[Rumour] Friedman: UPD: Flames looking for a winger pref with edge and maybe a goalie

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by Cleveland Steam Whistle

Chiarelli in Edmonton? Do explain. This is just another example of people not having patience with the rebuild. This team lacked not only top end prospects, but any resemblance of prosoect depth when this rebuild began. The top end prospects have actually developed quicker than expected, which is not only shinning a light on the fact there is still a long wayvto go to actually achieve prospect depth so that we can do what you want, but it's also making everyone lose patience with the fact that not all problems are solved yet.

And it's not just the lack of prospects filling roles on this team where you see it. Whether it's improving our top 4 D, finding a top 6 RW or solving our goalie issues, the fact that the top end young players are already making an impact is making everyone feel like all those other problems should also be solved now as well.

This Flames organization was in the worst shape of any team in the NHL on ice at all levels when we finally decided to hit the rebuild button. Not at all realistic to think the plethora of issues we had could have been solved by now. Building real prospect depth to help fill out your roster is one that takes time especially when you start from 0.

Being sellers for 4 straight years before this one should have us feeling better about prospect depth by now, shouldn't it? You're right that we have some excellent young players on the NHL roster but much of that is due to a high draft position.

I agree with patience but question is whether enough progress is being made.

[djsFlames]

Originally Posted by New Era

I'm actually sick of management who believe it is better to recycle other people's crap rather than give your own prospects a chance to perform. And I'm not talking about giving a guy 7 minutes a night, a game every three or four, then dispatching them to the minors, all the whole sitting on useless garbage in guise of veterans. How the hell will you ever know what you have unless you give the players a chance? I think if you give Kulak the Wideman ice time, this is a better team. If you give Jankowski the Stajan ice time, this is better team. If you give Hathaway the Bouma ice time, this is a better hockey team. Why do we continue to bring in management who have this lack of faith in young players?

Part of it is the prospects with high NHL probability are still developing - Janks, Andersson, Kylington, even to a lesser extent Shinkaruk, and it would be premature for those guys to get an extended stint up here.

HOWEVER, I agree that when guys like Wideman and Jokipakka are playing that poorly (in Wideman's case, directly costing the team almost once each night), there's no reason to not use a costless option within your own system as an alternative and help further develop fringe guys like Kulak and Wotherspoon. Turn them into regular NHLers by giving them the challenge, without yanking them the next game.

For a team that is still calling itself a rebuilding team that's focused on the "long term" and "bigger picture", it's sure giving the short end of the stick to the players that can potentially help in the long run in favour of stop gap 30+ year olds.

It's quite contradictory to this mantra they continue to put out to fans.

My hunch is that ownership and maybe BB is (still) pushing for *just* getting in, and "anything can happen", for that playoff revenue and increased interest. And so the kids on the fringe are getting shortchanged, even though they might actually help that win now cause more than some of the vets if given the proper chance to iron out their own games.

It's still dumb and I wish Treliving had put his foot down at the beginning of the season and turned these kids into regulars, growing pains or not. At this point in the season it's a little too late to integrate them, as every game is a must win and we can't afford a week or two of young guys adjusting to the pro game. It's something we could've afforded early on, because I think if they got their legs under them, they'd help the team win more frequently into the back half.

[killer_carlson]

I like Johnson in a backup role next year as well. i'm perfectly happy keeping him around to play 20-25 games each year.

[blender]

It was mentioned previously, but I am intrigued bay the idea of Mike Smith as a Flame.

Proven performer, 2 years after this one on his deal at 5.6ish I believe. Could be a good pick-up for presumably fairly cheap.

[calgaryblood]

Originally Posted by blender

It was mentioned previously, but I am intrigued bay the idea of Mike Smith as a Flame.

Proven performer, 2 years after this one on his deal at 5.6ish I believe. Could be a good pick-up for presumably fairly cheap.

If I have to watch him handle the puck every game I think my head would explode. He's given up like 7 goals this year with his puck handling mistakes. I know he's good at handling the puck but he makes way too many mistakes, I think he'd give me a heart attack.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

For those still discussing young players in the lineup. Just remember this:

Brett Kulak played almost all of the first two months of the season. He didn't take the opportunity to cement his spot in the lineup, but he made progress towards becoming an every day NHLer. He's not ready yet.

Jyrki Jokipakka, another young defenseman, has also been given the chance to cement himself as an NHL regular. He's probably in that 6/7 interchangeable role, but he had an opportunity to move up in the lineup when everyone else was struggling, and he didn't take it. Largely because he isn't quite good enough talent-wise.

Freddie Hamilton and Garnet Hathaway have both been given a shot to cement a spot in the lineup over someone like Lance Bouma...not exactly hard to provide more than Bouma. Yet both haven't been able to add more to the lineup.

Yet players like Ferland have been given the opportunity to stay on the team despite mistakes at times. Clearly Bennett has been kept on the big club despite a big struggle this year where it might make more sense to send him to the AHL. Obviously the team has graduated guys like Monahan, Gaudreau, and now Tkachuk....all in their first pro-season.

The problem is the guys on the farm just aren't ready, and icing a competitive club is still preferable to throwing every possible rookie in the lineup and hoping that it works out (spoiler alert: it wouldn't).

If you think this team isn't giving young players a chance, then you aren't paying attention, and you are creating a false narrative.

[wired]

Cali, that was a great post. I really like it when some of the forum members take the time to put out well thought out statements.
Makes me appreciate this forum quite a bit.

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan

For those still discussing young players in the lineup. Just remember this:

Brett Kulak played almost all of the first two months of the season. He didn't take the opportunity to cement his spot in the lineup, but he made progress towards becoming an every day NHLer. He's not ready yet.

Such huge opportunity. Appearing in 21 games and getting spot duty. There is a difference between knowing you're in the lineup on a consistent basis and getting spot duty here and there. I would love to know when you know a player is "ready" when you don't give them similar opportunity you give to failing veterans? Do they come with a sticker that changes color or something? Because unless you play your kids and give them exposure to the NHL, they are never going to prove they are ready.

Jyrki Jokipakka, another young defenseman, has also been given the chance to cement himself as an NHL regular. He's probably in that 6/7 interchangeable role, but he had an opportunity to move up in the lineup when everyone else was struggling, and he didn't take it. Largely because he isn't quite good enough talent-wise.

But Wideman has "earned" that slot, right? Sorry, there hasn't been a worse defenseman in a Calgary uniform this season, and that includes Nik Grossman. Wideman is waste of time, energy, and money. I can't stomach watching this team right now and Dennis Wideman is probably the biggest contributor to that result. I would rather see any one of our other defensemen in that slot, just so long as Wideman was not on the ice. You may want to argue that Jokipakka, Kulak, or Wotherspoon aren't ready, but Dennis Wideman proves in every shift that he isn't ready either. In fact, he is less ready than the three aforementioned kids.

Freddie Hamilton and Garnet Hathaway have both been given a shot to cement a spot in the lineup over someone like Lance Bouma...not exactly hard to provide more than Bouma. Yet both haven't been able to add more to the lineup.

Hamilton brings nothing. Hathaway has shown more than Bouma all season. Bouma is the Wideman of the forward ranks.

Yet players like Ferland have been given the opportunity to stay on the team despite mistakes at times. Clearly Bennett has been kept on the big club despite a big struggle this year where it might make more sense to send him to the AHL. Obviously the team has graduated guys like Monahan, Gaudreau, and now Tkachuk....all in their first pro-season.

And even with those mistakes they are better than some of the vets on the team. I really don't care about who has graduated. I care about the veterans who come in and suck, show zero leadership, and only collect a paycheck. You don't want guys like that around your team as they only teach the players the wrong lessons. You're better off with young kids who will at least play their asses off and try!

The problem is the guys on the farm just aren't ready, and icing a competitive club is still preferable to throwing every possible rookie in the lineup and hoping that it works out (spoiler alert: it wouldn't).

It doesn't work? Really? I seem to recall a few stretches during more than one season where this team was forced to rely on "the farm" after the club was dead and buried as a result of the veterans sucking hind teet. Low and behold those kids came in and helped the team claw their way back into the mix. No, veterans are always better than rookies, no matter how useless the veterans are.

If you think this team isn't giving young players a chance, then you aren't paying attention, and you are creating a false narrative.

You're not paying attention. The issue isn't just giving young players a chance, its earning your keep. It seems that only young players have to earn their way in this organization. Once you become a veteran you can shoot someone on 5th Avenue and it won't phase the coaches or management. When a veteran sucks and really earns his way off the team, the coaches and management do nothing about it. Mean while you allow your prospects to plateau and become the AHL filler you dread they will become.

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan

For those still discussing young players in the lineup. Just remember this:

Brett Kulak played almost all of the first two months of the season. He didn't take the opportunity to cement his spot in the lineup, but he made progress towards becoming an every day NHLer. He's not ready yet.

Jyrki Jokipakka, another young defenseman, has also been given the chance to cement himself as an NHL regular. He's probably in that 6/7 interchangeable role, but he had an opportunity to move up in the lineup when everyone else was struggling, and he didn't take it. Largely because he isn't quite good enough talent-wise.

Freddie Hamilton and Garnet Hathaway have both been given a shot to cement a spot in the lineup over someone like Lance Bouma...not exactly hard to provide more than Bouma. Yet both haven't been able to add more to the lineup.

Yet players like Ferland have been given the opportunity to stay on the team despite mistakes at times. Clearly Bennett has been kept on the big club despite a big struggle this year where it might make more sense to send him to the AHL. Obviously the team has graduated guys like Monahan, Gaudreau, and now Tkachuk....all in their first pro-season.

The problem is the guys on the farm just aren't ready, and icing a competitive club is still preferable to throwing every possible rookie in the lineup and hoping that it works out (spoiler alert: it wouldn't).

If you think this team isn't giving young players a chance, then you aren't paying attention, and you are creating a false narrative.

Sorry, but all you pointed to is spot duty and can't miss prospects. This organization is extremely reluctant to give any youth a chance, unless that youth was drafted super high or established themselves elsewhere under a team that actually does develop youth.

Kulak was not ready? Show me one player who "looks ready" getting sporadic minutes with zero special teams time and getting villified for every ordinary error three games apart. Tell me, how many opportunities did Kulak get with a partner that was not Engelland, who has no business being the lead on a pairing? (Answer is two. One with Hamilton against a Rangers team that was and is searing hot, and one with Wideman, where he played a grand total of 8 minutes, 7 and a half of which were strong, but where he made a costly mistake less soft than the one the 28 year old Bartkowski made the very next game that the organization probably didn't bat an eyelash at because "experience"). Same goes for Wotherspoon, and I don't even like Woherspoon's game.

Look at the real opportunities given to blue liners like Forbort in LA(from the minors todrew doughty's pair) Benning in Edmonton, Stecher in Vancouver, Pesce and Slavin in Carolina, (studs now, but what separated them from kulak before they got a chance to show it) Dumoulin in Pittsburgh and say with a straight face that we afforded the exact same opportunity to Kulak to succeed and he just flopped out, all on his own. Treliving on the radio last week said "Kulak is well ahead of where he should be at his age" - and the reward was a demotion to the minors the very next day on the final year of his entry level deal.

Jokipakka? The guy was an NHL vet by the time the Flames got him and same with Dougie Hamilton. This is very much what we are talking about - it isn't about how capable you are, but rather the organization's reluctance to be the team giving a player their first real opportunity in a real role. Also at 25 or whatever he is, he is hardly "youth". Even as a D that is close to NHL average age, and the fact that you actually perceive this as "youth" is strange as that is three years older than the time most prospects are written off and waived never to see the league again.

Ferland? Jooris? This the best people can point to at forward? Guys given a chance two whole years ago when an improbably streak of injuries decimated the team? Or Hathaway, a 14th forward who swaps in and out as the 12th, and that, only after the Niklas Grossmann experiment flopped so hard that it was unethical to keep him on roster? Freddie Hamilton, really? Where are Klimchuk and Jankowski? I guess we don't have enough fourth line injuries to get them spot fourth line duty.

What is Rittich's reward for being an exceptional goaltender in the minors all year? What was Ortio's reward for showing he could not only play in the NHL (as a YOUNG goalie) but actually win tight games behind a team you yourself admit was a structural mess? Our starting goaltender this season is posting worse percentages and GAA than Ortio did last season.

If that is the best you can trust an inexperienced player from your organization, that speaks volumes. We will never find a Conor Sheary of our own with that "Blue Chip Or Bust" attitude. I am not even sure a young TJ Brodie or Mikael Backlund would have cracked a Brad Treliving 10th place roster.

[Robbob]

The fact is there are roster limits and you can only do so much. They already have one contract in Bollig on the farm. The rotating dmen on the bottom of the roster is just that because they have shown they aren't ready. As bad as wideman has been he still helps this team more, especially on the pk, then they have and the says something. Tkachuk forced his way onto this roster and we need one of these dmen force their way onto the team by seizing the opportunity. They haven't even remotely done that yet.

It will be interesting after the trade deadline when the roster limits are removed who comes up.

[Par]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

Sorry, but all you pointed to is spot duty and can't miss prospects. This organization is extremely reluctant to give any youth a chance, unless that youth was drafted super high or established themselves elsewhere under a team that actually does develop youth.

Kulak was not ready? Show me one player who "looks ready" getting sporadic minutes with zero special teams time and getting villified for every ordinary error three games apart. Tell me, how many opportunities did Kulak get with a partner that was not Engelland, who has no business being the lead on a pairing? (Answer is two. One with Hamilton against a Rangers team that was and is searing hot, and one with Wideman, where he played a grand total of 8 minutes, 7 and a half of which were strong, but where he made a costly mistake less soft than the one the 28 year old Bartkowski made the very next game that the organization probably didn't bat an eyelash at because "experience"). Same goes for Wotherspoon, and I don't even like Woherspoon's game.

Look at the real opportunities given to blue liners like Forbort in LA(from the minors todrew doughty's pair) Benning in Edmonton, Stecher in Vancouver, Pesce and Slavin in Carolina, (studs now, but what separated them from kulak before they got a chance to show it) Dumoulin in Pittsburgh and say with a straight face that we afforded the exact same opportunity to Kulak to succeed and he just flopped out, all on his own. Treliving on the radio last week said "Kulak is well ahead of where he should be at his age" - and the reward was a demotion to the minors the very next day on the final year of his entry level deal.

Jokipakka? The guy was an NHL vet by the time the Flames got him and same with Dougie Hamilton. This is very much what we are talking about - it isn't about how capable you are, but rather the organization's reluctance to be the team giving a player their first real opportunity in a real role. Also at 25 or whatever he is, he is hardly "youth". Even as a D that is close to NHL average age, and the fact that you actually perceive this as "youth" is strange as that is three years older than the time most prospects are written off and waived never to see the league again.

Ferland? Jooris? This the best people can point to at forward? Guys given a chance two whole years ago when an improbably streak of injuries decimated the team? Or Hathaway, a 14th forward who swaps in and out as the 12th, and that, only after the Niklas Grossmann experiment flopped so hard that it was unethical to keep him on roster? Freddie Hamilton, really? Where are Klimchuk and Jankowski? I guess we don't have enough fourth line injuries to get them spot fourth line duty.

What is Rittich's reward for being an exceptional goaltender in the minors all year? What was Ortio's reward for showing he could not only play in the NHL (as a YOUNG goalie) but actually win tight games behind a team you yourself admit was a structural mess? Our starting goaltender this season is posting worse percentages and GAA than Ortio did last season.

If that is the best you can trust an inexperienced player from your organization, that speaks volumes. We will never find a Conor Sheary of our own with that "Blue Chip Or Bust" attitude. I am not even sure a young TJ Brodie or Mikael Backlund would have cracked a Brad Treliving 10th place roster.

Very well said, this organization sucks at giving young players a chance(unless the players is drafted high). It would be no surprise that some of these players go and blossom somewhere else.

[Darkknight]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

Sorry, but all you pointed to is spot duty and can't miss prospects. This organization is extremely reluctant to give any youth a chance, unless that youth was drafted super high or established themselves elsewhere under a team that actually does develop youth.

Kulak was not ready? Show me one player who "looks ready" getting sporadic minutes with zero special teams time and getting villified for every ordinary error three games apart. Tell me, how many opportunities did Kulak get with a partner that was not Engelland, who has no business being the lead on a pairing? (Answer is two. One with Hamilton against a Rangers team that was and is searing hot, and one with Wideman, where he played a grand total of 8 minutes, 7 and a half of which were strong, but where he made a costly mistake less soft than the one the 28 year old Bartkowski made the very next game that the organization probably didn't bat an eyelash at because "experience"). Same goes for Wotherspoon, and I don't even like Woherspoon's game.

Look at the real opportunities given to blue liners like Forbort in LA(from the minors todrew doughty's pair) Benning in Edmonton, Stecher in Vancouver, Pesce and Slavin in Carolina, (studs now, but what separated them from kulak before they got a chance to show it) Dumoulin in Pittsburgh and say with a straight face that we afforded the exact same opportunity to Kulak to succeed and he just flopped out, all on his own. Treliving on the radio last week said "Kulak is well ahead of where he should be at his age" - and the reward was a demotion to the minors the very next day on the final year of his entry level deal.

Jokipakka? The guy was an NHL vet by the time the Flames got him and same with Dougie Hamilton. This is very much what we are talking about - it isn't about how capable you are, but rather the organization's reluctance to be the team giving a player their first real opportunity in a real role. Also at 25 or whatever he is, he is hardly "youth". Even as a D that is close to NHL average age, and the fact that you actually perceive this as "youth" is strange as that is three years older than the time most prospects are written off and waived never to see the league again.

Ferland? Jooris? This the best people can point to at forward? Guys given a chance two whole years ago when an improbably streak of injuries decimated the team? Or Hathaway, a 14th forward who swaps in and out as the 12th, and that, only after the Niklas Grossmann experiment flopped so hard that it was unethical to keep him on roster? Freddie Hamilton, really? Where are Klimchuk and Jankowski? I guess we don't have enough fourth line injuries to get them spot fourth line duty.

What is Rittich's reward for being an exceptional goaltender in the minors all year? What was Ortio's reward for showing he could not only play in the NHL (as a YOUNG goalie) but actually win tight games behind a team you yourself admit was a structural mess? Our starting goaltender this season is posting worse percentages and GAA than Ortio did last season.

If that is the best you can trust an inexperienced player from your organization, that speaks volumes. We will never find a Conor Sheary of our own with that "Blue Chip Or Bust" attitude. I am not even sure a young TJ Brodie or Mikael Backlund would have cracked a Brad Treliving 10th place roster.

Are you suggesting that calling Jankowski up and playing him 7 minutes a night with players such as Hathaway or Chiasson is better for his development than playing first line and special team minutes? It's his first pro season if he makes it next year then his trajectory is exactly what management said it was going to be when he was drafted.

Rittich has played well in the ahl this season but do we really want a repeat or the three headed goalie monster again this season? If I remember that's one of your favourite arguments to bring up against current management. Next season we have zero goalies signed on a one way deal. If he continues to be strong in the ahl, play him in camp and whoever stands out can have the back up job that I'm sure will be available.

With defenceman it's much more difficult to give them time or important roles simply because their mistakes tend to be more costly. If the Flames were not fighting with 4 other teams for a single wildcard spot I'm sure you would see some younger players getting that opportunity. Last year we traded away Russel and played Jyrki in that spot for the rest of the season.

What you're suggesting is just throwing prospects at the problem and hoping something sticks. The Ahl squad can't and hasn't shown any consistency in their game, what makes you think they are ready for NHL action?

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Two long posts that I can't be bothered quoting, but here's my brief rebuttal to both of you:

Provide me an example of a player who has been dominant in the minors this year, and I'll consider what you're saying about young players not being given a chance. My point was pretty clear, and yes Kulak was given plenty of opportunities early in the year to take a spot over the "veteran" Jokipakka (if you call 147 games including this year being a veteran, but it's just a handful of games more than the sophomore Bennett), but he still made major errors and he wasn't correcting those mistakes over time.

The Wideman situation is unique due to his NMC and salary. He's been ok most of the year until very recently, so it's hard to justify sitting him as the 7th d-man every night in favor of BOTH Jokipakka and Kulak who struggle with consistency...nevermind the underwhelming Wotherspoon. And I scoff at the suggestion that Wideman has been worse than Grossmann. Such an egregious example of hyperbole to fit your argument.

Give me some reasonable argument as to what other veteran deserves to be sitting regularly in favor of a young player. I put Bouma out there, but even he has maintained a regular spot over younger guys, and he kills penalties. Brouwer? Ok, so offensively he hasn't been great but defensively and on the PK he's been quite good. Ferland? Nope, he's another young guy, so that would defeat the purpose. Chiasson? I can see the argument for it, but he was decent for the first 20-25 games (as a bottom 6 forward...not a top 6. Don't get me wrong here) and then his game fell off the map. I can see him sitting more often going forward if he doesn't pick it up. There is no other veteran I would even consider sitting.

Jankowski is in his 1st pro season, yet he might be ready for the NHL next year. Klimchuk has taken time to develop, but he's still in just his 2nd pro season. Perhaps they'll get a chance once the rosters expand, but only if they can help this team make the playoffs (which is still the first goal BTW).

Rittich? That's an experiment I'm not willing to try unless there's an injury. Between Elliott and Johnson we've received mostly solid NHL goaltending, and both of those guys are used to NHL rinks. Rittich is playing his first pro season in N.A. and has good numbers in Stockton in 18 games despite adjusting to the angles of a smaller rink, but that's not enough reason to dump one of our current NHL goalies just to give him a shot. Ortio had a .893 Sv% and a 3.36 GAA in Stockton last year without the atrocious Hartley system, and they STILL gave him a ton of games down the stretch to show what he could do. The Flames didn't give him a contract and neither did any other NHL team, so I think that's a pretty poor example.

I'm not convinced by your arguments, and you failed to adequately address any of mine. I stand by what I said, young players are getting opportunities on this team, but most of them just aren't good enough for the NHL...at least not yet. Like it or not, the veterans are still better than any of the farm hands this season.

[calgaryblood]

Hathaway has brought waaaaaay more than Bouma.

[Tinordi]

Yeah the issue is that the guys on the farm aren't very good not that team isn't giving them a chance.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by calgaryblood

Hathaway has brought waaaaaay more than Bouma.

Hathaway: 5 points in 26 games. Energy, feistiness, compete level I'll grant you, but the gap between them isn't that big. 44 pims. 9-10 minutes per game, but only 5 on 5.

Bouma: 5 points in 39 games. Energy and bodychecking. Shot blocking. Penalty killing. 19 pims. 12-13 minutes, including important time on the PK.

I don't consider that waaaaaay more, but that's just my perspective. I value good penalty killers since special teams is such a huge part of the game today.

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by Par

Very well said, this organization sucks at giving young players a chance(unless the players is drafted high). It would be no surprise that some of these players go and blossom somewhere else.

Doubtful. If you do not keep pushing players and keep them playing against better competition, players will plateau at some point. I agree with the principle of making players prove themselves over a three year period, as after that they tend to plateau. When the Flames don't give players a chance to come up, prove they can play and learn from their mistakes, they plateau and turn into minor leaguers.

I would be interested to know what Brian Burke has left behind in the organizations he's worked. I have a feeling that Brian Burke has left garbage organizations in his wake with every club he has touched, simply because he doesn't trust young players and he refused to invest in them by letting them learn the game at the NHL level. He's drafted a ton of players, but I doubt many of them have amounted to a hill of beans, because he believed in the "over-cook" philosophy.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Brian Burke is not the GM.

I'm surprised at how many people still think he runs the day to day and makes roster decisions. He's pretty much a consultant at this point.

[VladtheImpaler]

Originally Posted by Tinordi

Yeah the issue is that the guys on the farm aren't very good not that team isn't giving them a chance.

The issue might be that we are terrible at developing players.

[Bingo]

the funny thing for me is the fact that you can just go back 12 years and put the words "Dustin" and "Boyd" in the same discussion and you'd have almost the exact same topic.

Calgarypuck has always had the "play the youth" crowd, not that I don't get the sentiment.

I just don't see the conspiracy theory that keeps the young players out. Smart hockey men (and this team has a beefed up executive) have to make decisions based on when and how much with all their young players. We know Treliving believes in the hot house Red Wings model as he's said enough himself.

Nobody is foolish enough in that group to think that Dennis Wideman is playing well. I do think for a time they thought maybe if he got on a roll they could move him at the deadline, but his recent demotion certainly shows they've lost some faith in him.

I think they hoped that Kulak or Wotherspoon would steal his job but it didn't happen, or hasn't yet.

The Bollig demotion certainly shows they'll make the tough choices when the time comes.

But they must think the guys in the AHL are better served staying put and building on their games, or they'd be here.

We don't have to agree with that assessment for sure, but I don't see the logic in this group leaving more talented players be because they have it in for young players.