Practice notes Oct 13

[djsFlames]

Originally Posted by DoubleK

I'd rather see Stone in the lineup over Gubrandson.

Stone has been nothing but solid. He should be.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

So much for "Always earned, never given"

As Textcritic said, that was Hartley's mantra.

Also, there are lots of ways for a spot to be 'earned'. Maybe others worked harder in practice. Maybe they earned their spot last year. Maybe there were specific directives from Sutter, and other players delivered better on those items.

Just because you like a player better, doesn't mean he was treated unfairly.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

Stone has been nothing but solid. He should be.

Stone has been nothing but solid since we acquired him, but that doesn’t stop us from spending untold resources on guys who aren’t any better.

[GioforPM]

D to wing has been tried a lot more than people think, but usually with not great results. Not everyone is a Wendel Clark. The Flyers tried it last year with Sam Morin - he got 1 goal, no assists and 37 pms. Brendan Smith did it for NYR in a few games. He’s now a Hurricane. Mark Pysyk did it. I think Sami Kapanen did it.

[Steve Bozek]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

I seriously doubt it. Kylington is not in any sense being considered as an option at forward. There are whole bunch of actual forwards that the Flames would deploy ahead of shifting him off of the blueline.

But at least 2 of the regular forwards are injured or suspended,so it’s not impossible that Sutter sees him as an alternative

[djsFlames]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814

Stone has been nothing but solid since we acquired him, but that doesn’t stop us from spending untold resources on guys who aren’t any better.

So true it's painful.

We have change sitting around so we just go and blow it on somebody who does a worse job at playing the position to slot in ahead of him.

Jury is out on Zadorov still but we may have been better of just absorbing the loss of Gio with the guys we had here and in the system than the guys we went out and got.

We give up cap flexibility to get slightly worse defensively, all to see a couple of big checks thrown every now and then (I like a good hit, but not at the expense of the teams performance).

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Steve Bozek

But at least 2 of the regular forwards are injured or suspended,so it’s not impossible that Sutter sees him as an alternative

The Flames don't play a game for another three days yet. I don't think is being contemplated as an option—there is a better chance that they play short a man on opening night.

[Flamesfan05]

Sutter is just getting ready for mcDavid going full speed at his goalie and the after match

Kylington doesn’t belong in that scenario

[flambers]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

I seriously doubt it. Kylington is not in any sense being considered as an option at forward. There are whole bunch of actual forwards that the Flames would deploy ahead of shifting him off of the blueline.

Agreed, its simply they didn't have enough forwards at today's practice.

Moving him to the line was the easiest solution

[djsFlames]

McBlownKnee in game 1 would be something.

[CF84]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

The Flames don't play a game for another three days yet. I don't think is being contemplated as an option—there is a better chance that they play short a man on opening night.

I don't think I was clear enough. I'm not speaking about him playing forward on the opening night roster. I was simply trying to state that it will be nice for Sutter to know if Kylington could ever step into a forward position if the Flames forwards are ever plagued by too many injuries this year and a call-up is out of the question. It is never bad to have options.

[timbit]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

McBlownKnee in game 1 would be something.

That’s not something you wish on anyone.

[FanIn80]

I guess I'm just not educated enough to be able to understand why it's apparently ok to overlook Gudbranson's numerous bad plays, but not Kylington's. Especially when it seems like we really need a mobile, puck-moving defenceman.

I mean Kylington makes zone-exiting passes that sometimes get picked off. Gubranson makes hot-potato, omg-I-have-the-puck-how-did-that-what-do-k-nevermind-someone-else-has-it-now-whew plays that sometimes mean the 'someone else' is on the other team.

I guess neutral-zone interceptions are worse than own-zone cough ups? Is the difference huge enough to negate the offensive skill difference between the two?

Ultimately, I just end up shaking my head. It would be different if this organizaion had a long-standing history of successful decision making across all areas (or even across some areas). If we did, then it would be easy for me to trust stuff like this without questioning it. But we dont. So I don't.

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by timbit

That’s not something you wish on anyone.

I wish it on your F1 picks every race.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

I guess I'm just not educated enough to be able to understand why it's apparently ok to overlook Gudbranson's numerous bad plays, but not Kylington's. Especially when it seems like we really need a mobile, puck-moving defenceman.

I mean Kylington makes zone-exiting passes that sometimes get picked off. Gubranson makes hot-potato, omg-I-have-the-puck-how-did-that-what-do-k-nevermind-someone-else-has-it-now-whew plays that sometimes mean the 'someone else' is on the other team.

I guess neutral-zone interceptions are worse than own-zone cough ups? Is the difference huge enough to negate the offensive skill difference between the two?

Ultimately, I just end up shaking my head. It would be different if this organizaion had a long-standing history of successful decision making across all areas (or even across some areas). If we did, then it would be easy for me to trust stuff like this without questioning it. But we dont. So I don't.

I hear all of this and agree with much of it. But let’s be honest, the preseason is a joke and largely a giant waste of time. Let’s see if Gudbranson can show something when it counts.

[TheoFleury]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

I hear all of this and agree with much of it. But let’s be honest, the preseason is a joke and largely a giant waste of time. Let’s see if Gudbranson can show something when it counts.

Why would he start now though? We know what he is at this point. Zero upside, bad hockey player. At least he didn't trade a pick and it's only 1 year buy still, I just don't see the point. Toughness is only valuable if the guy is decent. It feels great dancing a pylon after he tried to intimidate your team. I'd rather just have a squad of effective hockey players

Sent from my SM-G988W using Tapatalk

[Aarongavey]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

I hear all of this and agree with much of it. But let’s be honest, the preseason is a joke and largely a giant waste of time. Let’s see if Gudbranson can show something when it counts.

Gudbranson is this years Nic Grossman.

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by Aarongavey

Gudbranson is this years Nic Grossman.

At a much higher salary.

[bubbsy]

Meh, my feeling is that they'll give both valimaki and kylington some reps in the top 6 with all this extra practice time this week.

[krynski]

This reminds me of when Dustin Bytfuglien switched between playing defense and forward.

For the most part, I think a lot of us are over-reacting here. We needed another forward for practice, and Kylington's speed resembles the closest thing to a forward out of all of our d-corps. I don't think this hurts his progression.

Honestly, I was very surprised at his training camp and pre-season. I hope he continues at this speed/trajectory, or is even better. I believe he has shown that he can do it, but I think this season will be his shot. If Gio can take a year in Europe to progress and get better, I don't think it's a huge long-shot that Kylington can prove to be a regular roster player.