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Originally Posted by littlereddevil
Very true. I think people are just quick to give up on him because he was a 1st round pick and with that comes bigger expectations that he'd have already jumped into the line-up.
I think the Flames are dealing with a position of strength here having improved their depth in defence. This will place them in an advantageous spot in pre-season / early season when teams will be looking to fill up holes in their line-ups. Flames could leverage that depth on defence to trade whomever is on the bottom of their depth charts, and use it to bolster their forward depth.
Also it's worth noting that Weegar didn't break into the NHL as a regular defenceman until he was 23, and didn't really evolve into the defenceman he is today until the past 2 years. So let's see how Valimaki performs this pre-season and in training camp before we trade him / expose him to waivers. Perhaps he will surprise us.
Otherwise it's likely that this will be his last contract with the Flames.
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Yeah I hate that "expectation of a 1st rounder". Valimaki was a 16th overall pick. Kylington was touted the year before his draft as being a top-5 pick. Ended up going 60th and didn't break into the NHL as an every day player until he was 24. Backlund didn't become a regular NHL'er until he was 23 either.
Valimaki was a 16th overall pick, and will be 24 when this season starts - he has also lost considerable time to injury and a pandemic. I think this season is the season we see Valimaki make his mark. We certainly should not be writing him off as a fan base.
I still actually believe Valimaki is going to be a top-4 defenceman, which then makes the Taylor Hall fan in me want to see the Flames trade Hanifin to Boston for Hall + 2nd round pick (in '25).