Our team needed to get a bit faster up front. Dube, Czarnik, Ryan, Lindholm all are good to great skaters.

Mangiapane I don't think did quite enough. But I think he impressed and would be the first recall if a skilled forward was injured. It doesn't hurt for him to go down and dominate the AHL for a bit. Injuries are inevitable.

Gaudreau-Monahan-Lindholm
Tkachuk-Backlund-Neal
Bennett-Jankowski-Czarnik
Dube-Ryan-Frolik
Lazar-Hathaway

Giordano-Brodie
Hanifin-Hamonic
Kulak-Stone
Prout

Smith
Rittich

is how I'd start the year.

09-29-2018, 03:51 PM	#15
Flames Draft Watcher In the Sin Bin Join Date: Oct 2001 Exp:	I only saw half the game but here's a few thoughts on the battles. Andersson struggled a bit in the part I watched particularly when retrieving pucks in his corner and trying to evade the EDM forecheck. He definitely looked out of place as a top 4 guy IMO. With the depth on RHD I don't think he wins a job unless he looked like a top 4 guy. I'd send him down and keep Stone/Prout for now. Injuries are inevitable and that depth is great. Valimaki looked decent. I think he has a better chance than Andersson of winning a job because there's a lot less depth on LHD. Valimaki basically only competing against Kulak. I think it certainly wouldn't hurt for him to start the year in Stockton but I could see it going either way. I think he'll be fine either way. Top pairing minutes in all situations in the AHL or coming along slowly on the 3rd pairing with Stone/Prout. Dube I think has made the team. His speed and smarts are NHL calibre. He's versatile playing both centre and wing. His speed is a huge asset in today's NHL. Our team needed to get a bit faster up front. Dube, Czarnik, Ryan, Lindholm all are good to great skaters. Mangiapane I don't think did quite enough. But I think he impressed and would be the first recall if a skilled forward was injured. It doesn't hurt for him to go down and dominate the AHL for a bit. Injuries are inevitable. Gaudreau-Monahan-Lindholm Tkachuk-Backlund-Neal Bennett-Jankowski-Czarnik Dube-Ryan-Frolik Lazar-Hathaway Giordano-Brodie Hanifin-Hamonic Kulak-Stone Prout Smith Rittich is how I'd start the year.