Anyone else thinking Wideman might have something to prove this year?

[bob-loblaw]

He'll have a better year for sure. He needs to prove himself to get a contract from anyone next year.

[wired]

Really guys. If you don't like the topic of the discussion, just pass it by. No need to be mean to the op.

[Gaudreauvertime]

He has tons to prove. Like that he can play defense without being bailed out by his partner all over the ice.

I'm not expecting much from him, but hopefully he can at least get back to contributing offensively.

[GranteedEV]

Amazing the extremes people take on Wideman. A season ago people were talking about his 56 point season as if we had an elite second pairing and now people have flip-flopped to the extent that he is not even Bottom Pair calibre.

Wideman is a point-producing defenseman.
Wideman has a clean, decent breakout pass.
Wideman is a decent penalty killer.
Wideman is not especially strong in his own zone, often getting burned.
Wideman is not mobile by NHL standards.
Wideman is as likely to miss the net and send the puck flying the other way as he is to create a brilliant play leading to a goal.

IMO, All of the above were as true in 2014-15 as they were in 2015-16 as they were in 2013-14 as they were in the lockout season and so forth. Point totals are notoriously inconsistent at this position. Even in 2014-15 Wideman had a stretch where he was pretty useless (and we lose 8 straight games during it). He will have hot stretches and cold stretches and he was mostly cold last season when he was in the lineup.

But that does not mean he is useless. He needs a partner who can cover for him yes indeed. But what he does bring to the table is something that can seriously contribute to a deep playoff run - depth scoring. That's more than can be said about Engelland, Wotherspoon, or Jokipakka. If guys like that can cover for Wideman in his areas of weakness you have a good pair because his offense can cover for their areas of weakness. It's easier to replace guys like them than offense like what Wideman brings.

I would even point to Brent Seabrook as guy who checks off a lot of similar boxes both positive and negative as Wideman. Playing with Duncan Keith can hide a lot of flaws. Playing without him has exposed them.

[Stanley]

If utilized properly I think Wideman can put in a decent solid season, 3rd pairing minutes, correct the blunders hopefully...

[Goodlad]

Originally Posted by jeffporfirio

Time to get a Wideman jersey?

That depends. Are you one of those guys that as soon as you buy a player's jersey they inexplicably get traded away? If so, then yes it's time to buy a Wideman jersey.

[JiriHrdina]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

Amazing the extremes people take on Wideman. A season ago people were talking about his 56 point season as if we had an elite second pairing and now people have flip-flopped to the extent that he is not even Bottom Pair calibre.

Hmmmm no. That's not a fair reflection.
Even during last season, when he was producing points, he wasn't good in his own end, and there was still discussion on whether or not he was movable.

I'm sure some people said what you state above, but those were probably isolated, extreme opinions, amongst the hundred of opinions that get posted here daily.

I don't know that people have "flip flopped".

[djsFlames]

At least the OP is generating a new topic of conversation. New threads don't always have to follow a breaking news story. The point of the forum is discussion so...

I don't have high expectations of Wideman. I hope he makes us all eat crow but last year was just so underwhelming, then he had to go and take out a ref on top of it.

[Mister Yamoto]

He will be a Flame on opening night.

[Caged Great]

In previous seasons, Wideman had a special talent for getting the puck through the defender in front of him and getting the puck on net at the same time. Last year, his shots would hit the defender most of the time and when they did get through, the pucks would frequently go wide. If those two things do not repeat, then he should be a good offensive defenseman that will be sheltered on the third pairing. If he has lost his ability to get pucks on net, then he'll likely spend most of his time in the press box.

At this point I think he's on his last contract in the NHL unless he rebounds and puts up a 35-40+ point season.

[Enoch Root]

Does Wideman have something to prove this year? Definitely. And it is a contract year for him, so I think it's pretty easy to predict that he will have a bounceback season after last year.

Yes, he was awful last year. And yes, he lacks foot speed. But I think fans lean too heavily into the 'what have you done for me lately' side of things.

I want to see Wideman moved because I think some of the young guys are ready to take the next step. And the Flames could use some cap space relief. But that doesn't mean he isn't an NHL defenseman. Having him play here until the deadline is not going to hurt the team.

[GioforPM]

Two seasons ago Wideman had a turnaround season of sorts, after Hartley benched him. But a lot of things went right - he had really good chemistry with Gaudreau, he got his shot through consistently, he played within himself defensively.

I'm not sure what happened to change all that, other than losing even more foot speed (which was an issue even then). But last year he and Russell were not good together, he couldn't get a shot through, and he's not a guy who can recover well if a point shot gets blocked and the play goes the other way.

I think he's pretty close to untradeable because of his contract, without having to do a Bolland type deal. So they have to figure out how to use what skills he has (I agree he has a good shot, decent zone exit pass, ok on PK).

[Rick M.]

Originally Posted by bob-loblaw

He'll have a better year for sure. He needs to prove himself to get a contract from anyone next year.

I think it will depend on how much ice time the new coaches give him and how much powerplay time he gets.

[FBI]

As long as Hamilton gets more PP time than Wideman..

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by FBI

As long as Hamilton gets more PP time than Wideman..

Really a lot of player issues last year were in part due to the way the coach handed out ice time. Hartley had his favourites that he was willing to ride sink or swim and sometimes it was to the detriment of the team. I would hope this new staff will be better at putting players in position to succeed. Wideman struggled last year yet rather than shelter him Hartley continued to put him out there in critical situations where his struggles hurt the team. I feel Wideman is better than the player he was last season and having his ice time managed better will help him become more useful to the team this season.

[JTech780]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

(I agree he has a good shot, decent zone exit pass, ok on PK).

He does have good shot. His break out passes are fine as long as there isn't a forechecker otherwise he turns it over. He is terrible PK and losses most board battles.

If he is still on this team to start the season then he should be sheltered on the 3rd pairing and only given offensive zone starts.

He has never been good defensively, and he is only going to get worse, at this point in his career he is a PP specialist only, with limited 5v5 ice time.

[Goodlad]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Really a lot of player issues last year were in part due to the way the coach handed out ice time. Hartley had his favourites that he was willing to ride sink or swim and sometimes it was to the detriment of the team. I would hope this new staff will be better at putting players in position to succeed. Wideman struggled last year yet rather than shelter him Hartley continued to put him out there in critical situations where his struggles hurt the team. I feel Wideman is better than the player he was last season and having his ice time managed better will help him become more useful to the team this season.

This is true of most coaches I think. Really the best you can hope for is that the new coaching staff makes better choices on which players to rely on.

[ricardodw]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Really a lot of player issues last year were in part due to the way the coach handed out ice time. Hartley had his favourites that he was willing to ride sink or swim and sometimes it was to the detriment of the team. I would hope this new staff will be better at putting players in position to succeed. Wideman struggled last year yet rather than shelter him Hartley continued to put him out there in critical situations where his struggles hurt the team. I feel Wideman is better than the player he was last season and having his ice time managed better will help him become more useful to the team this season.

What were Hartley's options?

He thought that Wideman had earned his chance to work his way out of it. If Wideman didn't then there was very little long term damage.

Hartley, it seems, made a clear decision to shelter Hamilton.

He had enough of a sample at the start of the year when he gave Hamilton top-4 minutes against better players. After Brodie came back from injury he slowly worked Hamilton into sharing the 4/5 spot with Wideman with Russell looking after both of them.

Hopefully it worked out as Hamilton played better in that role and gradually got some degree of his confidence back Had there been no Wideman to take the #4 spot and heat there would have been a chance that Hamilton would have had a disastrous season instead of a somewhat hopeful one.

From an organizational POV it just makes sense to throw Wideman to the wolves and try to play through his problems rather than letting a guy with 5 more years at 5.75M on his contract sink or swim as a 22 year old.

[St. Pats]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

Amazing the extremes people take on Wideman. A season ago people were talking about his 56 point season as if we had an elite second pairing and now people have flip-flopped to the extent that he is not even Bottom Pair calibre.

Wideman is a point-producing defenseman.
Wideman has a clean, decent breakout pass.
Wideman is a decent penalty killer.
Wideman is not especially strong in his own zone, often getting burned.
Wideman is not mobile by NHL standards.
Wideman is as likely to miss the net and send the puck flying the other way as he is to create a brilliant play leading to a goal.

IMO, All of the above were as true in 2014-15 as they were in 2015-16 as they were in 2013-14 as they were in the lockout season and so forth. Point totals are notoriously inconsistent at this position. Even in 2014-15 Wideman had a stretch where he was pretty useless (and we lose 8 straight games during it). He will have hot stretches and cold stretches and he was mostly cold last season when he was in the lineup.

But that does not mean he is useless. He needs a partner who can cover for him yes indeed. But what he does bring to the table is something that can seriously contribute to a deep playoff run - depth scoring. That's more than can be said about Engelland, Wotherspoon, or Jokipakka. If guys like that can cover for Wideman in his areas of weakness you have a good pair because his offense can cover for their areas of weakness. It's easier to replace guys like them than offense like what Wideman brings.

I would even point to Brent Seabrook as guy who checks off a lot of similar boxes both positive and negative as Wideman. Playing with Duncan Keith can hide a lot of flaws. Playing without him has exposed them.

He is also the type of defenseman that is going to be very much exposed when the guy between the pipes behind him couldn't stop a beach ball from going by him. His area of weakness compounded hugely by the weakest spot on the team.

He has talents that the young guys who are looking to crack the lineup really don't possess. He could be a valuable contributor on the PP. That shot of his is a real weapon.

I can see yet another revising of opinion on him if he is a cog on the PP and if there is the expected improvement in net that will hide his/the whole teams weak spot on "D".

[OldDutch]

Originally Posted by wired

Really guys. If you don't like the topic of the discussion, just pass it by. No need to be mean to the op.

Ask to try to win $100 by commenting on a birthday thread with semi-passing relevance to the Flames. No problem!

Ask if a player has a something to prove after a down year. Beat it!

To be clear I have no problem with either thread, just find it amusing what sets some people off. Yeash.