Speculation: Armchair GM and Rumors Thread XXII - FLAMES RELATED (Matt Stajan Appreciation inside)

[Volica]

I'm all for Wideman being moved out, for salary reasons, but Kulak and Wotherspoon have not been convincing enough in the pre-season to suggest that it would make the team better.

I disagree with Witherspoon tbh. He's been given these big nights in the preseason (like 20+ minutes) and hasn't looked out of place.

The problem with Wideman has always been that he's a liability every time he hits the ice.

 

[Lunatik]

The Oilers OBC would probably take Pollock straight up for him, it would fit their MO.

I imagine that Brad has been on the phone every day with Chia trying to sweet talk him into taking Wideman to fill their biggest hole.

Wideman+2nd rounder+Pollock for Yak would be a perfect trade imo. Opens up a spot for Nakladal, maybe fills the #1RW spot, and saves Yak from Siberia. He deserves better.

they couldn't get a 3rd for Yak and you want to give up a 2nd and a player who was recently drafted in the 2nd?

Pollock IMO may be the best part of the Russell deal, I think moving him could be a mistake.

 

[Rockmorton]

I'm all for Wideman being moved out, for salary reasons, but Kulak and Wotherspoon have not been convincing enough in the pre-season to suggest that it would make the team better.

I don't think Wideman would be the last move.

For arguments sake, let's say Wideman for Yakupov happens, straight up. That saves Calgary about 3 mil on the cap.

Follow that up by sending Engelland to Stockton to mentor the kids. Saves another 900 k on the cap.

Sign Russell for 2.5-3 mil and Nakladal for 1-1.5

Kulak & TSpoon battle for the #7 spot

Flames roll with

Gio & Brodie
Russell & Hamilton
Kevin & Nakladal

Kulak/TSPoon

 

[Ynnek]

I wouldn't put Russell with Hamilton.

 

[Lunatik]

I wouldn't put Russell with Hamilton.

forget what you saw last year, a new system will change how players fit together.

 

[Rockmorton]

Russell & Kevin could be swapped quite easily.

 

[Ace Rimmer]

ummmmm...dumping wideman does not make this team better, lolz. Good 'ol HF boards living up to the name.

Anyone who thinks Kulak or Wotherspoon are an upgrade should give their head a shake.

No, but Wideman for Yakupov is a decent hockey trade that shores up weaknesses on both teams.

Problem is those teams are bitter rivals and each player involved has huge risks (and baggage) associated with them.

 

[SmellOfVictory]

ummmmm...dumping wideman does not make this team better, lolz. Good 'ol HF boards living up to the name.

Anyone who thinks Kulak or Wotherspoon are an upgrade should give their head a shake.

Wideman is not-that-good enough that it's not unreasonable to suppose that a newcomer could take his spot and be as effective overall. Maybe not on the PP, but at even strength. He's not a great skater and he's no better than average defensively, for a 5th dman.

 

[Lunatik]

Wideman is not-that-good enough that it's not unreasonable to suppose that a newcomer could take his spot and be as effective overall. Maybe not on the PP, but at even strength. He's not a great skater and he's no better than average defensively, for a 5th dman.

I've watch both play almost every game of their AHL and NHL careers, they are simply not as good as Wideman. They both are more prone to mistakes, neither as physical and neither can compare offensively; especially on the PP where Wideman is needed.

 

[SmellOfVictory]

I've watch both play almost every game of their AHL and NHL careers, they are simply not as good as Wideman. They both are more prone to mistakes, neither as physical and neither can compare offensively; especially on the PP where Wideman is needed.

Fair enough. I definitely haven't seen much of either of them, outside of their brief callups last year.

 

[Lunatik]

Fair enough. I definitely haven't seen much of either of them, outside of their brief callups last year.

They were more or less middle pairing defensemen in Stockton last year. Kulak was awful for the first while after being sent down, he got better for sure but he turned the puck over far too much. He does play like Brodie, which everyone loves; but the problem is he is an AHL caliber version of Brodie. Wotherspoon, who I believe is better than Kulak (both now and in the log run); has 2 big problems. First is he is not great at anything, he just doesn't have that one attribute that makes him stand out (he's like the Matt Stajan of defensemen). Second he is in his own head too much and that leads to him getting caught in between as he second guesses himself.

I don't think either is ready for action as a regular #6 and as I have said many times in the past I do not like prospects just sitting in the press box as an extra on a regular basis. I think both both players would be best served in Stockton playing together on the top pairing seeing 25+ minutes a night and ironing out the kinks in their games. I would much rather sign Grossmann to sit in the press box than have either of those two play third pairing minutes maybe once a week.

 

[DFF]

Wideman+2nd rounder+Pollock for Yak would be a perfect trade imo. Opens up a spot for Nakladal, maybe fills the #1RW spot, and saves Yak from Siberia. He deserves better.

I'll do Wideman and Pollock

Wideman for cap and Pollock is useless

 

[Skobel24]

I'll do Wideman and Pollock

Wideman for cap and Pollock is useless

Pollock is not useless.

 

[Lunatik]

Pollock is not useless.

Haha it appears he has another grudge

 

[InfinityIggy]

I'll do Wideman and Pollock

Wideman for cap and Pollock is useless

And what led you to that conclusion?

 

[DCDM]

I'll do Wideman and Pollock

Wideman for cap and Pollock is useless

He's been here for six months, what the hell

 

[Lunatik]

And what led you to that conclusion?

he's a flame prospect, obviously

 

[The Gnome]

They were more or less middle pairing defensemen in Stockton last year. Kulak was awful for the first while after being sent down, he got better for sure but he turned the puck over far too much. He does play like Brodie, which everyone loves; but the problem is he is an AHL caliber version of Brodie. Wotherspoon, who I believe is better than Kulak (both now and in the log run); has 2 big problems. First is he is not great at anything, he just doesn't have that one attribute that makes him stand out (he's like the Matt Stajan of defensemen). Second he is in his own head too much and that leads to him getting caught in between as he second guesses himself.

I don't think either is ready for action as a regular #6 and as I have said many times in the past I do not like prospects just sitting in the press box as an extra on a regular basis. I think both both players would be best served in Stockton playing together on the top pairing seeing 25+ minutes a night and ironing out the kinks in their games. I would much rather sign Grossmann to sit in the press box than have either of those two play third pairing minutes maybe once a week.

I love when someone else writes my posts for me. Bravo

I also completely agree with having Grossmann as a 7th vs. one of the kids. Let them develop and get quality minutes. Defensive prospects take time and patience from a fan perspective. Your bit regarding wotherspoon/stajan comparison is exactly how I feel. At least with Wideman he excels at being a PP QB and plays with edge when needed.

 

[Tkachuk Norris]

Wideman was terrible on the PP last year. Just god awful. We don't even need him for that anyway. Between Brodie, Gio and Hamilton we are fine for PP d-men. We need players that play a more simple game, no they probably won't produce as much as Wideman but at least they aren't defensive liabilities.

Also, if we don't take Spoon or Kulak, a) spoon probably gets claimed. B) we have to likely watch Engelland-Wideman which is historically a disaster.

There no universe where Dennis Wideman is still a good player. he just isn't a good defencemen.

 

[InfinityIggy]

Wideman was terrible on the PP last year. Just god awful. We don't even need him for that anyway. Between Brodie, Gio and Hamilton we are fine for PP d-men. We need players that play a more simple game, no they probably won't produce as much as Wideman but at least they aren't defensive liabilities.

Also, if we don't take Spoon or Kulak, a) spoon probably gets claimed. B) we have to likely watch Engelland-Wideman which is historically a disaster.

There no universe where Dennis Wideman is still a good player. he just isn't a good defencemen.

I really liked the Spoon - Engelland pairing we saw briefly last year. Solid bottom pairing.

 

[The Gnome]

Wideman was terrible on the PP last year. Just god awful. We don't even need him for that anyway. Between Brodie, Gio and Hamilton we are fine for PP d-men. We need players that play a more simple game, no they probably won't produce as much as Wideman but at least they aren't defensive liabilities.

Also, if we don't take Spoon or Kulak, a) spoon probably gets claimed. B) we have to likely watch Engelland-Wideman which is historically a disaster.

There no universe where Dennis Wideman is still a good player. he just isn't a good defencemen.

Wideman was bad last year, but I still think he is a much better dman than Wotherspoon or Kulak, both defensively and obviously offensively. But I would like to see wotherspoon get some games in, maybe he's taken a big step this year so far and will surpass Wideman. Kulak IMO, is absolutely not ready.

I think people just start dog piling on Wideman's defensive abilities because it's his biggest weakness and he gets paid. When looking at those 3 in a vacuum, I still don't see wotherspoon or Kulak being better in that regard. The caveat being I want more viewings of tspoon at the start of the year, hopefully he changes my mind, would love to see him make someone expendable.

 

[Anglesmith]

Wideman was terrible on the PP last year. Just god awful. We don't even need him for that anyway. Between Brodie, Gio and Hamilton we are fine for PP d-men. We need players that play a more simple game, no they probably won't produce as much as Wideman but at least they aren't defensive liabilities.

Also, if we don't take Spoon or Kulak, a) spoon probably gets claimed. B) we have to likely watch Engelland-Wideman which is historically a disaster.

There no universe where Dennis Wideman is still a good player. he just isn't a good defencemen.

Wideman was awful on the PP last year, but the year before he was really good there. Why not evaluate him on the now instead of last year. If last year was the only track record he had for us to go by, then sure. But I'm in favour of judging him on what he can do right now as opposed to what he did in one bad season out of his whole career.

 

[Tkachuk Norris]

Wideman was awful on the PP last year, but the year before he was really good there. Why not evaluate him on the now instead of last year. If last year was the only track record he had for us to go by, then sure. But I'm in favour of judging him on what he can do right now as opposed to what he did in one bad season out of his whole career.

I haven't been a Wideman fan really ever though. I never liked the deal the day we signed it. He did have a great year two years ago. And after I was one of the few that said we should trade him while we can. He's not a good player. He's fallen out of favour with pretty much every NHL coach he's ever had.

I would put him on waivers. The chances of him getting claimed are non existent. We can see if Kulak and Wotherspoon are upgrades. If they don't work it's no problem sending down Kulak and calling up Wideman. If he does get claimed, sweeeeeeeet.

 

[Pirate King Luffy]

The Flames won't send down Wideman. They would still have to pay him 5 Million just to play in Stockton. I don't see that happening.

 

[DCDM]

The Flames won't send down Wideman. They would still have to pay him 5 Million just to play in Stockton. I don't see that happening.

Exactly. If he's making that much dough he may as well contribute to the success of an NHL team even if it's probably the opponent's team