[Trade] Flames acquire Brandon Bollig for 83rd OA

[Flames Draft Watcher]

He should provide more impact in several ways than the underwhelming Galiardi, who he basically replaces.

[FlameZilla]

Originally Posted by The Fonz

Happy with the trade. I see him as another Bouma, and given the style of play of these 2, and especially Bouma's shot blocking, odds are atleast 1 of them will spend some time on the IR this season. It'll be great always having 1 or both of these guys in the lineup.

That's why it is impressive that this guy played 82 games last season. Durability is an attribute which is often ignored.

[Enoch Root]

The Flames want to be difficult to play against. The simple fact of the matter is that, since 2007, they haven't been. Last year was a step in the right direction but they have a ways to go.

Last year they were 22nd in the league in hits. I know it's a subjective stat, but overall it tells a story.

Only Bouma 181, Smid 141, Colborne 129 and Jones 102 had 100 hits for the Flames last year.

Bollig had 201 (on the team that was dead last in hits - it will be interesting to see whether they miss him next year).

If the Flames do indeed want to be difficult to play against (and I sure hope they do), this was a good acquisition.

I can see him and Bouma being a pretty dynamic duo.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Wolven

To be fair, players that are considered "warts" are not given "above league minimum" contracts for extended lengths of time. 3+ years on his contract implies that the Blackhawks viewed him as a part of the long term plan over some league minimum plug that they are now going to have to employ.

As much as I would rather we had kept the pick... Bollig looks like a better player than our typical fighter. At least I hope he proves to be because otherwise we could have kept the pick and signed some meathead on July 1st.

I think we could probably scour every roster in the league and find players on every team that are below average or less than adequate, and still received multi-year deals for greater than the league average. It's why players go on waivers, get buried or get bought out. Only time will tell if Bollig is a waste of an asset, but I wouldn't take his current deal as an indication of anything. After all, Chicago did turn around and trade him.

I know that fans aren't always the best judges, but I looked at a Chicago forum and read threads from when they re-signed him and before the trade yesterday, and it sounds like a lot of people thought he was a waste of money. He didn't sound like a fan favourite by any means anyway.

Originally Posted by GGG

Based on the above we can say that there is a 6% chance we would have drafted a player significantly better than Bolig, an 18% chance of drafting someone similar to Bolig and a 76% chance of drafting someone worse.

And now instead of a 6% chance of getting something better than Bollig, we have a 0% chance. Not a big deal I guess, but I would rather shoot for the stars than just assume we'd botch the pick. I don't believe finding a player like Bollig would be so hard that we couldn't have rolled the dice with the pick yesterday.

I understand that I am making it sound like a bigger deal than it really is though, so I will stop beating this horse and just hope for the best. Maybe he'll win me over.

[Calgary4LIfe]

You need these types of 'heart and soul' players on all teams. You need them to protect and shelter the youth, and show them how to be professionals. They are not as skilled (obviously) as a lot of other players, so they have to work harder. This rubs off.

You also see them on championship teams. These teams don't win without these types either. Just ask Vancouver!

While I will agree that a 3rd was a bit steep, Treliving (as per his interview) believes that in an expanded role Bollig can become a better player.

Would you people here be comfortable trading Bouma for a 3rd? I would hate that trade. It is a very similar type of player, IMO. We aren't talking about an over the hill Jackman now. I personally can't wait to see a line of Wolf - Bollig - McGrattan out against Vancouver and smile as they are unable to match it. Really hoping Wolf is NHL capable and helps that 4th line push some pace.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe

You need these types of 'heart and soul' players on all teams. You need them to protect and shelter the youth, and show them how to be professionals. They are not as skilled (obviously) as a lot of other players, so they have to work harder. This rubs off.

You also see them on championship teams. These teams don't win without these types either. Just ask Vancouver!

While I will agree that a 3rd was a bit steep, Treliving (as per his interview) believes that in an expanded role Bollig can become a better player.

Would you people here be comfortable trading Bouma for a 3rd? I would hate that trade. It is a very similar type of player, IMO. We aren't talking about an over the hill Jackman now. I personally can't wait to see a line of Wolf - Bollig - McGrattan out against Vancouver and smile as they are unable to match it. Really hoping Wolf is NHL capable and helps that 4th line push some pace.

Great point, though I would value Bouma higher than Bollig.

Another thing on the 3rd: I haven't done the legwork on the math personally, but Feaster and the Flames have often claimed that from the 3rd round on through the 5th (and this was a very late 3rd), the likelihood of being an impact player is about the same. I have also read that elsewhere.

So for those saying: a 4th or a 5th maybe, but not a 3rd...

1) we didn't have any 4th or 5ths, and
2) statistically, there is virtually no difference vs a late 3rd

[TheDebaser]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

When the critics of a trade resort to empty, garbage statements like this, it's a good sign we probably won the trade

If we traded for a guy like Stempniak, we would say that that is a good use of a valuable asset. If people are going around saying "we probably weren't going to draft anyone useful with that pick anyway" they're just comforting themselves.

Drop by any Chicago board, ask any Chicago fan what they think of this trade. They're all pumped about it. This wasn't a good trade. Hell, at the very least we should have been able to get a better asset than Bolig in return. We shouldn't have to devalue our picks or dig into a guys advanced stats to be able to see why this trade might not end up being terrible.

That's all I'm saying, no need to get all passive aggressive about it. Your post calls mine empty, but literally all you're doing in your own is being passive aggressive. That sucks because I like you as a poster. Just my two cents.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

And now instead of a 6% chance of getting something better than Bollig, we have a 0% chance. Not a big deal I guess, but I would rather shoot for the stars than just assume we'd botch the pick. I don't believe finding a player like Bollig would be so hard that we couldn't have rolled the dice with the pick yesterday.

I understand that I am making it sound like a bigger deal than it really is though, so I will stop beating this horse and just hope for the best. Maybe he'll win me over.

Its not assuming you are botching the pick though. Its almost random at this point. So its really just roling the dice. By having extra picks we were able to buy some tickets and get certainty. Put everything into the lottery and ignore team building and you end up like the oilers.

Where this trade might not be a good deal is if there is someone as good as Bolig who we could have gotten as a UFA on an overpaid 2x2mil deal as we do have cap space to use as an asset. I dont know enough about fourth line players to evaluate what the market for them but two GMs just traded 3rd round picks for them.

[chalms04]

For all the Hawks fans saying that Bollig was solid for 82 games, but then disappeared in the playoffs: that second bit won't be an issue here.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by TheDebaser

If we traded for a guy like Stempniak, we would say that that is a good use of a valuable asset. If people are going around saying "we probably weren't going to draft anyone useful with that pick anyway" they're just comforting themselves.

Drop by any Chicago board, ask any Chicago fan what they think of this trade. They're all pumped about it. This wasn't a good trade. Hell, at the very least we should have been able to get a better asset than Bolig in return. We shouldn't have to devalue our picks or dig into a guys advanced stats to be able to see why this trade might not end up being terrible.

That's all I'm saying, no need to get all passive aggressive about it. Your post calls mine empty, but literally all you're doing in your own is being passive aggressive. That sucks because I like you as a poster. Just my two cents.

What you are calling passive aggressive, was simply an attempt to mirror your original post.

My issue with it was that you claimed that people were justifying the trade by saying that we wouldn't have gotten anything for the pick anyway.

I never saw anyone claim that.

The argument is simply a rational analysis of the value of a 3rd round pick and the likelihood of getting a better player with that pick. The key tough, is that not every pick is being traded, the Flames still had 2 2nds and a 3rd in order to find better players. They used a late 3rd to fill a role.

As for what Chicago fans think, it seems to me that every single fan base (including CP) immediately turns on a guy once he is traded. I couldn't care what they think. Also, even if their assessments are valid, that doesn't mean the player isn't needed on the new team.

The other thing about Chicago fans, is that they understand that guys are going to have to be shipped out due to the cap. Let's say the Flames were in that situation, wouldn't you rather see a role guy traded than a guy like Sharp? I would imagine they're happy.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe

You need these types of 'heart and soul' players on all teams. You need them to protect and shelter the youth, and show them how to be professionals. They are not as skilled (obviously) as a lot of other players, so they have to work harder. This rubs off.

You also see them on championship teams. These teams don't win without these types either. Just ask Vancouver!

While I will agree that a 3rd was a bit steep, Treliving (as per his interview) believes that in an expanded role Bollig can become a better player.

Would you people here be comfortable trading Bouma for a 3rd? I would hate that trade. It is a very similar type of player, IMO. We aren't talking about an over the hill Jackman now. I personally can't wait to see a line of Wolf - Bollig - McGrattan out against Vancouver and smile as they are unable to match it. Really hoping Wolf is NHL capable and helps that 4th line push some pace.

I agree, but I have my doubt that Bollig is that kind of player. Granted I didn't watch more than a handful of Hawks games this year, but he didn't seem like anything special. Going by the way Hawks fans, it sounds like he was a whipping boy a lot last season (based on threads from last season long before this trade).

[StrykerSteve]

I'm a huge fan of this move.

[Calgary4LIfe]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

I agree, but I have my doubt that Bollig is that kind of player. Granted I didn't watch more than a handful of Hawks games this year, but he didn't seem like anything special. Going by the way Hawks fans, it sounds like he was a whipping boy a lot last season (based on threads from last season long before this trade).

This is true - we may not really know how it works out until he gets here. I like it because of his comments that he made ("I will do anything for my team" or something similar), how he stepped up to fight McGrattan knowing he was going to lose, the advanced stats (apparently mostly defensive zone starts, playing against high-level competition which says this isn't a typical 'goon' that needs to be sheltered), the high amount of hits given (though always somewhat of an arbitrary figure), and the fact that he is a good sized player with decent skating abilities and hands that played in every game last year for one of the elite teams while averaging 10 mins.

To me, this sounds like a player that can help the team become a bit tougher, and can actually help to shelter the youth (if he is indeed capable of holding his own defensively against the other team's top lines). I watched a number of Chicago games, and I can't say he was 'noticeable' very often, but that may also be a good thing. I do remember some hits, and that he looked like a decent 4th liner out there for the Hawks. I think he will come in and not be a whipping boy at least

I do agree that until we see him play with the Flames for a while, both sides of the argument are probably better off having a 'wait and see' approach. Everyone complained a great deal about Jackman when he was signed, and then became absolutely LOVED that season (subsequent disappointing seasons notwithstanding). A number didn't like McGrattan either when he came back. I do want this team to be tougher and have players that can play who are tougher, so maybe I am being overly-positive, but I do see upside. I wanted the Flames to grab another tough player when McGrattan was the only option, but wasn't terribly happy it was Westgarth (though he did better than I thought he would). I think Bollig is a huge upgrade on Westgarth with regards to hockey ability, but probably somewhere in the same range when it comes to face-punching ability.

[Pliddy]

Just found this on ESPN Chicago, this was written prior to the trade. Pretty luke warm review- he got a "C"
http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/blac...brandon-bollig

[EldrickOnIce]

Originally Posted by Pliddy

Just found this on ESPN Chicago, this was written prior to the trade. Pretty luke warm review- he got a "C"
http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/blac...brandon-bollig

Or you could listen to the coach comments instead of the reporter.

“He’s really progressed,” Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said of Bollig during the regular season. “He gave us a nice ingredient, adding toughness off the bat. As a hockey player, that’s the part that may have surprised a lot of us -- the consistency of his game, what he’s able to do with the puck and play selection. That line’s helped over the last year and a half. We utilize him in an important role. We’re comfortable with him defensively and he adds a nice dimension to our lineup.”

[FlameZilla]

I wonder who Treliving was planning on picking at 83 before they decided to trade the pick...

Must have been someone who was picked mid 3rd round. My guess would be Brett Lernout, who went to the Canadiens at 73rd overall.

[doctajones428]

Nm

[SHOGUN]

If Bollig is a Bouma clone then I love this trade. I honestly would not have a problem if we had 2-4 Bouma's on this team.

[CaptainCrunch]

Burke - "Hey take that ambulance and drive it around the block with the sirens going, I'm paying you guys anyways"

[_Q_]

I know we would all love to draft the next franchise player with our late 3rd rounders or at least trade those picks for a 27 year old 40 goal 100 point player. That rarely happens though. I'm guessing the scouting staff made it known to Treliving that they didn't really care much for any of the players left on the board at that point and Treliving pulled the trigger on this deal.

I personally love this trade.