Quote:
Originally Posted by PepsiFree
And I’m saying that Weegar, Tanev, Andersson, Kylington, Zadorov, Stone is still an improvement over Tanev, Andersson, Hanifin, Kylington, Zadorov, Gudbranson. It’s not like anyone was thrilled with Zadorov or Gudbranson at the start of the season, there were articles calling them terrible through training camp, so I’m not sure what good counting out Stone/Mackey/Valimaki does.
The top end of our defensive core has been improved so much so that we could afford to lose some in the middle or bottom end of it. It wouldn’t be switching it back to where it was defensively, and obvious the improvement at C would remain untouched, so I don’t get it really. There’s also always the chance you swing a 2nd line scoring RW and a Kylington/Zadorov/Gudbranson level guy in a Hanifin move. Not everything has to be one for one.
And again, not that we have to. Not that we’ll be screwed if we don’t. But that we’re in a position where it would make sense. Simple as that.
No one who has read my posts would reasonably come to that conclusion, given the number of times I’ve reiterated the same point to make it clear (see above). Some people just want to argue in circles, I guess?
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I’m not sure if that new group without Hanifin is head and shoulders better than the old group. Hanifin and Weegar are pretty comparable talent wise at the top of the rotation, maybe slight edge to Weegar, but Gudbranson to Stone is a massive downgrade.
Repeating myself here but a few points on having any of those guys pencilled in for a permanent role on the bottom pairing:
Stone is poor skater and now 32 years old. He hasn’t been an NHL regular in 4 seasons.
Mackey is is now 26 years old (older than Hanifin, Andersson, and Kylington) and hasn’t found a spot in the NHL with only 9 career games.
Valimaki has suffered some really bad injuries and has lost a ton of mobility. He lost the trust of the coaches in the AHL last season.
When the goal for the Calgary Flames this season is to win a Stanley cup, you can’t actually expect Sutter to be okay with pencilling any of these guys in full time. They are insurance depth.