2018/2019 Trade Speculation and Rumors

[Erick Estrada]

How long does the argument that his goaltenders don't have more to give is acceptable? How can we expect the team to improve if not improving goaltending is acceptable? This applies to the GM as well but sooner or later Flames goaltending has to improve because if it doesn't then this rebuild is going to be a failure. Somehow two coaching staffs have been fired for not improving the team yet this guy still has his job despite goaltending being the weak link that probably cost both Hartley and Gulutzan their jobs. You have to admit it's a little twilight zone how he's escaped scrutiny from management.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814

Not to nitpick, but no, they didn't all get worse. Hiller had a better year in year 1 under Sigalet and Hartley than he had the year before in Anaheim.

2.36/0.918 in 52 GP vs 2.48/0.911 in 50 GP


Again, I'm fine with replacing Sigalet. The much larger issue is that the goalies themselves are all fundamentally flawed. None went elsewhere and had better years. Brian Elliott was somehow worse in Philly than he was in Calgary.

The goalies have all been terrible. If they had been any good at all, they would have been kept around.

and then he got worse.

Give the coach some time to have an effect.

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

How long does the argument that his goaltenders don't have more to give is acceptable? How can we expect the team to improve if not improving goaltending is acceptable? This applies to the GM as well but sooner or later Flames goaltending has to improve because if it doesn't then this rebuild is going to be a failure. Somehow two coaching staffs have been fired for not improving the team yet this guy still has his job despite goaltending being the weak link that probably cost both Hartley and Gulutzan their jobs. You have to admit it's a little twilight zone how he's escaped scrutiny from management.

It’s acceptable until you can prove otherwise. The fact is, we really don’t know one way or another.

It’s entirely possible that he’s an excellent goalie coach, just as possible as him being a terrible one in fact.

The problem is the lack of control in study. All goaltenders get worse eventually, most goaltenders never become full-time NHLers. Those are facts, we know that. The question is, have the Flames just had a string of inevitable results without getting a goalie over the last few years to buck the trend, or acquired guys at the wrong time? We don’t know, because there is zero way of knowing how these guys would have faired if on another team.

Does Sigalet get the most out of his goaltenders? Or does he hurt their performance? There’s no strong evidence of either, but there is some weak evidence to support either.

He’s either a good goalie coach which is why he’s kept his job.
Or he’s a goalie coach who is actually the reason guys suddenly decline or don’t stick in the NHL, despite those being the odds on favourite results, and nobody but fans have noticed.

Or he’s somewhere in the middle.

[Knut]

Goalies are Enigmas. You just never know with them.

Very rarely do you get a Fleury or Price in first round round who are good right away

[Samuelsson]

All of this goalie talk reminds me of my football (soccer) team. For years, we (Liverpool) have had the same goalie coach, John Achterberg. When he first came in, our goalkeeper back then, Pepe Reina, appeared to regress to the point that he was shipped out. We then bought another 'keeper in Simon Mignolet. He seemed to have a good couple of seasons at his former club, Sunderland, before he again, seemed to regress to the point that we bought another 'keeper in Loris Karius.

At this point I should point out that Mignolet cost us I think £12m, and Karius maybe £5m. Relatively low amounts for a goalkeeper.

Mignolet and Karius shared duties for a year, before last season Karius took over full-time. The season was OK at best for Karius; sometimes he was good, sometimes he was bad. But people always pointed to the coach, Achterberg, and said 'well 3 keepers have stayed the same or gotten worse under him - he's the common denominator, therefore he needs to go'.

And then the Champions League final came around, where Liverpool played Real Madrid. If you know, you know, but for those who don't, Karius had an absolute stinker. Completely bottled it. Our manager, Jurgen Klopp, had had enough. He shipped Karius out on a 2-year loan to Turkey, the relative arse-end of footballing ability, and a figurative graveyard where bad footballers spend their last days.

This summer, he spent £65m on a goalkeeper, Alisson from Roma. The most expensive goalkeeper ever signed (until Chelsea broke the record again a couple of weeks later).

Since then, in the league (because they're the only stats I can be arsed to look up), we've played 10, and conceded 4 goals. That's 6 games where he didn't let any goals in. Put simply, he's one of the best goalkeepers in the world.

Blame the coaches all you like, but they can only work with whatever talent is there; they can't polish a turd. Sure, obviously some coaches are better than others; but the gulf in ability is not that stark. Quite simply, sometimes you just have to stop shopping around the bargain bin and go out and buy top-shelf.

[Oil Stain]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

and then he got worse.

Give the coach some time to have an effect.

That means you can't blame Sigalet for the seasons of Elliot and Johnson because he didn't have time to make them worse.

You can't have it both ways to suit your argument.

[DeluxeMoustache]

Originally Posted by Oil Stain

That means you can't blame Sigalet for the seasons of Elliot and Johnson because he didn't have time to make them worse.

You can't have it both ways to suit your argument.

Sure you can. Depends how coachable a guy is, and if and when he decides to listen

Or maybe some guys maintain good habits for a while before some bad habits start to creep in, and more coaching is required.

Lots of ways.

The point is, I think, that you don’t see anyone who improved markedly and sustainably.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

and then he got worse.

Give the coach some time to have an effect.

Jonas Hiller quit on everyone. That wasn't on Sigalet.

The reality is, Jonas Hiller was a free agent in the first place because a much better Anaheim Ducks team decided he wasn't the answer.

If Columbus or Colorado don't retain Bobrovksy or Varlamov, it is because they can't afford to.

The Flames had one of the best goalies in the world, and at the time they signed him to his last contract, he was costing 11.6% of the $50.3M cap.

Sign Bobrovsky for $10.5M/year when the cap is going to be north of $81M?

13% of the cap vs 11.6%. It's nothing. It's an extra useless fringe NHLer we can't give $3M to, so we're forced to play someone like Mangiapane. What a tragedy that would be.

Everyone remembers how great it was having Kiprusoff, right?

[DeluxeMoustache]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814

Jonas Hiller quit on everyone. That wasn't on Sigalet.

I don’t think Hiller was trying to let goals in. That makes no sense.

[MisterJoji]

A little fuel for the fire. Korpisalo starts his 3rd consecutive game and has started 5 of 11 games. Neither Columbus goalie has a sparkling GAA or Sv% (Korpisalo’s numbers are slightly better than Bobrovsky) but Korpisalo is 4-0-0 while Bobrovsky is 2-4-0. Smith played very well last night and I hope he keeps it up but it feels like Bobrovsky is becoming more and more available.

[bax]

I don't blame the early season struggles on Smith. To me it looked like he lost his confidence after the team hung him out to dry for 3-4 games. Looking back, he was a huge factor in that win over Nashville. It's been heightened because they have hung Rittich out to dry to, but luckily he's played like Patrick Roy in his prime.

As long as the Flames can protect the slot and limit these 10 bell chances to 1 or 2 per game they will be okay. Both Smith and Rittich are capable goalies.

[sureLoss]

Insider trading

https://www.tsn.ca/nhl/video/insider...lander~1527476

One month remaining to sign Nylander for this season
Last week at this time there was all sorts of positivitity.
Now a week later there is a lot of frustration and both sides are in a stalemate

McKenzie says that at this point the Leafs aren't necessarily close to trading Nylander because they can't sign him.
However as the deadline approaches and more teams will contact the Leafs and there may be offers attractive enough for the Leafs to start listening.

LeBruns says the Hurricanes would love to add Nylander but haven't been given the green light by the Leafs to begin serious trade talks.
Hurricanes are deep on defence. Mentions Pecsce again.
They aren't the only team that is being interested.
But wonders if the Leafs can't sign Nylander, can the Hurricanes? (Which is ridiculous considering the different cap situations of the teams)


Oilers are adament they are not trading Puljujarvi anytime soon.


Some CBA discussions have been made.
Face to face meetings between Bettman/Daly and Fehr/Schneider

Matthew Savoie may make an application for exceptional status in the WHL.
If he does apply and gets approved he would be the first to do so.

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by DeluxeMoustache

I don’t think Hiller was trying to let goals in. That makes no sense.

Hiller lost his depth perception. He was great in close but he couldn't track a shot from the point at all. The opposition could float an unscreened muffin from the blue line and he would whiff at it.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

Hiller lost his depth perception. He was great in close but he couldn't track a shot from the point at all. The opposition could float an unscreened muffin from the blue line and he would whiff at it.

Didn't he have issues with Vertigo on and off for years?

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Insider trading

https://www.tsn.ca/nhl/video/insider...lander~1527476




Oilers are adament they are not trading Puljujarvi anytime soon.

They won't send him down either, they are just going to scratch him until he is totally ruined because Oilers are gonna Oil.

[Enoch Root]

wrong quote

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

Didn't he have issues with Vertigo on and off for years?

Yes, I believe you are correct. Either way I think it was ridiculous to think he just gave up and quit.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Oil Stain

That means you can't blame Sigalet for the seasons of Elliot and Johnson because he didn't have time to make them worse.

You can't have it both ways to suit your argument.

Of course you can, there is no set timeline. Maybe he rode confidence for a year.

[sureLoss]

Sounds like Ho-Sang isn't long for the Islanders' organization. I do wonder if he is too unique a personality for the NHL.

Josh Ho-Sang: New Islanders regime burying me, even in minors

https://nypost.com/2018/10/30/josh-h...site%20buttons

Here is what Ho-Sang will say about Islanders training camp in September, the first one run by team president Lou Lamoriello and coach Barry Trotz, which ended with the offensively dynamic winger getting sent to AHL Bridgeport after what he felt wasn’t much of a look during preseason.

“I felt like they had their minds made up on what was going to happen and what the team was going to look like,” Ho-Sang said. “It’s OK. They had the whole summer to plan that. I don’t know if you watched any of the games, but I didn’t play a lot. It’s OK. It is what it is.”

Ho-Sang went on a lengthy explanation about how he respects Lamoriello and thinks he’s “a great man,” adding: “Lou has his morals, and you don’t have to agree with them, but those aren’t going to change.” Yet he also felt something similar was happening to him under coach Brent Thompson in Bridgeport, where he isn’t on the first power-play unit and doesn’t feel like he is getting ample playing time.

“They tell me they want me to be a top-six forward up there, but I’m not a top-six forward down here, so it’s confusing,” he said. “Sometimes, it’s like you’re sprinting with a rubber band on. You constantly have tension. You run until you’re exhausted and then the band is going to pull you back. If I was going to say anything, it would be just watch. I’m just pointing it out.”

The AHL doesn’t publish ice time, but it did seem as if Ho-Sang was getting ample opportunity — at least on Saturday night. His team was trailing for most of the game, which is probably why he was on the ice so much. And there were flashes when he was mesmerizing while rushing the puck up the ice, making a power-play zone-entry seem like a piece of cake with a little head fake.

But his play away from the puck is obviously lacking. Through nine games, he still doesn’t have a goal, and his four assists go along with an unsightly minus-8 rating.

“Big upside,” Thompson said. “Obviously you see his skill set. He has to learn when is the right time to use that and when is the right time to make the simple play and be a little predictable for his teammate.

“But if you were to project him to the NHL, listen, he’s a top-six guy, maybe a top-nine guy, especially if he cleans up his play away from the puck. When he has the puck, we want him to score, we want him to create, we want him to use his speed. That’s something that we encourage. It’s just that there are sometimes that time and situation dictates [otherwise], and it’s him learning when that is.”

[GranteedEV]

I personally really like Ho-Sang's offensive game. Would love to see us take a stab at him.