Practice Notes Sept 25, 2025 - Laing returned to junior

[Reggie Dunlop]

The Flames aren't above claiming a player off waivers themselves, which would suck for the kids.

[Sofa GM]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

He might be claimed. But every year we hear this about countless players that "will get claimed for sure"
And then most don't.

Would Mavrik Bourque get claimed if Dallas put him on waivers?

Outside of where Kerins was drafted, same age, very close to same production in the AHL, Bourque has more NHL games.

[bigrangy]

I like Hanley but his contract basically made him designed to be waived. Nobody will pick him off of waivers and he will still get paid. If Kuznetsov and Solovyov can keep making it a hard decision, I can see them both making it while Hanley starts in the A. Just roster management at that point.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

He might be claimed. But every year we hear this about countless players that "will get claimed for sure"
And then most don't.

Okay, the statement is true, but we have to look at Kerins through the eyes of a rival GM.

He's 23 years old.

He's a center.

He had a good junior career with a monster final season.

He had a good year when he was in the ECHL.

He's progressed well in the AHL over 2 years and was about a point per game last year with 61 points in 63 games. That tied him for 10th in the league...just in points, not even point per game.

Everyone else ahead of him in the AHL scoring race was older by a few years. Most in their early 30s.

And, he was also a point per game in the NHL in his 5 game call up.

I think we have to stop thinking of him like some fringe prospect and instead like a legitimate NHL talent. Perhaps we don't give him enough credit because he was a late round pick and had to work up from lower leagues, but he's got enough comparable talent to suggest that he's worth a gamble.

I think it would be a pretty big mistake to let him get claimed on waivers. It's just not good asset management.

Even if you don't love the player, you package him in a trade to upgrade at the very least.

[Bonded]

Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan

Okay, the statement is true, but we have to look at Kerins through the eyes of a rival GM.

He's 23 years old.

He's a center.

He had a good junior career with a monster final season.

He had a good year when he was in the ECHL.

He's progressed well in the AHL over 2 years and was about a point per game last year with 61 points in 63 games. That tied him for 10th in the league...just in points, not even point per game.

Everyone else ahead of him in the AHL scoring race was older by a few years. Most in their early 30s.

And, he was also a point per game in the NHL in his 5 game call up.

I think we have to stop thinking of him like some fringe prospect and instead like a legitimate NHL talent. Perhaps we don't give him enough credit because he was a late round pick and had to work up from lower leagues, but he's got enough comparable talent to suggest that he's worth a gamble.

I think it would be a pretty big mistake to let him get claimed on waivers. It's just not good asset management.

Even if you don't love the player, you package him in a trade to upgrade at the very least.

All of this is fine and true but so far the only real semi-misses on waivers have been Byron and Valimaki. Seems like the Flames have a pretty good handle on who is waiver worthy and I also think they would trade him if possible. I won’t be too heated if he is waived.

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by Bonded

All of this is fine and true but so far the only real semi-misses on waivers have been Byron and Valimaki. Seems like the Flames have a pretty good handle on who is waiver worthy and I also think they would trade him if possible. I won’t be too heated if he is waived.

Byron and Kerins are strangely similar.

[Robbob]

Byron was a miss, but he would have passed waivers had Kassian not got into a car accident the same day. It was a fluke timing thing.

Valimaki I wouldn't call a miss. He put up numbers on a bad team one season, but would you really want him back, even for free? He is essentially Jake Bean, who we kind of want to get rid of.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan

I think we have to stop thinking of him like some fringe prospect and instead like a legitimate NHL talent. Perhaps we don't give him enough credit because he was a late round pick and had to work up from lower leagues, but he's got enough comparable talent to suggest that he's worth a gamble.

I think it would be a pretty big mistake to let him get claimed on waivers. It's just not good asset management.

Even if you don't love the player, you package him in a trade to upgrade at the very least.

It might be a mistake to let him get claimed on waivers. He could go on to be a productive NHL player. But at this point to say he's a legitimate NHL talent is premature. He simply hasn't played enough games to establish that.

And I don't think he has any trade value until he does.

Literally every NHL team has guys like this, that produce in the AHL, but are questions at the NHL level. A few end up being good NHLers. Hard to know which ones those will be.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by Robbob

Byron was a miss, but he would have passed waivers had Kassian not got into a car accident the same day. It was a fluke timing thing.

Valimaki I wouldn't call a miss. He put up numbers on a bad team one season, but would you really want him back, even for free? He is essentially Jake Bean, who we kind of want to get rid of.

He's not even Jake Bean.

[Dozer]

Originally Posted by Bonded

All of this is fine and true but so far the only real semi-misses on waivers have been Byron and Valimaki. Seems like the Flames have a pretty good handle on who is waiver worthy and I also think they would trade him if possible. I won’t be too heated if he is waived.

Was Martin St.Liuis a waver pick up?

[Bonded]

Originally Posted by Robbob

Byron was a miss, but he would have passed waivers had Kassian not got into a car accident the same day. It was a fluke timing thing.

Valimaki I wouldn't call a miss. He put up numbers on a bad team one season, but would you really want him back, even for free? He is essentially Jake Bean, who we kind of want to get rid of.

I agree on Valimaki but he is the best outside of Byron for people panicking on waived players.

[sureLoss]

Originally Posted by Dozer

Was Martin St.Liuis a waver pick up?

No. He signed as a free agent with the Lightning.

But the Flames did put him on waivers and no one claimed him.

[Bingo]

Last cuts are going to be so interesting ...

I keep thinking the biggest loss (risk) is Kuznetsov.

[Sofa GM]

Originally Posted by Bingo

Last cuts are going to be so interesting ...

I keep thinking the biggest loss (risk) is Kuznetsov.

They will be interesting indeed. Miro should be waived instead of risking losing Kuznetsov.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Robbob

Byron was a miss, but he would have passed waivers had Kassian not got into a car accident the same day. It was a fluke timing thing.

Valimaki I wouldn't call a miss. He put up numbers on a bad team one season, but would you really want him back, even for free? He is essentially Jake Bean, who we kind of want to get rid of.

And as things played out, the Flames were better off without Byron. He put up good numbers for three seasons, was given a pretty hefty contract, and then didn't live up to it (injuries hurt him).

[Robbob]

At the end of the day, the Flames waiver wire lost player is typically an over reaction. Similar to when people want to claim half the players put on waivers. At the end of the day it just becomes a long thread reminiscing the loses like Jason Morgan.