Pick your Flames Booms and Busts for this year

[gvitaly]

I think its important to distinguish is it boom/bust based on salary, or based on fan expectations.

Salary
Boom:Backlund, Brodie
Bust: Jones, Engelland

Expectations from last season
Boom: Wideman, Byron
Bust: Gaudreau, Russell

[T@T]

Booms: Setoguchi(will work hard for a contract.) Backlund(he gets it now) Bouma(still in prove mode)

Busts: Raymond(never liked this signing, first half will be good then will look like he hit a wall,a truck or received a lobotomy) Stajan(will be the winner of the CP whipping boy award, repeat champion)

[heep223]

Originally Posted by T@T

Busts: Raymond(never liked this signing, first half will be good then will look like he hit a wall,a truck or received a lobotomy) Stajan(will be the winner of the CP whipping boy award, repeat champion)

I don't think people are expecting much of anything from Stajan besides solid leadership, mentoring and chewing up minutes, not sure how he could bust really.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by heep223

I don't think people are expecting much of anything from Stajan besides solid leadership, mentoring and chewing up minutes, not sure how he could bust really.

He could probably get 99 points and many would shrug their shoulders at most and chew him up using advanced stats as evidence. I think that might have been the point. There's not really any scenario that we would really say he booms, and I have no idea what the actual expectations are for him.

[BurningSteel]

Boom: The kids will be all right.
Bust: Beer prices rise again.

[Tawiskaron]

Boom: Wolf (who will lower the boom on unsuspecting people)
Bust: McGrattan (whom will bust faces)

[Dion]

Boom - TJ Brodie
Bust - Baertschi

[robbie111]

Boom: Granlund, Ferland, Brodie and Gaudreau
Bust: Stajan, Jones, Bollig and Raymond

[Fire of the Phoenix]

I can see why someone wouldn't like Stajan as a top 6 center on a supposed contender like he was cast initially. It was frustrating to watch him struggle at the time. Now though, what's not to like? He's a solid middle 6 NHLer who helps shelter younger players during the rebuild. He's also great in the community and in the room and seems like he wants to be here. Good chance he'll get the third "A".

[Mike F]

Originally Posted by heep223

I don't think people are expecting much of anything from Stajan besides solid leadership, mentoring and chewing up minutes, not sure how he could bust really.

He'll BUST if he remains totally unreliable on faceoffs and is passed over by someone like Reinhart for the 3rd line centre roll, becoming completely superfluous to the team, because he's just started a 3 year extension for just over $3M per season.

I'm going to close my eyes, take a swing, and say one BOOM will be Engelland, relative to his expectations. He'll be more reliable than expected defensively, will reopen Regehr's Tunnel of Death, will be the presence that gives the smaller players the space and protection they need, and will generally become a fan favorite as per McGrattan.

[JonDuke]

Boom: Baertschi, Wideman
Bust: Colborne, Hudler

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

Boom: Mark Lee

Bust: Corey Potter

[zarrell]

Boom: Gaudreau
Bust: Brodie

[Wolfman]

Boom: Monahan
Bust: Poutface

[Trailer Fire]

Boom: Gio is going to have another lights-out season. Norris finalist? Brodie is also going to take a step forward. Monahan is going to continue to excel.

Bust: Gaudreau isn't going to play well enough to make the big show and will be mediocre in the AHL. Sven will play reasonably well in the AHL, but won't make any progress in he NHL. Porier will take a step back. His first of many.

For the record, I want none of the bust things to occur. I like, nay love, those guys and hope they all exceed my lowered expectations.

[MisterJoji]

Boom: Johnny Hockey. So far this guy has made a career of proving naysayers wrong. Trend continues.

Bust: Hiller. Trending down, hasn't had a Save% better than .913 going on 4 years (which would rank 28th last year) & always a risk of that freak incidence of vertigo reappearing. And yes, I realize Ramo had a Save% of .911 last year but unlike Hiller, he is on the right side of 30 and has only had 1 season as a legit NHL starting goaltender.

[saskflames69]

Boom: Backlund - this is his time to shine.

Bust: Monahan - I don't expect too much from him this year. Like others have said he's going to hit the sophomore slump. I expect at most 15 goals this year.

[combustiblefuel]

Boom: Backlund,Colborne, Ramo, Ortio( called up hard,to find a reason to send him down) and Wolf.

Busts:Sven( based solely on his age, I think another year or two could toughen him up mentality) , Smid, Jones and Russell.

[the_only_turek_fan]

I think Glencross is in the last year if his deal. Could have a big year.

[Gaskal]

Originally Posted by codynw

What "beef" have they added? Bollig and Engelland? Those guys aren't exactly going to play a lot of minutes.

I have to disagree regarding Bollig. He ate a lot of def zone starts vs some quality competition(2nd/3rd line) while on Chicago (in a bottom 6 checking role) while having some serviceable linemates when he won the cup. And his corsi rel% was meekly positive across the board.

His advanced stats are respectable considering the role he's in, the minutes he eats, and he's actually a player that is able to drive possession a bit despite being a facepuncher. Bollig can actually play - he might not be able to score a bunch but he can hold his own.

I expect Hartley to deploy him with Stajan and Raymond on a defensive possession-driving line(3rd) to shelter Monahan and the other youngsters.