[Rumour] Flames have offered Brett Kulak a Contract

[DOOM]

Wonder if we will sign Culkin.

[Caged Great]

Well, with how each of them has progress and the lack of depth at the position at the moment, the Flames would be kind of stupid to let Kulak and Culkin walk.

Good for them to at least give them a chance at the AHL level.

[devo22]

Flames D prospects under contract next season:

Tyler Wotherspoon
Patrick Sieloff (who has lost a whole year in his development)
John Ramage (who has had difficulties adjusting to pro hockey)

That's pretty much it. Keegan Kanzig is also under contract but will surely return to junior hockey for another year. Chad Billins is a pending RFA and I'm sure the Flames would want to have him back. Chris Breen is a pending UFA according to capgeek, and you have to wonder if he's shown enough to earn another contract. Mark Cundari and James Martin are pending RFA and they surely won't return.

So in short ... there's not many D prospects coming through the ranks. IMO the Flames would be stupid not to sign both Kulak and Culkin.

[Scoreface]

Which is why we really really need to draft and develop some real good Dmen. Even if we don't get Ekblad we need to hit a home run nearly Weber-like. In the meantime, yeah get these two signed, Burke!

[FAN]

Originally Posted by Scoreface

Which is why we really really need to draft and develop some real good Dmen. Even if we don't get Ekblad we need to hit a home run nearly Weber-like. In the meantime, yeah get these two signed, Burke!

I'm not concerned about this. Burke is really good at acquiring defensemen through trade and to a lesser extent through free agency. I'm not sure Burke drafted anyone of note in all his years as GM, yet his teams' defensive core has never been bad, partly because of Burke's keen eye for defensive talent and partly because Burke likes to have at least one elite or near elite defenseman to build around.

[OzSome]

Originally Posted by FAN

I'm not concerned about this. Burke is really good at acquiring defensemen through trade and to a lesser extent through free agency. I'm not sure Burke drafted anyone of note in all his years as GM, yet his teams' defensive core has never been bad, partly because of Burke's keen eye for defensive talent and partly because Burke likes to have at least one elite or near elite defenseman to build around.

Not saying you are wrong but I am just curious on who are those defensemen Burke traded for. Do you have a list of them?

As for Kulak's signing, is it official yet or still a rumour?

[devo22]

Originally Posted by OzSome

Not saying you are wrong but I am just curious on who are those defensemen Burke traded for. Do you have a list of them?

here are some of the more prominent:

IN VANCOUVER:
January 17, 1999: Vancouver acquires Ed Jovanovski, Kevin Weekes, Dave Gagner, Mike Brown and a 1st round pick from Florida for Pavel Bure, Bret Hedican, Brad Ference and a 3rd round pick
September 21, 2002: Vancouver acquires Sami Salo from Ottawa for Peter Schaefer
November 1, 2002: Vancouver acquires Marek Malik and Darren Langden from Carolina for Harold Druken and Jan Hlavac

IN ANAHEIM:
November 15, 2005: Anaheim acquires Francois Beauchemin and Tyler Wright from Columbus for Sergei Fedorov and a 2006 5th round pick
March 9, 2006: Anaheim acquires Sean O'Donnell from Phoenix for Joel Perreault
July 3, 2006: Anaheim acquires Chris Pronger from Edmonton for Joffrey Lupul, Ladislav Smid and three draft picks
February 26, 2008: Anaheim acquires Marc-Andre Bergeron from the New York Islanders for a 2008 3rd round pick

IN TORONTO:
January 31, 2010: Toronto acquires Dion Phaneuf, Keith Aulie, ... ah well, I'm sure you know this one ...
February 9, 2011: Toronto acquires Jake Gardiner, Joffrey Lupul and a conditional 2013 4th round pick for Francois Beauchemin
June 24, 2011: Toronto acquires John Michael Liles from Colorado for a 2012 2nd round pick
July 3, 2011: Toronto acquires Cody Franson and Matt Lombardi from Nashville for Brett Lebda, Rob Slaney

[FireGilbert]

I think Burke traded for Sean O'Donnell as well. He basically acquired the top 4 defence for the Ducks Stanley cup team.

Also, the first time I ever heard Brian Burke's name as a child was when he traded for Pronger in Hartford.

[devo22]

Originally Posted by FireGilbert

I think Burke traded for Sean O'Donnell as well.

correct. Added to the list. Will also add his work in Vancouver to the list.

[Scoreface]

Yeah, I think free agent signings for D can supplement the draft at this stage of the rebuild, but aside from draft picks, I don't believe our prospect pool is strong enough to go out and get some of those guys like Devo mentioned.

I'd prefer to be patient and mainly draft and develop our own guys. I hope Burke doesn't cannonball the prospect pool we do have to get what would probably amount to a fringe #2 Dman. We already have one of those in Brodie. Hang tight and be smart about things. I hope.

[FAN]

Originally Posted by Scoreface

Yeah, I think free agent signings for D can supplement the draft at this stage of the rebuild, but aside from draft picks, I don't believe our prospect pool is strong enough to go out and get some of those guys like Devo mentioned.

I'd prefer to be patient and mainly draft and develop our own guys. I hope Burke doesn't cannonball the prospect pool we do have to get what would probably amount to a fringe #2 Dman. We already have one of those in Brodie. Hang tight and be smart about things. I hope.

Look at the moves Devo listed (and it's not even a complete list). Most of those moves didn't involve prospects at all. Those were pure hockey trades.

[thymebalm]

Originally Posted by OzSome

Not saying you are wrong but I am just curious on who are those defensemen Burke traded for. Do you have a list of them?

As for Kulak's signing, is it official yet or still a rumour?

It wasn't a signing, simply a contract offer.

I'm expecting them to come to terms with in the next 2 weeks based on the news. He doesn't really have a reason to hold out, so it's just a matter of paperwork, details, etc.

[Scoreface]

Originally Posted by FAN

Look at the moves Devo listed (and it's not even a complete list). Most of those moves didn't involve prospects at all. Those were pure hockey trades.

You mean mostly the trades involving picks plus/or roster players we don't have to swing most of those deals?? Sure we have some picks, but our lineup isn't really all that enticing. Unless you're talking Monahan/Gio. And our prospect pool isn't high end much at all.

[cral12]

I've said it before on the boards, but I was probably Kulak's biggest backer heading into the draft and was absolutely ecstatic when Flames able to land him as a 4th rnder.

I had him ranked 29th overall in my final rankings, higher than on any other list, for what it's worth. In his draft yr he was noted as a poised, positionally sound defensive first blueliner. I stated, after multiple viewings, that he has definite untapped offensive potential.

Might be a fata for some, but here's my in depth pre-draft profile on Kulak back in 2012:

Small excerpt (as I said it's in depth!)

The first thing you may notice about Brett Kulak while watching him man the blueline for the Vancouver Giants is that unless you were specifically paying him attention, he likely would likely be unnoticeable. In Kulak’s case, and in the case of efficient defensemen in general, this is often a very desirable trait.

Looking for an NHL comparable than look no further than Duncan Keith, who Kulak himself patterns his game after. Kulak is a smooth, effortless skater with tremendous puck poise and always seems to make the simplest and often correct decision. It may take some time, but he also has untapped offensive upside as well given his hockey IQ and the rapid development track he is on. At this point in time, Keith is in another stratosphere in terms of offensive ability, but given time Kulak has the potential to be on the same echelon. Kulak currently keeps his game simply rather than flashy.

- See more at: http://thehockeywriters.com/brett-ku...spect-profile/

Link to full article

[FAN]

Originally Posted by Scoreface

You mean mostly the trades involving picks plus/or roster players we don't have to swing most of those deals?? Sure we have some picks, but our lineup isn't really all that enticing. Unless you're talking Monahan/Gio. And our prospect pool isn't high end much at all.

You are looking at the team as if the team can't afford to lose anybody. Pieces get moved and spots get filled. Burke acquired Salo for Schaefer which is akin to trading a younger version of Stempniak or on this team's case Backlund. Now I'm not advocating trading Backlund, but Backlund is not irreplaceable and a top 4 defenseman the calibre of Salo would be a good trade. Burke acquired Malik who served as a top 4 defensemen for a few years and that involved trading someone like say Galliardi who used to be offensively productive. Burke acquired Beauchemin by dumping an aging player (could have been Cammy). Burke moved Beauchemin for Gardiner and Lupul, maybe Burke can pull a similar deal for Wideman. Who knows.

The point is that Burke has consistently been able to acquire top 4 defensemen or at least guys who can log valuable minutes. It's not that assets didn't get moved, but he got good value from these trades.

[Freeway]

Like cral, I'm a big fan of Kulak.

[FAN]

Originally Posted by cral12

I've said it before on the boards, but I was probably Kulak's biggest backer heading into the draft and was absolutely ecstatic when Flames able to land him as a 4th rnder.

I had him ranked 29th overall in my final rankings, higher than on any other list, for what it's worth. In his draft yr he was noted as a poised, positionally sound defensive first blueliner. I stated, after multiple viewings, that he has definite untapped offensive potential.

Not trying to take credit away from you, as what you saw is correct, but Kulak was described as having untapped offensive potential by many draft guides. I wasn't a Kulak backer at the time of the draft as I was deeply concerned about his lack of a physical game. To me, a nonphysical defensive defensemen isn't going to get too far in the NHL. With that said, I think it was an good pick in the 4th round as he was consistently ranked in the 3rd round by the draft guides I read. Definitely worth a signing, and curiously, why hasn't he signed?

[FlameZilla]

He & Culkin are both worth devoting contract spots for. Kulak looked very good in the dev camp IIRC?

I look forward to the day one of them replaces Chris Butler on the 3rd pairing!