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Originally Posted by PepsiFree
It’s hard to call it a miscalculation when Kulak didn’t do a whole lot to suggest he was more than a 6/7, and with guys like Andersson, Valimaki, and Kylington all deserving a look, he was the odd man out.
I liked him for what he was, not sad he’s gone, but happy he’s found more success in Montreal.
But who knows... maybe Kulak would have blossomed here too if it weren’t for Gulutzan.
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Or if it wasn't for Treliving.
Kulak was saddled with Michael Stone who is currently out of the league.
Kulak was one of many players on the roster who saw their underlying numbers improve greatly when not on the ice with Stone.
This is just another blunder from a management group I've grown to not trust.
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Just as we can’t necessarily predict every player’s upside in the NHL, a corollary is that we can’t necessarily predict the role he will fill either (Mark Giordano IBID). The good news with no downside bets is you don’t have to. If Kulak doesn’t work out at $850,000 for one year, it doesn’t materially impact the team at all. Take a hypothetical situation where they keep the player and Kulak is passed by one or both of Valimaki and Kylington on the depth chart. He spends most of the season in the minors and is cut loose next summer. That’s the entirety of the downside scenario.
The Flames, however, are a team that gave 15 games to Oscar Fantenberg, 20 games to Dalton Prout, 38 games to Oliver Kylington, 24 games to Valimaki, and 14 games to Michael Stone on the third pairing last year. Valimaki struggled through consistency and injury to start the year, Kylington was tried and then demoted after failing to win the trust of his coach, and the rest of the guys are veteran roster filler. The team traded away a no downside bet in Kulak for nothing (practically speaking, Valiev and Taormina are players you can pluck any time on the open market) and then traded an asset at the deadline for 15 games of Oscar Fantenberg, who fled as a free agent this summer.
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Just awful, awful asset management.
No wonder the flames have the worst prospect pool in hockey.