Call up Phillips! Now!

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by Mathgod

But the question does get raised about who comes out of the lineup so that there's a spot for Phillips on the roster. To me the answer is clear - Lucic comes out of the lineup, someone like Coleman or Dube gets bumped down to the 4th line to improve the quality of that line, then someone from the top 6 (Mangiapane) gets moved to Backlund's line, and Phillips gets a shot in the top 6.

Dube with 5 points in 6 games
And Coleman a key part of the shutdown line?

Neither are going to happen.

Ruzicka is it. That's your target. He move down and a guy like Ritchie joins Rooney and I'm on board.

But I'm not sure you've improved the team any.

[monkeyman]

Does anyone think Rooney would be claimed if he were put on waivers? I'm still not sure why we signed him. he's 29 and appears to have done nothing at the NHL or AHL level for that matter. Frees up a roster spot and gives flexibility to adjust the lines to accommodate a guy like Phillips on one of the top two lines.

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Sutter doesnt make roster moves between the farm and the big club though, thats the GM's call. Obviously they talk and kick ideas around but ultimately, its BT's decision.

Is that how you'd run things if you were a GM or Treliving though?

"Here's player I called up can you put him in please?" Or "what should we do?"

[TheScorpion]

Yeah, for all the talk about every NHL player being a scorer in the AHL, I'm not convinced Rooney would be

Edit: Yeah uh. When Rooney was one year older than Phillips is now, he had one goal in 38 AHL games. He never even surpassed 0.5 points per game at that level. And at the NHL level, he's never been anything more than a replacement-level contributor at the very best.

I daresay there are more than a few guys in the NHL who would be marginal AHL players. The notion that everyone in the NHL would be capable of tearing up the A (and that the worst players in the NHL are just worlds better than the best ones in the A) is one I just don't buy.

[Mathgod]

Originally Posted by Bingo

Dube with 5 points in 6 games
And Coleman a key part of the shutdown line?

Neither are going to happen.

Ruzicka is it. That's your target. He move down and a guy like Ritchie joins Rooney and I'm on board.

But I'm not sure you've improved the team any.

Dube has been good recently, but Ruzicka has been the better of the two overall this season.

And why would you bump Lewis out of the lineup? He's been far better than Rooney.

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by Mathgod

Dube has been good recently, but Ruzicka has been the better of the two overall this season.

And why would you bump Lewis out of the lineup? He's been far better than Rooney.

Where did I say take Lewis out?

Ruzicka was great in the Montreal game, but pretty spotty for 5 of the previous 6 games. He makes an impact when he's using his size (doesn't have to be dirty, just in the way)

He's the guy in my mind if you want to carve out a spot for Phillips.

[TheScorpion]

You take out Lucic before you take out Ruzicka

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

You take out Lucic before you take out Ruzicka

That wasn't the conversation.

You need to send a top nine to the bottom three to make space for Phillips. Ruzicka would be the guy.

Then you can have a Lucic vs Rooney vs Ritchie argument.

[TheScorpion]

My bad, misread what you said.

Nevertheless, Ritchie >> Lucic IMO.

[agulati]

Originally Posted by Samonadreau

Wouldn't BT have some say in calling up Phillips (or anyone else for that matter), or does Sutter just call the shots now?

Well if Phillips is going to be just in the box, why would Tre call him up. Plus I’m sure Sutter has a decent bit of say on who comes up based on what he perceives are needs and the solutions to those needs.

[monkeyman]

Yup, they would/should definitely be discussing these types of decisions.

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by Mr.Coffee

He’s the best player in the AHL. Yeah, somebody will want him.

No, they won't. Go back through the past 20 years and show me an instance where a D+7 player was traded, let alone for anything of value.

Also your logic is massively flawed and all you have done is sit around disagreeing with people.

You have no logic. You look at his point totals in the AHL and go derp derp derp. The road to the NHL is paved with guys who could score in the AHL and never got a sniff of the show. Just look the past few years.

Andrew Poturalski (1.42 PPG), TJ Tynan (1.58 PPG), Seth Griffith (1.25 PPG), Sam Anas (1.11 PPG), Reid Boucher (1.26 PPG), Gerry Mayhew (1.24 PPG), all small undersized players who never amounted to a hill of beans.

Please, what is the best strategy right now for the Flames and Matthew Phillips. Do nothing, miss playoffs, watch him walk in free agency and receive no value or benefit from him? Sweet.

I wouldn't do anything out of the ordinary. I would treat him like you do with a prospect that is D+7. TBH, it doesn't matter what they do. He's going to be UFA at the end of the season regardless of what they do. The thing they have to do is decide if he has an NHL future. Sutter's comments have me pretty confident they don't believe there is a future there.

Also, is it your position that he literally could not do anything to make the NHL? If not, what can he do? What is good enough or what do you need to see? Why did they draft him if his size is too much of an issue?

He's done everything in his power to make the NHL, and it doesn't appear that is enough for the Flames, especially the coach of the NHL team. Don't blame me that the NHL is a game for big men, and that we have a coach who really likes the beef in the lineup. I can't tell you why they drafted him. I wouldn't have gone near him. The risk was too large, even for a late pick. They must have thought they could catch the Gaudreau lightning in a bottle. Not a great strategy IMO.

Matthew Phillips has proven every single person in his career wrong that his size will make a difference. At every single level.

It only took him four years in the AHL to prove anything and a fifth to step to the fore. Is Calgary ready to make a similar investment at the NHL level for him? Again, the step to the NHL is a massive jump. It's why the AHL is filled with small players who have scored at that level and never amounted to anything at the NHL level.

[TheScorpion]

It took him two years in the AHL to prove anything. There was no risk in drafting him. Seriously what are you talking about?

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

My bad, misread what you said.

Nevertheless, Ritchie >> Lucic IMO.

All good.

Ritchie has finished ... some pretty weak goals, but finished nonetheless so I'm fine with that.

If you assign any value to intangibles though, Lucic outs strips Ritchie quickly.

[TheScorpion]

It's close. I just don't know if you can confidently say Lucic needs to play to provide those intangibles. I would have no issue with having him around as a player-coach or something like that.

I liked Lucic when he first got here but he just isn't the player he was even two years ago. It's getting really hard to watch.

[Yikes]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

My bad, misread what you said.

Nevertheless, Ritchie >> Lucic IMO.

All day long.

[Mathgod]

Originally Posted by Bingo

Where did I say take Lewis out?

Here

Originally Posted by Bingo

Ruzicka is it. That's your target. He move down and a guy like Ritchie joins Rooney and I'm on board.

You're looking at a Ruzicka-Rooney-Ritchie 4th line? That's how it reads.

For me if it comes down to Dube or Ruzicka to move to the 4th line, I move Dube. 3 of his recent 6 points came against a struggling Bobrovsky, and I'm not convinced that he overall has been as effective as Rosie this season.

So a Phillips shot would make the lines look something like

Huby-Lindy-Toffoli/Phillips
Ruzicka-Kadri-Toffoli/Phillips
Mang-Backs-Coleman
Ritchie-Dube-Lewis

[TheScorpion]

No I think Bingo meant Ritchie could join Rooney as a scratch

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

It's close. I just don't know if you can confidently say Lucic needs to play to provide those intangibles. I would have no issue with having him around as a player-coach or something like that.

I liked Lucic when he first got here but he just isn't the player he was even two years ago. It's getting really hard to watch.

Not sure it's the same impact in the room.

It's certainly not the same impact on opposing defensemen when he's chasing them down and scaring the spit out of them. League gets upset when coaches do that to opposing players.

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by Mathgod

Here



You're looking at a Ruzicka-Rooney-Ritchie 4th line? That's how it reads.

For me if it comes down to Dube or Ruzicka to move to the 4th line, I move Dube. 3 of his recent 6 points came against a struggling Bobrovsky, and I'm not convinced that he overall has been as effective as Rosie this season.

So a Phillips shot would make the lines look something like

Huby-Lindy-Toffoli/Phillips
Ruzicka-Kadri-Toffoli/Phillips
Mang-Backs-Coleman
Ritchie-Dube-Lewis

No I meant Ritchie joins Rooney in watching.