Brett Kulak... Should we send him down??

[Heavy Jack]

Well we are 10 games into the season, Kulak's last game was on the 20th of October against Carolina - 5 games ago - so should we send him down?? Especially when we do have Grossman in the press box 'just in case'.

I mean even if an injury happened we could call him or someone else up at that point but I kinda feel like his development is/could take a hit here if he continues to just be a cheerleader come gametime... I liked his preseason, he was steady enough in his first 3 games here but let's get this guy some minutes already.

[Yanda]

Send him down, play Wideman instead.. trade Wideman at the deadline if you can assuming he has put up 30+ points. Then callup Kulak to finish the season and re-assess next training camp.

This would explain the amount of ice-time and partners that Wideman has been getting up to this point in the season.

[cannon7]

I think Kulak has made this team and is more than capable of playing third-pairing minutes. But if he's not going to play, he should be playing top-pairing minutes in the minors.

[Heavy Jack]

Personally I think Wideman has been getting too much TOI. He's averaging just over 20 mins a game and I realize he has two PPG but many plays are dying on his stick on the PP and he's terrible once we lose the offensive zone. Personally I think Engs should be given a shot at the PP, he'd keep it simple and just get shots on the net, the problem I realize is his speed and we'd be screwed if he lost the line to a giveaway but Wideman is not the 50+ point damn from two years ago and he never will be again.

Back to Kulak, I agree we need to send him down and I do feel he would be the first call up when the time comes, he's ahead of Wotherspoon for sure IMO.

[Southside]

The guy needs to play, so if that isn't going to happen on the Flames he should be with the Heat.

[darthma]

Wasn't there something about him needing to play 41 games (or Wotherspoon) to be expansion draft eligible? If yes, then I say we keep him and play him. We're rebuilding. I'm okay if we don't make the post-season this year. We need to protect our most valuable assets (but feel free to disagree if you think Kulak is one of our most valuable assets).

[redsunsdriver]

Originally Posted by Heavy Jack

Personally I think Wideman has been getting too much TOI. He's averaging just over 20 mins a game and I realize he has two PPG but many plays are dying on his stick on the PP and he's terrible once we lose the offensive zone. Personally I think Engs should be given a shot at the PP, he'd keep it simple and just get shots on the net, the problem I realize is his speed and we'd be screwed if he lost the line to a giveaway but Wideman is not the 50+ point damn from two years ago and he never will be again.

Back to Kulak, I agree we need to send him down and I do feel he would be the first call up when the time comes, he's ahead of Wotherspoon for sure IMO.

Too bad this is the only way to 'showcase' Wideman to get trade value at deadline or we'll let him walk for nothing.
Its a fine balance, but most people probably don't care about trade value and just want to win with the best players on the ice.

[MarkGio]

Why did we honestly sign Grossman? If there was an injury or something Kulak as the 7th D is not bad, but as the 8th D?

[Calgary4LIfe]

In all honesty, Wideman hasn't looked worse than Giordano and Brodie at times. I would argue that in a few games, he was the Flames' best defencemen too. In some other games, you can easily see why he was benched.

I have no problem with how Gulutzan is managing Wideman right now. If Kulak isn't get many games in for the next while, I would rather see him being sent down and get him seeing a lot of ice. Grossman can sub-in for when Wideman isn't playing up to snuff for a game or two. Seems to be working so far.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe

In all honesty, Wideman hasn't looked worse than Giordano and Brodie at times.

Giordano and Brodie looking bad has a lot to do with their defensive partners, of course.

[DeluxeMoustache]

^ Brodie adjusting to the other side as well.

[Flames_F.T.W]

Send him down if he's not playing. Kulak has top 4 upside but needs to be playing a lot to reach his potential.

[Flames89]

Ok. We are all agreed. Motion passes.
Next matter to be resolved?

[flambers]

I would think the Flames need to send down 1 dman, and keep only 7.

I would guess Kulak is most likely.

[flamesfan55]

You can pretty much look at the Wotherspoon thread from last year to get your answer. He should be playing but he isn't we wanna get younger blah blah blah. Send him down let him play.

[saillias]

Kulak good, Grossmann and Wideman bad. Play Kulak, bury Grossmann

[Finger Cookin]

I kind of thought the roster would have settled to 7 D by now. Kulak and Grossmann have only played 3 and 2 games, respectively. Unless there's an injury in the near future, I think Kulak would be better served by playing and practicing in the AHL then just practicing in the NHL.

[GranteedEV]

From Gulutzan's comments, the plan is to play Grossmann against slow, heavy teams, Kulak against speedy teams, and Jokipakka against everyone else.

i don't think this is good for the Flames going forward or good for them in the short run either, but then there haven't been a ton of decisions by this management that I have been enamoured by. Just par for the course to mediocrity. Deryk "Top 4 Defenseman" Engelland needs his minutes after all.

[Iceman90]

We need to send Kulak or Grossmann down to the AHL. My preference is Kulak, because I think he'd still benefit from playing in the AHL.

The fact we have 8 Defencemen still leads me to believe the Flames are working to move a defenceman out.

[Greybeard]

Need to play him... AHL or NHL.... sitting in press box doing him no good.