Quote:
Originally Posted by Nelson
Per Hailey Salvian of the Athletic:
According to GSVA (Game Score Value Added), Joakim Nordstrom is the worst forward the Flames have.
By virtue of having him on the fourth line, the Flames have the 24th ranked 4th line and two replacement level wingers next to Sam Bennett.
If they place Ryan next to Bennett, the Flames' expected win percentage goes from 51.6% (28 wins) to 52.8% (29 wins). So, putting Ryan in instead of Nordstrom means the Flames win another whole game. That's actually a pretty big impact relative to such a simple change.
They can still play Nordstrom for all the Sens games and put Ryan on the taxi squad for all the days off to maximize the salary cap gains.
I hope they play Ryan next to Bennett instead of Nordstrom.
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Just speculating here, but there is lots of smoke around the Flames and PLD. If they are in fact discussing a trade, that explains the Flames' squeezing the cap as hard as they are (they would still be cap compliant with a 21 man roster, including Ryan, for instance).
I think it is probably pretty unanimous that Ryan is better than Nordstrom. And while the PK argument is valid, Ryan is also one of the best PKers on the team, so pulling him to get Nordstrom's PK abilities in the lineup, is not really a gain.
I think they are going to try and get by with Nordstrom for a while, in order to buy some cap relief, not because they think he is a better option.