[Signing] Flames sign Juuso Valimaki for 2 years. 1.55m aav

[Jacks]

Very good deal, I like it.

[Yobbo]

Great signing. Young defenseman with tons of upside.

[browna]

A good contract for the Flames, but anything less than notable progression each of these two years, and you'll have to wonder if that unfortunate mix of injury and Covid has set him back farther then he can recover from to get to the lofty expectations of him.

In my mind he's forever linked to Mark Stone. There's some debate whether it was a signed Mark Stone or a rental Mark Stone (though I think he could've been signed if it wasn't a signed Stone) that Treliving passed on to hold onto JV.

No doubt that the fortunes and make up of the Flames then and now would be a lot different with Mark Stone. Stone would've made more of an impact in even a rental spell here than JV has made in the 2.5 calendar years since.

[monkeyman]

Good deal.

[ForeverFlameFan]

Great prove-it contract. I freaking hope he turns into the stud we knew he could be and take Lucic’s cap hit for himself. Has a lot to prove though.

[Soliak]

Originally Posted by Fighting Banana Slug

No bearing on the pursuit of Eichel. I mean, they were going to sign their RFAs no matter what.

If JV was a piece in that possible trade, do you think BUF would have preferred these guys unsigned so they could negotiate their own terms? That was my thinking.

[Bingo]

Valimaki actually had a predictable season.

Decent underlying numbers, showed his high end talent with some great plays to the net, but made a lot of mistakes ending up in chances/goals against which didn't play well with Sutter.

Just has to settle his game down, and the rest of the tools are there.

Not worried at all.

Honestly a little more concerned with Andersson than I am Valimaki.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by Bingo

Valimaki actually had a predictable season.

Decent underlying numbers, showed his high end talent with some great plays to the net, but made a lot of mistakes ending up in chances/goals against which didn't play well with Sutter.

Just has to settle his game down, and the rest of the tools are there.

Not worried at all.

Honestly a little more concerned with Andersson than I am Valimaki.

Agreed. Saw a lot of red flag type plays/decisions with him last season.

Hopefully just a blip caused by trying to live up to a 6 year deal.

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by browna

No doubt that the fortunes and make up of the Flames then and now would be a lot different with Mark Stone.

Stone isn't a 1C

[blankall]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

Stone isn't a 1C

Stone doesn't need to play with a #1 centre. He does the work of must centres, and he can turn play on his own.

Vegas doesn't have a #1 centre, and they are legit threats every year.

[shawnjohn]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Even if Treliving leaves $4M in his pocket (HIGHLY unlikely IMO), Gawdin won't be in the lineup.

Lucic - Lewis - Ritchie

is far more likely.

Would not want to play against that line (size)

Sent from my SM-G970W using Tapatalk

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by blankall

Stone doesn't need to play with a #1 centre. He does the work of must centres, and he can turn play on his own.

Vegas doesn't have a #1 centre, and they are legit threats every year.

Vegas' most successful season came before they acquired Stone. He hasn't moved the needle for them.

I reiterate, he's not a #1 Center. He's a great player. A great two-way forward. But he's not a center. And only a player playing the center position can do the things expected of a center.

[GioforPM]

Stone wouldn’t have been here past the rest of that season, had Calgary made that trade. It would have been a disastrous move to lose the assets and then see him walk.

[Flamesfan05]

Originally Posted by shawnjohn

Would not want to play against that line (size)

Sent from my SM-G970W using Tapatalk

Nah, that would be a very easy line to feast on

[Canada 02]

maybe Lucic could lure big Z here for one more season. Played 18 minutes a night for the Caps, and would fill the leadership void for Gio

[dissentowner]

I think between getting back from injuries and his natural progress Vali should pop soon, hopefully this year.

[mile]

Originally Posted by Canada 02

maybe Lucic could lure big Z here for one more season. Played 18 minutes a night for the Caps, and would fill the leadership void for Gio

It's been reported recently that Chara would prefer to stay on the East coast close to his family if he doesn't retire.


Hoping Dube and Mackey get re-signed by the end of the weekend.

[Canada 02]

hope he gets to play with better players

https://twitter.com/user/status/1429167940788756489

[bax]

Originally Posted by browna

A good contract for the Flames, but anything less than notable progression each of these two years, and you'll have to wonder if that unfortunate mix of injury and Covid has set him back farther then he can recover from to get to the lofty expectations of him.

In my mind he's forever linked to Mark Stone. There's some debate whether it was a signed Mark Stone or a rental Mark Stone (though I think he could've been signed if it wasn't a signed Stone) that Treliving passed on to hold onto JV.

No doubt that the fortunes and make up of the Flames then and now would be a lot different with Mark Stone. Stone would've made more of an impact in even a rental spell here than JV has made in the 2.5 calendar years since.

He shouldn’t be linked to Mark Stone at all. I hate to get back into this because it’s been rehashed so many times but,

It’s not a debate, it was reported by Lebrun that Stone was only willing to sign in Vegas.

[Hot_Flatus]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

I was hoping for more like $1M, as he didn't show a great deal last season to warrant much more. However, nothing wrong with this deal at all.

I expect a big jump in play this year. I think that he came in with expectations, and discovered that the jump to the NHL was bigger than he thought. This year he'll be ready for it.

I'm not sure how you can expect a player like to sign for what the equivalent of a journeyman scrub would get. I think Valimaki is a player that had his development severely hampered by injury and it will take a lot longer to get his trajectory back on track. With that said, he's hardly off the rails and should perform nicely now that he should have some minutes available to really grow.