D pairs to start the year.

[Flaming Horse]

What do you guys think the opening night D pairs will be. Right now the pairs have been all over the place. There is only 1 preseason game left and they need to start developing some chemistry. Tanev and Weegar did not look good together even. only one game though. All the pairs against the jets were not good. What happens with Valimaki and Meloche. Stone has not been very good in his own end. Who gets sent down and who makes the cut. I thought the one constant would be Hanifin and Andersson but even that was split up. Let the discussions begin.

[genetic_phreek]

I'd go:

Hanifin - Andersson
Zadorov - Weegar
Mackey/Valimaki - Tanev

[GranteedEV]

in my opinion:

To start the year:

Weegar-Tanev (shutdown)
Hanifin-Andersson (same role as last year, all situations)
Zadorov - ???

The ??? Is just whoever wins the #7 spot, not attached to anyone.

Once Kylington returns, I think it makes dense to reunite him with Tanev, and then put Andersson on the top pair with Weegar. Hanifin and Zadorov for the other pair, no real "third pair" just whoever suits the given matchup. Hanifin-Weegar might be an interesting option too, although I don't like the sound of Zadorov-Andersson.

[scobel]

Originally Posted by genetic_phreek

I'd go:

Hanifin - Andersson
Zadorov - Weegar
Mackey/Valimaki - Tanev

This what I would do as well. I think whoever is the 6th defensemen is going to see only 12-14mins a night as don't see any of them getting a lot of special teams time, unless it is Stone.

I think Mackey maybe the odd man out and wouldn't be surprised if he is sent down and maybe claimed on waivers. Though the market seems fairly heavy with guys like him, thinking Pittsburgh D situation, so he may clear.

Valimaki, I think would be claimed just due to his age and potential that is still there.

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

weegar tanev feels like a cheat code .. think you have to try it

[SuperMatt18]

Zadorov-Mackey has looked great in pre-season. I wanted Mackey in a higher profile pair but they seem to have some chemistry together.

To start the year I wouldn't mind seeing

Hanifin-Andersson
Zadorov-Weegar
Mackey-Tanev

Then Kylington slots in alongside Tanev again when he's done dealing with the family issue.

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

Zadorov-Mackey has looked great in pre-season. I wanted Mackey in a higher profile pair but they seem to have some chemistry together.

To start the year I wouldn't mind seeing

Hanifin-Andersson
Zadorov-Weegar
Mackey-Tanev

Then Kylington slots in alongside Tanev again when he's done dealing with the family issue.

That's where I'm at too..

Mackey
Meloche
Stone
Valimaki

for the final two spots

I see a lot of Meloche over Mackey but it doesn't pass the eye test to me.

[ComixZone]

Same way I figured they’d be all summer (although I was hopefully Valimaki would beat out Meloche, Stone, and Mackey)

Hanifin - Andersson
Zadarov - Weegar
Mackey - Tanev
Meloche or Stone (if Stone signs $750K, that’s a $200k saving on Meloche…)

That’s the 6 that have earned it, and when Kylington comes back Mackey goes to the 7 spot.

[Flaming Horse]

Originally Posted by ComixZone

Same way I figured they’d be all summer (although I was hopefully Valimaki would beat out Meloche, Stone, and Mackey)

Hanifin - Andersson
Zadarov - Weegar
Mackey - Tanev
Meloche or Stone (if Stone signs $750K, that’s a $200k saving on Meloche…)

That’s the 6 that have earned it, and when Kylington comes back Mackey goes to the 7 spot.

Bang on.Looks pretty good to me.

[Flaming Horse]

The one thing about the D pairings for me is you almost have to have a pair you can put out against Mcdufus as much as you can.Especially with the home ice advantage. I know with guys like McKinnon and Mcdufus he has to be a team effort and they are put out a lot as matching up is tough but it would be nice to have a go to pairing for a shutdown role. Potentially Tanev and Weegar but we don't even know if the chemistry will be there. Zadorov and Weegar have looked good together but even though Zadorov has played well I am not sure I want him matching up against Mcdufus and McKinnon.

[SeanCharles]

Hanifin-Andersson
Zadorov-Weegar
Valimaki-Tanev

Can put Tanev and Weegar together every few games against high flying offenses if need be.

Slot Kylington back in when he returns.

I know everyone is down on Valimaki but are we going to sit here and say everyone else battling him for a spot was head-and-shoulders better? I don't think that was the case, I think the whole group is a lot closer than some want to admit.

Given that you got to stick with the guy who has the most potential. He was the best player, forward or defense, in the Finnish Elite league a little over a year ago.

[gvitaly]

Here are pairs that worked so far:
Hanifin - Andersson
Hanifin - Tanev
Zadorov - Weegar

Pairs that didn't work for me(last year and preseason):
Weegar - Tanev
Zadorov - Andersson
Zadorov - Tanev

Here's what I want to see in the last preseason game to draw a conclusion:
Weegar - Andersson
Hanifin - Tanev
Mackey - Zadorov

[Enoch Root]

Hanifin - Andersson: we know this works, and they have a couple years of experience together now

Kylington/Mackey - Tanev: Tanev is best suited to shelter whoever gets #6, then Kyl slots back in

Zadorov - Weegar: let's see if this works, because the other 2 pairs do

I like the idea of Zadorov - Weegar actually, and they are good at getting the puck up ice

Having Tanev on the 3rd pair not only allows him to shelter the #6, but also leaves him extra minutes to play PK and to help out with the shut-down minutes.

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by genetic_phreek

I'd go:



Hanifin - Andersson

Zadorov - Weegar

Mackey/Valimaki - Tanev

Even if Kylington shows up tomorrow, they will be running with these pairings for at least the first dozen games or so. It will take him at least two or three weeks to get in game shape.

[Reggie Dunlop]

Meloche hasn't really stuck out during camp -- in either a good or bad way. Sometimes good defence means not drawing attention to yourself, but I'm not sure if this is the case.

[Flaming Horse]

My opening night pairs: 55-4, 52-16,8-3.

[Brick]

Tanev-Weegar

Hanifin-Andersson

Zadorov-Meloche

[Calgary4LIfe]

You can make 3 relatively equal pairings if you split up Weegar-Tanev. I definitely see both the argument for that, as well as the value going that way.


What I prefer is to think of match-ups. We know that Sutter likes to match defence to opposing lines. I remember the Giordano - Brodie pairing as one that dramatically tilted the ice when they were out there for a few seasons together. It was the best pairing analytically in hockey IIRC. You could throw them out against any line in the NHL, and they would do a great job.


Weegar - Tanev has the chance to be a dominant pairing that can tilt the ice. Having them against #1 lines and #2 lines would go a long way to neutralizing them.


Then the pairing of Hanifin - Andersson gets thrown out for #2 lines and #3 lines (overlap - 4 lines vs 3 defence pairings of course). I feel 100% comfortable having them out there against most lines in the league.


This leaves lines 3 and 4 to the Zadorov - Stone/Kylington pairing - and this should still be a good pairing, especially against the lower lines. You don't want them out against McDavid and MacKinnon obviously, but I doubt there is any 3rd line in hockey that would tear this pairing to shreds.



In this way, I feel it maximizes the ability for Calgary to get that ice tilted in their favour. I don't think you can really go wrong going this way, or by splitting up Weegar and Tanev to give yourself 3 capable lines. I just think that it will be more difficult to have an advantage when the #1 lines and the league's best players are on the ice, plus a slightly higher chance of having a defencemen that isn't as strong defensively against a top player.


As for Mackey - I thought he was competent. For me, Stone gets the nod simply because of how well he can shoot and still be a decent defencemen. If he had more foot-speed, he would be pushing for a top 4 spot IMO. His lack of foot-speed makes him the 7th best option on the Flames currently.


Meloche I thought was better than Valimaki. Mackey I thought was better at moving the puck than Meloche did, but I did notice Meloche making good defensive reads over and over. He seems like a 'steady eddie' type that won't hurt you, but doesn't move the puck well.


Valimaki seemed to be all over the place. Sometimes noticeably strong at moving the puck, sometimes being slow at moving the puck or missing passes and shots. I just think he stood out at times for poor defensive plays, so I personally have Stone, Mackey and Meloche ahead of him. I prefer Meloche being that guy that can step in during injuries and not hurt you.



Poirier was fun to watch. I think that kid is going to turn out, but probably a couple of seasons down the road of course. Just thought i should mention him.


TLDR: I don't think you can really go wrong considering the talent, but I would rather go with 2 pairs you can throw out against lines 1-3 and feel very confident with, and have another pair to shelter against the remainder of the time of line 3 and line 4. I think in this way, it maximizes the strength of the defensive corps.

[Goriders]

Anderson Hanifin is the only pairing I’m confident in seeing.

After that I bet there will be a lot of tinkering in the first 10 games.

[dammage79]

Flames have 20 reg season games to get it ironed out. I don't much like the hype around the team league wide though. To me it always ends in disaster when the rest of the world thinks our team is good.