If any player should be given the benefit of the doubt this season, it's Valimaki. He's had an absolute nightmarish couple of years due to multiple serious injuries and then he gets in for his first almost full season and it's a case where he switches leagues mid-year to play for a coach in Ward that he had never played a game for, getting paired with Nestorov who was making his own adjustments and then there was another coaching change mid-season. Add to that, the pandemic and all of the restrictions on him in his personal life, which has to be a challenge since he has been shuttling back and forth between Stockton, Finland, and Calgary for the last couple of years and the inability to spend significant time with his teammates building relationships.
I honestly feel pretty badly for him. He's had a tremendously disappointing season after making some public comments about wanting to be in the Calder conversation and instead of any of that coming true, he's played kind of poorly and has had limited opportunities on the powerplay, been healthy scratched a few times, and also been criticized by the coach on numerous occasions (mostly, I think, because the media has put a target on him by frequently asking about his development and playing time rather than anything he's said or done).
Also, I don't know if it is because Sutter made the comment that Valimaki has to start playing like he has mentally recovered from the injury or if I am actually just noticing it more, but his mobility seems to be pretty limited compared to when he first appeared for the Flames. Hopefully another summer of training and recovery will lead to a big year in 2021-22.
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