[News] October 1 -- Flames final roster moves

[Split98]

Kylington starting, coach looking to Bennett early, Rittich sans Smith, the rest of the team back together... minus our biggest problems... who are now Oilers, and guys like Quine, Dube and Stone available when needed with Valimaki still to come?


2019-20, don't let me down

[sempuki]

Now all the people who want to see Kylington, you're going to get a talented guy who makes a lot of mistakes...

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by SportsJunky

You gonna let him get away with saying this, Flash?

After three solid months of derailing multiple discussions with his ever-so-witty "swimming in cap space" posts of irrelevance, we can certainly hope so.

[fotiou22]

Originally Posted by Split98

Valimaki still to come?

What are the best case and most likely timelines for Valimaki's return?

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by ricardodw

Such excitement over a 12 Minute/game d-man that won't be playing the PP or killing penalties. He wouldn't have been on the roster had Valimaki not gotten injured.

He will have the smallest impact on the Flames success along with Rieder and Czarnik.

Excitement that a Flames drafted defenseman has made the opening night lineup. So shocking.

[CN10]

Originally Posted by Bingo

I love his skillset and he has a solid upside, but lets not romanticize young players.

Kylington had the second lowest zone starts last year (Valimaki 1st), was the most sheltered of any defenseman and finished last in CF%, 2nd last in xGF%.

This isn't a kid getting held back. It's a kid learning the league.

Of course a 21 year old defender playing his first batch of NHL games will be sheltered by any competent coaching staff.

I also did not say anywhere in that post that I felt he was being held back. I just stated that I felt he played well on the bottom pair compared to my expectations of a green injury fill-in. I preferred his performance despite having to be sheltered much more than some of the Bartkowski & Jokipakka's the Flames have played there in previous years.

This season I like that he was forced to compete for a bottom pairing role with a veteran (Stone, MacDonald) and appears to at least have won a time share of the spot for the time being. In my post I simply indicated that I expect he will continue to grow and eventually pass Stone as the preferred guy on the bottom pair, mostly due to his superior skating and puck moving, on a team that has indicated throughout preseason that they intend to play fast.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by fotiou22

What are the best case and most likely timelines for Valimaki's return?

March? I am sure he will spend at least a few games in Stockton getting up to speed when healthy.

[Split98]

Originally Posted by fotiou22

What are the best case and most likely timelines for Valimaki's return?

I think the best case is seeing him for the playoffs.


I don't know if they've said much about it, but I came away from the last update thinking that a month or two in the AHL before the playoffs might be possible

[getbak]

Originally Posted by fotiou22

What are the best case and most likely timelines for Valimaki's return?

Best case is a return around the trade deadline. Most-likely, he'll miss the entire regular season and might be available for the playoffs.

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by SportsJunky

You gonna let him get away with saying this, Flash?

?

He can say all the dumb things he wants?

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by sempuki

Now all the people who want to see Kylington, you're going to get a talented guy who makes a lot of mistakes...

as a fan I'd rather watch 10 of those guys than an untalented guy who makes a lot of mistakes.

[Flames67]

Even if Valimaki is ready to go by Playoffs, do you really want him to draw in? He won't be in midseason form, and with a heavier style of play in the playoffs, he has a higher risk of getting injured again. I wouldn't be surprised if they sit him for the season and plan for him to be here next year.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Flames67

Even if Valimaki is ready to go by Playoffs, do you really want him to draw in? He won't be in midseason form, and with a heavier style of play in the playoffs, he has a higher risk of getting injured again. I wouldn't be surprised if they sit him for the season and plan for him to be here next year.

I think that regardless of the time of year or the circumstances if he is ready to go, and if he provides an upgrade then Valimaki plays.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by ricardodw

Such excitement over a 12 Minute/game d-man that won't be playing the PP or killing penalties. He wouldn't have been on the roster had Valimaki not gotten injured.

He will have the smallest impact on the Flames success along with Rieder and Czarnik.

What excitement? People are happy to see he made the team over a veteran and ineffective dman.
That's all.
No need to overstate it in a rush to dump cold water on everything.

[868904]

I was a bit worried the Flames might sign Macdonald, but then, is there a coach in the league who is less scared to put out young defensemen than Peters?

Over the past 5 years, Peters has probably "graduated" more young defensemen into the NHL than any other coach.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by Bingo

Swimming would be a stretch, but Treliving certainly didn't paint himself into an inevitable corner as some suggested.

I thought most everyone was expecting the Flames to shed salary this summer. Being unable to work out a mutually agreeable long term deal with Tkachuk is why they are under the cap at the start of the season.

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by 868904

I was a bit worried the Flames might sign Macdonald, but then, is there a coach in the league who is less scared to put out young defensemen than Peters?

Over the past 5 years, Peters has probably "graduated" more young defensemen into the NHL than any other coach.

Great point.

[Lumby Lager]

Originally Posted by ricardodw

Such excitement over a 12 Minute/game d-man that won't be playing the PP or killing penalties. He wouldn't have been on the roster had Valimaki not gotten injured.

He will have the smallest impact on the Flames success along with Rieder and Czarnik.

Are you talking about Stone?

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by Bingo

I love his skillset and he has a solid upside, but lets not romanticize young players.

Kylington had the second lowest zone starts last year (Valimaki 1st), was the most sheltered of any defenseman and finished last in CF%, 2nd last in xGF%.

This isn't a kid getting held back. It's a kid learning the league.

I think it should be noted that Kylington's numbers were bad with Andersson, as Andersson's were with Kylington. Kylington had strong numbers with Prout, as Andersson had strong numbers with Giordano and Fantenberg. Naturally Andersson saw more icetime than the Kylington away from each other, but biased as I may be, I'm reticent to read too much into the numbers for this reason. If Kylington had dragged Prout down it may have been another story.

No doubt the rookie pair had some issues (though there's something to be said about how they, at the very least, performed a Kris Russell-esque job of rarely allowing visibly eggregious chances) but I think that they did a lot well, both to the eye test and in terms of offensive production. Kylington in particular had very respectable point rates, which no doubt contributed to offsetting their underlying numbers.

Another factor in this is that in sheltered usage, you can probably afford to give up some zone time as the offensive skill isn't as dangerous. That allows the offensive performance to really be a positive.

No doubt Kylington needs to get better and physically stronger in some areas, particularly in the corners and in front of the net in the defensive zone, and find an even better balance of poised play on the breakout, but we saw that when he had a partner who could offset some of his weaknesses, the aggregate results were strong.

Even an Erik Karlsson benefitted strongly from a Marc Methot during his best years. Having weaknesses shouldn't negate having strengths. As much as we'd love everyone to be a Giordano, let's not be remiss to praise what a young player does usefully.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

I think it should be noted that Kylington's numbers were bad with Andersson, as Andersson's were with Kylington. Kylington had strong numbers with Prout, as Andersson had strong numbers with Giordano and Fantenberg. Naturally Andersson saw more icetime than the Kylington away from each other, but biased as I may be, I'm reticent to read too much into the numbers for this reason. If Kylington had dragged Prout down it may have been another story.

No doubt the rookie pair had some issues (though there's something to be said about how they, at the very least, performed a Kris Russell-esque job of rarely allowing visibly eggregious chances) but I think that they did a lot well, both to the eye test and in terms of offensive production. Kylington in particular had very respectable point rates, which no doubt contributed to offsetting their underlying numbers.

Another factor in this is that in sheltered usage, you can probably afford to give up some zone time as the offensive skill isn't as dangerous. That allows the offensive performance to really be a positive.

No doubt Kylington needs to get better and physically stronger in some areas, particularly in the corners and in front of the net in the defensive zone, and find an even better balance of poised play on the breakout, but we saw that when he had a partner who could offset some of his weaknesses, the aggregate results were strong.

Even an Erik Karlsson benefitted strongly from a Marc Methot during his best years. Having weaknesses shouldn't negate having strengths. As much as we'd love everyone to be a Giordano, let's not be remiss to praise what a young player does usefully.

Yeah, I think it's a lot to ask of each of them, having to play together. I would rather see:

Giordano - Brodie
Hanifin - Andersson
Kylington - Hamonic

Even though Hanifin is actually younger than Andersson, this will be his 5th NHL season. And Andersson's 2nd full season.

Kylington could use having a vet like Hamonic as his partner.