[Trade] Flames acquire Brandon Bollig for 83rd OA

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Heavy Jack

Bollig boasts a 13-6-2 record in his 21 total fights at the NHL level losing to guys like Bisonnette, Neil and our very own McGrattan.

He played broken seasons between the AHL/NHL before finally locking himself a spot full-time on last years Hawks roster playing in every game through the reg and post seasons. Also through 18 games in his first season and 25 games reg / 5 games post in his cup winning season Brandon put up just 1 point (a playoff goal) in that time span. He improved to 7 / 7 for 14 points in 82 games and 0/1 for 1 point in 15 playoff games as a tough guy averaging around 10 minutes per game. I think his role expands a bit more here in Calgary and him alongside Bouma and Grats imposes a will we haven't seen for quite sometime in Calgary. If your coming into to town or hosting our team next year your going to have to earn those 2 points.

I keep hearing about how playing 82 games for the Hawks (with all their star power and depth) is supposed to be impressive, but I would be more impressed if he had earned the roster position on a team where the cap wasn't a consideration.

Given his age and number of NHL games played, I would wonder if he is even a lock to make the team in October if it wasn't for the politics involved now that we gave up an asset for him.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

I keep hearing about how playing 82 games for the Hawks (with all their star power and depth) is supposed to be impressive, but I would be more impressed if he had earned the roster position on a team where the cap wasn't a consideration.

Given his age and number of NHL games played, I would wonder if he is even a lock to make the team in October if it wasn't for the politics involved now that we gave up an asset for him.

now its easier to earn a spot on a contender because of cap space? sure, thats why they just gave him a 3 year deal

He is on the 3rd or 4th line without a doubt, who on the flames is better in that role? and I'm talking about hockey not fight record

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by dino7c

now its easier to earn a spot on a contender because of cap space? sure, thats why they just gave him a 3 year deal

He is on the 3rd or 4th line without a doubt, who on the flames is better in that role? and I'm talking about hockey not fight record

Absolutely.

When you have a hand full of $5-$7 million dollar players at the top, it limits the ability of a team to pay for quality down the line-up. To put it bluntly, top heavy teams can't afford great 4th liners. Also, it's easier for good teams to hide the warts. The fact they signed him for 3 seasons doesn't mean anything other than they found someone who meets their bottom line.

[Robbob]

Originally Posted by TheDebaser

If you want to know whether or not a calgary trade was good or not, you can always look for one sure signal: If people are arguing that picks are essentially worthless, we lost the trade.

How about it was good asset management. You get an NHL player now instead of a 15%ish chance of turning that pick into a player a few years down the road. I think this was a good trade for the same reason the Flames traded 4th last year to get Knight and gave up this years 4th to get Colborne.

[kirant]

He certainly made the Blackhawks team and spending on a brilliant top 6 and top 4 may play a role but I think his usage is pretty interesting.

Yes, he played his limited minutes. But he also played some of the hardest minutes for the Blackhawks (suggested by advanced stats (Relative QoC Corsi), confirmed by Bollig in an interview) and almost always started his shifts in his own end (~18% start in offensive end) unlike a 4th liner/enforcer like McGrattan who had fewer minutes against easier opponents in the offensive end of the ice. The top minutes were eaten by a talented crew (Toews, Sharp are major players, I suspect his line mate may have been Kruger in the regular season) but it speaks volumes in Quenville's trust/desperation (take your pick) when the group to mop up the mess and play their own end included Bollig.

I think the Flames have more than a part time player in him. It is starting to look like a guy who plays physical, defensive hockey, could slip into the 3rd line, and is willing to drop the gloves. The first thought for me is a Bouma type player who is comfortable in the shutdown role but might not block as many shots.

[Wolven]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

Absolutely.

When you have a hand full of $5-$7 million dollar players at the top, it limits the ability of a team to pay for quality down the line-up. To put it bluntly, top heavy teams can't afford great 4th liners. Also, it's easier for good teams to hide the warts. The fact they signed him for 3 seasons doesn't mean anything other than they found someone who meets their bottom line.

To be fair, players that are considered "warts" are not given "above league minimum" contracts for extended lengths of time. 3+ years on his contract implies that the Blackhawks viewed him as a part of the long term plan over some league minimum plug that they are now going to have to employ.

As much as I would rather we had kept the pick... Bollig looks like a better player than our typical fighter. At least I hope he proves to be because otherwise we could have kept the pick and signed some meathead on July 1st.

[darthma]

Nvm

[UKflames]

Thats a funny video, I really thought he was going to pull off the kane tricks at first and then it all went wrong, guys got a sense of humour of nothing else.

(Just before anyone jumps on me, because this trade seems to have some people up in arms, please spare me the "oh great he's going to help the flames he has a sense of humour" line)

[FlameZilla]

Originally Posted by UKflames

Thats a funny video, I really thought he was going to pull off the kane tricks at first and then it all went wrong, guys got a sense of humour of nothing else.

(Just before anyone jumps on me, because this trade seems to have some people up in arms, please spare me the "oh great he's going to help the flames he has a sense of humour" line)

It is great though! Having that kind of character in the dressing room is exactly what the team should be striving for.

Not to mention his quality-of-opposition stats, toughness and experience at a championship team.

A 3rd round pick is a small price to pay for that.

[Da_Chief]

If Granlund and Max both make team, I think they'll be lining up with Bollig.

[kehatch]

If Bollig plays like a Nystrom or Prust he is worth the pick for sure. I just haven't seen that from him or heard that about him. More of a Jackman or Kostopolous. The latter two aren't bad players, but isn't worth giving a third up for imo.

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by Da_Chief

If Granlund and Max both make team, I think they'll be lining up with Bollig.

If Granlund and Max both make team, I think they'll be lining up with Bollig who will be making plenty of room for the two rookies.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by CalgaryFan1988

Hawk fans are calling him that. Pretty sure they watched him more than you.

You are right I haven't watched him much, but as I already said Hawk fans know their players better than you do and they are calling this a

"typical Burke move"
"great trade for Hawks to get anything for Bollig"
"Bollig can't even fight anymore".

And I saw several comments from Hawks fans disappointed that he had to leave.

Confirmation bias is not your friend, dude.

[FlameZilla]

In the latest video posted on the Flames site Treliving discusses a variety of topics, including the Bollig trade. He thinks that Bollig might thrive in an environment where he has more responsibility. Also mentions that there was a player who they had targeted with the 83rd pick but when he was unavailable they decided to trade it. I wonder who that might be?

Link: https://video.nhl.com/videocenter/em...ue&site=flames

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by TheDebaser

If you want to know whether or not a calgary trade was good or not, you can always look for one sure signal: If people are arguing that picks are essentially worthless, we lost the trade.

When the critics of a trade resort to empty, garbage statements like this, it's a good sign we probably won the trade

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by cral12

Actually better than 10% chance of playing 100 gms or more, for what that's worth...

per Scott Cullen, TSN

Pick No. 81-90
Average Rating: 2.16
Best: Sergei Zubov, Milan Hejduk.
Ranked 7 or better: 6.0%
Ranked 5 or worse: 89.0%
At least 100 NHL games (or extremely likely): 24.0%

Link: http://www.tsn.ca/blogs/scott_cullen/?id=455673

Originally Posted by Oling_Roachinen

Is 100 games really "impact"? Dustin Boyd, a late third round pick himself, has 220 games and a whole 30 goals scored....

I think if you really want a number for "Impact Player" take a look at the Ranked 7 or better row. Ranked 7 is a top 6 forward or top 4 defenseman and they are giving it a 6% chance of it happening with an 81-90 pick. Pretty much any other criteria and Bollig himself becomes an impact player anyways.

I think I can bridge some of the gap here.

The original analysis that I saw a few years ago claimed that between 10 and 15% of 3rd rounders became 'impact' NHLers, which was defined as having played 200 games.

Cral's numbers use 100 games, which would create a higher percentage for sure.

As OR says, if you use 'Ranked 7' (top 6 . top 4) as the definition, you get approximately 6%

From all that, you can actually paint a fairly decent picture:

For a 3rd round pick,
the chances of playing 100 games is approximately 24%
the chances of playing 200 games is approximately 10-15%
the chances of becoming a top 6 / top 4 player is about 6%

to me, that sounds pretty reasonable and plausible

(obviously with the small sample sizes of NHL players, you have to give numbers like these a wide margin)

[Geeoff]

In a vacuum, I do like us acquiring players from winning organizations like Chicago, instead of losers like Toronto and Florida.

[GGG]

Based on the above we can say that there is a 6% chance we would have drafted a player significantly better than Bolig, an 18% chance of drafting someone similar to Bolig and a 76% chance of drafting someone worse.

[Geeoff]

Originally Posted by GGG

Based on the above we can say that there is a 6% chance we would have drafted a player significantly better than Bolig, an 18% chance of drafting someone similar to Bolig and a 76% chance of drafting someone worse.

Also, a factor to consider is that Bollig will be stepping into the line-up now, whereas a 3rd round pick is usually a bit of a "project"

[The Fonz]

Happy with the trade. I see him as another Bouma, and given the style of play of these 2, and especially Bouma's shot blocking, odds are atleast 1 of them will spend some time on the IR this season. It'll be great always having 1 or both of these guys in the lineup.