[stemit14]

Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe

I rather liked Barrie back in the day and didn't like it when Edmonton got him, but watching him more closely in Edmonton made me realize how awful he was defensively. Hopefully his time in Nashville has helped improve that. Don't need him to be Regehr, but he does need to help set a standard. If he can regain some of his past offensive form, while at least being competent defensively, then I would welcome this signing. He hasn't looked bad at all, but I do remember Conroy saying: "Vets look better in preseason on PTOs, but as the season progresses, young players will often overtake the vets."


Pachal and Solovyov need waivers. However, it isn't just them. Poirier has spent 2 season in the AHL, and should get some playing time in the NHL as part of his progression. Kuznetsov has spent 2 full seasons plus 2 partial years of 18 games total. Grushnikov has one year. Jurmo has played in a men's pro league for 3 full seasons and will probably be ready for some games as part of his development too. Brzustewicz has been outstanding, and although he hasn't had any pro experience, it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to get him some games in the NHL as well at some point this season.


Weegar - Miromanov
Bean - Andersson
Bean - Barrie
Pachal - Solovyov
Hanley


Barring injuries or trades, this is your waiver-eligible depth on D, some of which will require waivers next season:
Poirier
Grushnikov
Kuznetsov
Brzustewicz
Jurmo


Plus next season you have to add Parekh to the mix, so you probably will want to see some pieces at the NHL level, and figure out if you need another vet next season or not. I could definitely see a team like Edmonton putting in a claim on Pachal or Solovyov with how thin they are at D. I doubt either really gets claimed, but there is still a risk.


I bet that he does get signed. Who knows whom else ends up getting traded this season, or what injuries happen. The 'room' probably needs an injection of positive vets in there after the last couple of seasons. Lomberg will help quite a lot, but Barrie can help be part of that too. I am really on the fence - I hope they don't sign him, but unless Solovyov gets picked off waivers, I wouldn't complain.

It’s a good point. The flames have a bunch of young, talented defencemen in the system right now. I think it’s important to start giving some of them opportunities in the NHL this season. Have to think about next season and beyond… the coaching staff and management will likely be hesitant to have a bunch of rookie defencemen on the team at once. So if none of Poirier, Grushnikov, Kuznetzov, Brustewicz, Jurmo, Parekh or Morin are not on the team this year… how many will be given a chance to make the team next year at the same time? The good thing is that there is a decent chance Andersson and Barrie will be traded this year. That should open up spots for at least two of those players. Would rather see at least one of them getting regular NHL reps to start the season rather than waiting for the TDL though.