Did Kris Russell overplay his hand in free agency?

[Max Cow Disease]

I like Kris quite a bit and am not the greatest at appraising on-ice details, but even for me he oftentimes seemed to fail the "eye test" in his own zone. Heart and soul player, but you did seem to notice him commonly unable to come up with the puck during board battles in the corner, and his tendency to hail mary it up the boards in the hopes of a zone exit. He's definitely no king at stifling a dominant cycle game.

[FBI]

Not much news about Hudler or Jones either... Flames cast-offs seem to be biting the dust lately.. (except all stars such as Raymond and Agostino lol)

[getoverit]

That speaks volumes. Glad BTbis making the decisions now

Originally Posted by FBI

Not much news about Hudler or Jones either... Flames cast-offs seem to be biting the dust lately.. (except all stars such as Raymond and Agostino lol)

[Frank MetaMusil]

Originally Posted by Rick M.

How much of that 'loose gap' was due to Hartley's system? It didn't seem as noticeable in Dallas.

Getting into the playoffs and winning a series with Russell/Wideman as his top pairing for 35+ games was sheer wizardry.

Russell looked really bad at times for Dallas.

[Sylvanfan]

Calgary is becoming a place that hands many players their last NHL contract. It's as bad as New York for killing players careers!

More likely bad GMs handing out contracts to also rans. Hopefully Treliving can end this.

[crapshoot]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

Calgary is becoming a place that hands many players their last NHL contract. It's as bad as New York for killing players careers!

More likely bad GMs handing out contracts to also rans. Hopefully Treliving can end this.

Yeah, no. There are tons of players who will not catch on with a new team every year. It's not likely that Hudler or Russell will be among them.

[nemanja2306]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

The stat doesn't measure that. Yes, it's a fine quality to have a defenceman that is able to get into shooting lanes, get sticks on pucks, etc.

The problem is why a defenceman would need to (all the time).

The thing is, you make it sound like its all Russell's fault.

There are 5 players on the ice, sometimes he needs to block shot because others screwed up.

Is he a great d-man? No. But he's a fine #5 who is capable of playing top 4 minutes if needed.

[Ashasx]

Originally Posted by nemanja2306

The thing is, you make it sound like its all Russell's fault.

There are 5 players on the ice, sometimes he needs to block shot because others screwed up.

Is he a great d-man? No. But he's a fine #5 who is capable of playing top 4 minutes if needed.

Originally Posted by Ashasx

So the question is, can you blame it entirely on Russell? Well, I think you can blame Hartley for a lot of the Flames woes last year, but on average, yes, you can blame Russell. He consistently allowed more shots against than any player on the Flames, regardless of who he played with, etc. All players allowed more shots against when Russell was on the ice. Again, if this was one or two games, the sample is meaningless. But we have parts of 3 seasons of data. N is large. The trend continued in Dallas.

..

[sureLoss]

Harvey Fialkov @hfialkov
Panthers are showing interest in FA D Kris Russell acc to source

[devo22]

Yandle, Demers, maybe Russell ...

[1qqaaz]

Since when is Florida so willing to spend money? Was their ownership encouraged by a playoff appearance?

[Heavy Jack]

They didn't look bad at all against the NYI - three tough, tough OT losses, I actually thought they carried the play most of the time... And they are in the midst of a pretty large overhaul/tinker hybrid.

Out
Gurbranson
Kulikov
Campbell
Mitchell
Montoya
Hudler - Trade deadline ufa
Purcell - Trade deadline ufa

In
Yandle
Pysyk
Reimer
McCann
Marshessault
Demers
Sceviour
Possibly Russell now


Wow.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by Heavy Jack

They didn't look bad at all against the NYI - three tough, tough OT losses, I actually thought they carried the play most of the time... And they are in the midst of a pretty large overhaul/tinker hybrid.

Out
Gurbranson
Kulikov
Campbell
Mitchell
Montoya
Hudler - Trade deadline ufa
Purcell - Trade deadline ufa

In
Yandle
Pysyk
Reimer
McCann
Marshessault
Demers
Sceviour
Possibly Russell now


Wow.

Did they really get better though?

They lose Campbell and Mitchell. They get younger, but I'm not sure they get better. Reimer helps a bit but Montoya was fairly solid

[Roof-Daddy]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

Did they really get better though?

They lose Campbell and Mitchell. They get younger, but I'm not sure they get better. Reimer helps a bit but Montoya was fairly solid

I don't Think heavy was saying they necessarily got better just for that having a pretty good season and looking like a solid team in the playoffs they sure are making a lot of changes

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

Did they really get better though?

They lose Campbell and Mitchell. They get younger, but I'm not sure they get better. Reimer helps a bit but Montoya was fairly solid

If you're asking me, Reimer in and Montoya out is pretty much a wash, maybe a slight edge to Reimer.

Campbell out and Yandle in is also kind of a wash, but Yandle is much younger and might actually throw a hit now and then. Campbell was soft as melted butter.

Losing Mitchell hurts a lot, not only for his on ice talent, but for his leadership and mentorship of the younger d-men. It's no coincidence that they weren't as effective defensively last year the minute he went down with injury. I'm pretty sure he's retiring, so there wasn't anything they could have done to keep him.

Gudbranson was exposed last playoffs by Tavares. Gudbranson was supposed to be a great shutdown d-man, but he ended up getting torched and it likely single-handedly lost the Panthers the series. I like him as a physical 3rd pairing guy, but he was going to get paid like a top 4 d-man, and he just couldn't handle it.

Kulikov was very solid over the last couple of seasons, which was a massive improvement. He still has moments of lackadaisical play which drive me nuts, but when he's on he's a very good 2nd pairing defenseman who can drive the play. However, it sounds like he was going to become too expensive, so they needed to move him.

However, they got back Pysyk to replace Gudbranson.

Signed Demers to effectively replace Kulikov.

And they have a young Mike Matheson (as well as Ian MacCoshen) ready to step into a top 4 role tomorrow.

Add in McCann as a skilled 3rd liner, and Sceviour and Marchessault to be veteran 4th line energy players, and all of a sudden that roster looks really complete and ready to make a run.

That's not even considering the young core that got a year older and more experienced, plus their first playoff experience.

So yeah, they got better, and younger. Just IMO.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan

If you're asking me, Reimer in and Montoya out is pretty much a wash, maybe a slight edge to Reimer.

Campbell out and Yandle in is also kind of a wash, but Yandle is much younger and might actually throw a hit now and then. Campbell was soft as melted butter.

Losing Mitchell hurts a lot, not only for his on ice talent, but for his leadership and mentorship of the younger d-men. It's no coincidence that they weren't as effective defensively last year the minute he went down with injury. I'm pretty sure he's retiring, so there wasn't anything they could have done to keep him.

Gudbranson was exposed last playoffs by Tavares. Gudbranson was supposed to be a great shutdown d-man, but he ended up getting torched and it likely single-handedly lost the Panthers the series. I like him as a physical 3rd pairing guy, but he was going to get paid like a top 4 d-man, and he just couldn't handle it.

Kulikov was very solid over the last couple of seasons, which was a massive improvement. He still has moments of lackadaisical play which drive me nuts, but when he's on he's a very good 2nd pairing defenseman who can drive the play. However, it sounds like he was going to become too expensive, so they needed to move him.

However, they got back Pysyk to replace Gudbranson.

Signed Demers to effectively replace Kulikov.

And they have a young Mike Matheson (as well as Ian MacCoshen) ready to step into a top 4 role tomorrow.

Add in McCann as a skilled 3rd liner, and Sceviour and Marchessault to be veteran 4th line energy players, and all of a sudden that roster looks really complete and ready to make a run.

That's not even considering the young core that got a year older and more experienced, plus their first playoff experience.

So yeah, they got better, and younger. Just IMO.

Better by progression perhaps, but not player movement IMO. They certainly didn't take any big step back though

[Strange Brew]

I think it speaks volumes to the quality of last year's roster that so many regulars from that team are still looking for contracts.

Hudler, Jones, Jooris and Russell. Plus the goalies.

Though I can't believe Russell still hasn't signed. Any examples of long term contracts handed out after 10 days of UFA being open in previous years? Even worse now with the courting period? Looks like the guy may need to sign a show me contract.

[nik-]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

I think it speaks volumes to the quality of last year's roster that so many regulars from that team are still looking for contracts.

Hudler, Jones, Jooris and Russell. Plus the goalies.

Though I can't believe Russell still hasn't signed. Any examples of long term contracts handed out after 10 days of UFA being open in previous years? Even worse now with the courting period? Looks like the guy may need to sign a show me contract.

I don't think it's a coincidence that Russell and Glencross are close friends. They both went into FA really overvaluing what their role was and it cost them.

Granted Glencross did have a disastrous tenure in Washington too.

[REDVAN]

^^ Florida always seems to have high turnover.

[flamesfan1297]

Who would have thought that Mason Raymond would signanother NHL. contract before both Hudler and Russel