[News] Flames sign Andrew MacDonald to PTO

[FlamesAddiction]

I wonder if Kronwall is still looking at coming back.

I know, he is old and slow (but always has been slow, and it never held him back), but he was effective last year. He would bring a lot of toughness, experience and leadership.

[cowtown75]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

I wonder if Kronwall is still looking at coming back.

I know, he is old and slow (but always has been slow, and it never held him back), but he was effective last year. He would bring a lot of toughness, experience and leadership.

I would take him in a heartbeat, but I hear it's the Wings or retirement only.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler

I predict Andrew McDonald will be in our top 4. Whether that is going to be a good thing or a bad thing I don't know at this time.

The only way McDonald would be in our top 4 is if there were injuries to 3 or more defensemen. At that point I'd be happy with his experience helping out while Valiev et al are on the 3rd pairing.

I'd also add that while McDonald isn't great anymore, he's still better than Phaneuf and Petrovic. I think if you're going to sign a guy to a PTO, this is one of the better choices you could make.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler

I predict Andrew McDonald will be in our top 4. Whether that is going to be a good thing or a bad thing I don't know at this time.

Clearly, this is not a good outcome by any stretch of the imagination, since it would require that at least one of the Flames top-four defensemen is injured for a significant amount of time, and also that both of Calgary's young, emerging defensemen are not playing well enough to secure a spot above the third pairing.

In short, I find this incredibly unlikely to occur.

[VladtheImpaler]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Clearly, this is not a good outcome by any stretch of the imagination, since it would require that at least one of the Flames top-four defensemen is injured for a significant amount of time, and also that both of Calgary's young, emerging defensemen are not playing well enough to secure a spot above the third pairing.

In short, I find this incredibly unlikely to occur.

I am open to McDonald actually being good in his own right, particularly if he and Hamonic re-discover the old chemistry.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan

The only way McDonald would be in our top 4 is if there were injuries to 3 or more defensemen. At that point I'd be happy with his experience helping out while Valiev et al are on the 3rd pairing.

I'd also add that while McDonald isn't great anymore, he's still better than Phaneuf and Petrovic. I think if you're going to sign a guy to a PTO, this is one of the better choices you could make.

Yeah, McDonald had an incredibly bad year last year, made worse by injury. And I have no confidence he will sign anywhere after this tryout. But he did have a pretty good year in 17-18.

How is his skating - that to me is key.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by cowtown75

I would take him in a heartbeat, but I hear it's the Wings or retirement only.

I read a "rumour" that the Wild were interested, but the source was questionable so maybe nothing to it.

[Robbob]

Complaining about PTOs is right up there with complaining about losing Jason Morgan on waivers. I bet the Flames sign a couple more PTOs, like Bingo mentioned, there are veteran criteria.

You have to dress 8 vets. For the record Kylington nor Andersson qualify. Having a PTO saves you from having to play a core player in the pre-season. Especially when you have a split squad game on the same day.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler

I am open to McDonald actually being good in his own right, particularly if he and Hamonic re-discover the old chemistry.

I am open to Andrew Mangiapane becoming an 80-point winger this year, but that does not strike me as particularly realistic. MacDonald under the worst-case circumstances may end up playing with Hamonic on the second pairing, but I don't imagine a realistic scenario in which he will perform better there than Noah Hanifin.

[The Boy Wonder]

Macdonald is a camp body... Nothing more.

Remember when we allowed a PTO to actually play for us a couple seasons ago and Mcdavid turned him inside out at least three times in game 1 because he was too old and slow???

[getbak]

Regarding the preseason "veteran" rule, any player who played at least 30 NHL games last season or has played at least 100 total NHL games meets the "veteran" requirement. As does any player chosen in the first round of the most-recent draft.

Using that criteria, Andersson, Kylington, and Mangiapane all qualify because they played more than 30 games last season. Dube and Valimaki just missed the 30 game cutoff.

Almost every player on the Flames' NHL roster will qualify as veterans under this rule.

Froese and Davidson also qualify under the 100 games played threshold. Assuming NHL playoff games count toward the 100 game count, Quine also qualifies.

Pelletier qualifies as a 2019 first rounder.



Without any PTOs, the Flames should have no problem meeting the 8 veteran requirement for any preseason game, even the split-squad.

[TheScorpion]

Important to remember that the split-squad usually features a stacked veteran roster for the home team.

[sempuki]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

I wonder if Kulak would be a fit?

Do they make skates that fit dead horses?

[btimbit]

He's better than Petrovic or Phaneuf but I really would have loved to keep Prout

[savardandjokinen]

I wouldn’t say he’s better than Phaneuf, definitely better than Petrovic though.

I know I’m in the minority but I really don’t think Phaneuf would be a bad idea. Played on a rough LA team. Brings the physicality and leadership we need on the back end.

[Zulu29]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

I wonder if Kulak would be a fit?

Lol! You must be a hit at parties.

[Sandman]

[QUOTE=btimbit;7187212]He's better than Petrovic or Phaneuf but I really would have loved to keep Prout[/QUO

If we kept Prout, we would have the only guy who can beat up Lucic on the roster! Looch would've been invincible!

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by Zulu29

Lol! You must be a hit at parties.

He wouldn’t attend. He’d just drive by.

[Snuffleupagus]

Supposedly MacDonald is also one of the nicest and best teammates in the league, Provorov and Gostisbehere gave him big praises in helping them as youngsters and Giroux couldn't say enough good things about him and his play on ice, the players also voted him the "A" at the start of the season.

Seems his $5.75m salary was a bigger problem then his actual play on the ice

Treliving loves character and MacDonald fits the bill, with the loss of Valimaki I can see him as the 7th dman easily.

[dammage79]

PTO . No biggie. If he earns a contract then the bottom pairing I imagined didnt earn a spot. Guys like Kylington and Yelesin need to beat out guys like McDonald for those spots. So be it.

Tree loves to bring in competition for the kids. Earn it or lose it.