Not great, but at least a few bright spots.
Duehr looked more like last year's Duehr than what we have seen so far this season. Solovyov had an atrocious start to the game, but he got stronger as the game continued. Zary looked fantastic, and he doesn't shy away from mixing it up. Greer did his part trying to give the Flames some energy, and played his usual strong game. The 4th line overall did really well.
No point in bringing up the bad. This team is going to rebuild, so it doesn't matter. It will be crazy how fast this team will drop once Tanev and Hanifin are traded. It feels like the Zadorov trade has already impacted this team - that third pairing, regardless of who is on it, seems constantly underwater now. Not taking anything away from Solovyov - like I said, he got better as the game wore on, and I think this kid is going to end up as a very good player one day. He is just really raw - a rookie with 3 NHL games' worth of experience and counting. Oesterle wasn't much better, and he has 356 games of experience. Desimone started off well in the first 2 games or so, then regressed, and in his last 2 games I thought he stood out for all the wrong reasons. I like Gilbert, and feel he is probably the best bet at anchoring that third pair, but he is really a 7th D. These guys having to move up and play bigger minutes against better opposition? If there is an offer for Markstrom or Vladar, better take it now, because the numbers are about to regress for them.
Oh well, let's see how they play next game. I hope they play Solovyov every game, and only sit him now and then to give him some perspective as needed. I disagreed with how the Flames handled Kylington, and how he didn't get enough reps. You have to be careful not to throw young defencemen to the wolves, but you also want to give them lots of reps and good opportunity to develop. Hope the Flames walk that line really well with him (and in the future as well with all their prospects).
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