Quote:
Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher
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.
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Bang on IMO. The only things i can see differently are Gillies over Rittich (if based on camp performance thus far) and swapping Bennett and Dube as i think Dube's speed would be much more effective on the third line.