D Pairings next season

[bigpete]

I would be completely fine selling high on Kylington for help elsewhere. And then go with:

Weegar Tanev
Hanifin Andersson
Mackey Zadorov
Stone

Meloche/Valimaki as first call ups or 7th defenceman if Stone doesn't come back.

Really solid top 4.

[Roof-Daddy]

Originally Posted by timbit

Woah!

That’s a gargantuan and very speculative leap.

How so?

You do realize the Weegar played the most minutes of any Dman on the Presidents trophy winning team from last season and also more minutes than any Flames Dman as well?

If he's not the best Dman on the Flames now, it's at least very close and not a "gargantuan leap"

[timbit]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

How so?

You do realize the Weegar played the most minutes of any Dman on the Presidents trophy winning team from last season and also more minutes than any Flames Dman as well?

If he's not the best Dman on the Flames now, it's at least very close and not a "gargantuan leap"

That’s fair. Gargantuan was the wrong word.

Ekblad played more minutes per game. He had injury problems.

Hanifin played very close to his minutes, as well as Tanev and Andersson , on a much better defence, imo.

[Roof-Daddy]

Originally Posted by timbit

That’s fair. Gargantuan was the wrong word.

Ekblad played more minutes per game. He had injury problems.

Hanifin played very close to his minutes, as well as Tanev and Andersson , on a much better defence, imo.

Yep Ekblad was hurt for a bit and played more minutes per game but those minutes still had to be played by someone, and Weegar played 200 more minutes than any other Panther player last season.

He also had 44 points and its funny because he hardly played any powerplay time. He only had about 50 minutes of PP time while playing about 220 minutes of penalty kill, which is more than anyone on the Flames except for Tanev.

We'll see how it plays out but it sure looks like the Flames snagged one hell of a dman here.

Basically going into next season with the same D except they are massively upgrading on Gudbranson. Swapping out a solid #5 for a high end #2.

[Goriders]

I think Sutter soured on Gudbranson at the end of the season. Not sure why though. So yes it seems a big upgrade. Probably not as physical.

I’m betting they leave Hanifin and Anderson together and play Weegar with Kylington until Tanev is back. Betting Kylington gets bumped down to play with Zadorov when Tanev is back.

Then we basically have two 1-2 pairings with some depth. Good problem to have.

Forward situation isn’t as rosey.

[NewFan]

I still think Kylington will included in a hockey trade.
He is good but Tanev helped him a lot.
And some rebuilding team may look him he has potential to become a good top 4 D.
It's not time to trade Valimaki and he has more chance to become better D than Kylington if he really work hard on his condition.

[ForeverFlameFan]

I am on the don’t trade Kylington train. He brings something to the table that our other D don’t: fantastic skating.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by mile

Weegar - Tanev
Hanifin - Andersson
Kylington - Zadorov
Mackey - Stone

I think they will look to have at least one puck mover on each pair
Weegar-Tanev would be very good analytically

If Kylington or Zadorov struggle on the right side, I can see your pairings being used

This is it. End of thread.

[devo22]

I just don't see Kylington-Zadorov being an effective pairing at all, especially if one of them has to play his off-side. And I like them both (big fan of Kylington and his skillset in particular).

[ForeverFlameFan]

Originally Posted by devo22

I just don't see Kylington-Zadorov being an effective pairing at all, especially if one of them has to play his off-side. And I like them both (big fan of Kylington and his skillset in particular).

I think Hanifin and Andersson will stay together, and Tanev will get a little bit of both Kylington and Weegar, mainly Weegar. If Kylington is on fire in a game I see Sutter rewarding him with minutes. If not, then Weegar obviously takes those minutes and more.

Let’s also factor in we’ve been very fortunate with injuries. I was on the trade-Hanifin/Kylington bus but we’d be looking for a Hanifin (or Kylington) at the deadline if we got a man down.

[JTech780]

Originally Posted by devo22

I just don't see Kylington-Zadorov being an effective pairing at all, especially if one of them has to play his off-side. And I like them both (big fan of Kylington and his skillset in particular).

Most people didn’t think the Zadorov-Gudbranson pairing would be effective either.

[Monahammer]

Originally Posted by JTech780

Most people didn’t think the Zadorov-Gudbranson pairing would be effective either.

Yeah but this is exactly the line of thinking that made me double down on my notion that Sutter is going to shove zadorov-tanev down our throats the moment he is able

[dammage79]

What is Weegar? A RHS LD? Because the Right side of the D corps is all of a sudden IMO, top 4 in the league.

If they're used RHS/RD and LHS/LD, the Flames will be perfect.

It means they don't have a third pairing, they have a top unit and 2 x 2nd pairing units. That's incredible.

If they keep Kylington I hope they keep the Tanev Kylington duo together simply because it makes Kylington better.

[Monahammer]

Originally Posted by dammage79

What is Weegar? A RHS LD? Because the Right side of the D corps is all of a sudden IMO, top 4 in the league.

If they're used RHS/RD and LHS/LD, the Flames will be perfect.

It means they don't have a third pairing, they have a top unit and 2 x 2nd pairing units. That's incredible.

If they keep Kylington I hope they keep the Tanev Kylington duo together simply because it makes Kylington better.

Yeah I agree, our d core is excellent on paper. In a different way then previously though; it's not all big names but instead all guys that have excellent advanced stats over the last few years.

[kyuss275]

My hope is Kylington takes that next step up where he doesn’t have to be dependent on Tanev. If he can then we can pair him with zad and roll all 3 pairings somewhat equally. I personally would like to weeger with Tanev .

[dammage79]

Originally Posted by kyuss275

My hope is Kylington takes that next step up where he doesn’t have to be dependent on Tanev. If he can then we can pair him with zad and roll all 3 pairings somewhat equally. I personally would like to weeger with Tanev .

I'm curious as to why we would deploy two of our 3 RHS on the same pairing though.

[JTech780]

Originally Posted by dammage79

I'm curious as to why we would deploy two of our 3 RHS on the same pairing though.

Weegar played left side in Florida.

Also both Tanev and Weegar are top 4 defense, it makes no sense to limit their time because of the hand they shoot with.

[CliffFletcher]

Weegar will play on the first pairing. You can book it. And as good as Hanifin and Andersson were last season, Hanifin and Tanev played very well together the season before.

Weegar-Andersson
Hanifin-Tanev
Zadorov- Kylington/Mackay/Meloche/Stone

I don’t think Z and Kylington are a good pairing. That’s why I expect Kylington (or maybe Hanifin) gets moved.

Originally Posted by ForeverFlameFan

I am on the don’t trade Kylington train. He brings something to the table that our other D don’t: fantastic skating.

Hanifin and Weegar are both excellent skaters.

[dustygoon]

If we are moving Kylington away from Tanev, I think they should just sell high on him. Not sure he performs like he did last year without Tanev.

[JTech780]

Another reason to not trade Hanifin this year, is because Weegar isn’t signed passed this season, so if we can’t extend Weegar and we trade Hanifin we are down to two top 4 defensemen signed passed this upcoming season.

Maybe if Weegar signs an extension it would make sense to trade Hanifin, I still wouldn’t, but till that happens I think you have to
hold onto Hanifin.