Ace Rimmer
Stoke me a clipper.
The largest concern Flames fans should have is the lack of AHL graduates in the last 3 years.
Zero D-men have moved up to join the club full time.
Neither Hathaway or Freddie have taken a full-time spot as forwards.
Youth should be filling the 5/6 slots in the d-core and the young forwards should be occupying regular spots in the bottom six and moving up the depth chart as they progress.
Many will state these "prospects" haven't shown what is needed to make the line-up but when you look at the underlying numbers both T-spoon and Kulak have had better numbers than Wideman.
Rather than playing has beens like Bollig, Bouma, or even Stajan for that matter it would be wiser for the team to be nurturing its youth.
Calgary only needs to sign a #4 d-man and a starting goalie for the upcoming season. Any combination of T-Spoon, Kulak, Andersson, and Kylington needs to be afforded the opportunity to fill the bottom spots.
Janko, Klimchuck, Prybil and Shinkaruk should be vying for roster spots and finally Gillies should be given a shot to back-up the starter.
Part of the malaise in the development of the younger players is they see no signs that they could be occupying slots on the big club.
Next Treliving needs to overhaul the way these players in the AHL are developed. Calgary needs development in the minors like Chicago and Toronto.
I think we could see a couple of graduates out of this upcoming training camp.
Kulak is probably ready for a full time role on the bottom pair. Klimchuk was very close to making the team out of camp, and if I recall Treliving only sent him down so he'd play regularly instead of sharing a box of popcorn with Freddie.
Shinkaruk and/or Vey should have had the role Versteeg played but just couldn't take the job.
Gillies might see backup duties (hee hee duties) if the Flames get a 60 start goalie.