OvermanKingGainer
#BennettFreed #CurseofTheSpulll #FreeOliver
Was that the year we made playoffs and he stepped up to play with Brodie when Gio went down. They were probably our best D pair down the stretch and into the playoffs. Ya don't think he was awful.
That was the year he and Brodie were on the ice together for only 1 out of every 3 Flames shot attempts for, and, unsurprisingly, 31.6% of the Flames' goals for - while Schlemko-Diaz, Russell-Wideman, Gaudreau-Monahan-Hudler, and... Jonas Hiller carried us, but anything for a good narrative about Engelland "stepping up".
Oh, and Chris Butler is an AHLer. Literally, now that he's no longer a Flame.
Anyways, just because I don't want Engelland back, doesn't mean I don't think he'd be a passable option as a #6/#7 on #6/#7 money playing #6/#7 minutes. I just don't buy for a minute that he's:
1) Worth more than a million AAV
2) Worth playing 18 minutes a game including 1st (!) PK unit
3) A good partner for: Brodie, Bartkowski, Wotherspoon, Ollas-Mattsson, Hickey, Kylington, Anderrsson, Healy, or pretty much any other player making #6/#7 money. I do think he's a good partner for Kulak though.
4) Able to viewed objectively by Gulutzan and co with respect to any of the above
5) Necessary for "physical play" without whom our defense is "soft"
It's just too much work to force Engelland to fit. He's simply not a core piece where you make role players fit around him. Wotherspoon in particular should have a chance to recapture that 2016 form he (and Jokipakka for that matter) showed partnered with Nakladal.
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