Waived: Flames waive Brett Kulak

[DFF]

Treliving is kind of an ******* with contract negotiations. I think he gets claimed though which kinda sucks. He's a solid third pairing guy and I hope Andersson takes the spot, not Prout.

Every team has a kulak or two

Don't forget Vegas didn't bother to claim him instead of picking a guy that was going to be a FA in a few days

 

[DCDM]

I would pretend to be shocked but I am still traumatized from the time we pissed away the 2015-16 season by waiving Paul Byron. We love pissing away talent to hang onto scrubs. This year it's Dalton Prout on a one way contract, who's a scrub. Total ****ing scrub.

I'm sure CFHF is stoked about this though, they seem to hate to see the Flames play good hockey.

You should probably see a doctor if something that happened two years ago is still plaguing you.

 

[Flames Fanatic]

You should probably see a doctor if something that happened two years ago is still plaguing you.

And here I thought you were supposed to see a doctor after a few hours if something hasn't subsided

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

Why exactly is having a single rookie defenseman playing bottom role minutes someone being "thrown to the wolves"?

Four reasons:

1) Kylington and Valimaki have a combined one game of NHL experience and are 20 and 21 respectively which is very young for the position. The NHL has an afjustment period.

2) Valimaki has zero games of professional experience. Dominating junior as an oldet playet against 16yos is great but Suddenly you are playing against men, without the same green light to sauce a risky pass through six bodies, without the PP and PK and ES ice time to keep mentally engaged, and when you ice the puck suddenly you see yourself facing off against Kopitar and Kovalchuk or Ovechkin and Kuznetsov.

3) Injuries happen in the top 4. Sometimes multiple injuries at a time. Who you trust most if Gio and Hanifin are out for a couple weeks?

4) Quality of Teammate is a huge impact on NHL success. Well Stone isn't a partner who makes his partner better, he is a parter who needs his partner to make him better. Andersson is a rookie who needs some stability. Prout is a scrub. Hanifin is shaky defensively and needs a solid veteran partner.

Now I do think Kylington can come out of the fire intact, but it's fair to say this is throwing them to the wolves.

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

You mean our 3rd or 4th best defenseman that season according to him (I want to say it was 3rd, but not 100% positive)? The same one that was out of the NHL the next season?

At least get your facts straight. I said Nakladal was our 4th best defenseman after the Russell trade in a season when our functional 4-7 were Jokipakka, Engelland, Wideman, and Wotherspoon. And I'll stand by that. IDC if he's out of the NHL, he was better for us than Stone and Bartkowski were last year. IDC if Engelland is still in the NHL, he's still a scrub and Nakladal is better at hockey.

 

[Cyborg Yzerberg]

Wake and bake eh?

Believe it or not I was not only sober, but at work.

 

[Flames Fanatic]

At least get your facts straight. I said Nakladal was our 4th best defenseman after the Russell trade in a season when our functional 4-7 were Jokipakka, Engelland, Wideman, and Wotherspoon. And I'll stand by that. IDC if he's out of the NHL, he was better for us than Stone and Bartkowski were last year. IDC if Engelland is still in the NHL, he's still a scrub and Nakladal is better

I could be crazy but I'm pretty sure you had him ahead of Russell too. You hated him.

Still purely in your corsi above all else mentality at the time.

 

[Flamesjustwin]

Another player that I just didn't see a fit for longterm. This one will be hard for some flames fans to accept, but when they trade Jankowski it will be harder. The team will be better for both though.

BT is not trading Jankowski.

 

[Flames Fanatic]

Four reasons:

1) Kylington and Valimaki have a combined one game of NHL experience and are 20 and 21 respectively which is very young for the position. The NHL has an afjustment period.

2) Valimaki has zero games of professional experience. Dominating junior as an oldet playet against 16yos is great but Suddenly you are playing against men, without the same green light to sauce a risky pass through six bodies, without the PP and PK and ES ice time to keep mentally engaged, and when you ice the puck suddenly you see yourself facing off against Kopitar and Kovalchuk or Ovechkin and Kuznetsov.

3) Injuries happen in the top 4. Sometimes multiple injuries at a time. Who you trust most if Gio and Hanifin are out for a couple weeks?

4) Quality of Teammate is a huge impact on NHL success. Well Stone isn't a partner who makes his partner better, he is a parter who needs his partner to make him better. Andersson is a rookie who needs some stability. Prout is a scrub. Hanifin is shaky defensively and needs a solid veteran partner.

Now I do think Kylington can come out of the fire intact, but it's fair to say this is throwing them to the wolves.

So how do you propose we get them into the NHL then? Alternate in solely in as the #7?

Our fanbase is so weird. Screams when we don't play young guys, and then screams when we might be playing young guys.

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

So how do you propose we get them into the NHL then? Alternate in solely in as the #7?

Our fanbase is so weird. Screams when we don't play young guys, and then screams when we might be playing young guys.

The GM should have contingency in place so that the team isn't forced to rely upon young guys. Waiving and losing Kulak would be bad from that perspective. He's also a pretty young guy for the position.

The coach should have the flexibility to find ice time for developing capable young guys (as Peters has shown already, with Hanifin being a prime example). If Kylington or Valimaki outplay Stone, or even Kulak the ice time should be distribted appropriately.

Don't keep young guys in the AHL for the sake of it but don't play vets and keep vets in the NHL for the sake of it. Meritocracy, not seniority.

Ween them in, but more quickly than "one NHL game in three years pro so we can play Bartkowski"

 

[Flames Fanatic]

The GM should have contingency in place so that the team isn't forced to rely upon young guys. Waiving and losing Kulak would be bad from that perspective. He's also a pretty young guy for the position.

The coach should have the flexibility to find ice time for developing capable young guys (as Peters has shown already, with Hanifin being a prime example). If Kylington or Valimaki outplay Stone, or even Kulak the ice time should be distribted appropriately.

Don't keep young guys in the AHL for the sake of it but don't play vets and keep vets in the NHL for the sake of it. Meritocracy, not seniority.

Ween them in, but more quickly than "one NHL game in three years pro so we can play Bartkowski"

Saying have a better contingency in place than Prout. I can get behind that.

But I guess I'm not as married to LHD-RHD as a must, especially in case of injuries and I think between Andersson, Valimaki, Kylington we'd be okay short term.

 

[qwerty]

Why exactly is having a single rookie defenseman playing bottom role minutes someone being "thrown to the wolves"?

I agree, what an obtuse take. The same posters wanted a rookie Kulak as the 3rd pairing LD but when a better rookie wants to replace him it's suddenly a huge misstep. lol

Because Valimaki has no pro hockey experience. It's a big jump to the NHL from juniors and there's a lot that these 2 players have to learn. The Flames are looking to contend this year and they need players who can jump in right away and make an impact rather than learn on the go.

Defense is one of the hardest positions to master in the NHL and I wouldn't feel comfortable at all forcing Valimaki or Kylington to sink or swim. Worst case scenario is they sink it hurts their confidence and stunts their growth.

 

[Volica]

I would pretend to be shocked but I am still traumatized from the time we pissed away the 2015-16 season by waiving Paul Byron. We love pissing away talent to hang onto scrubs. This year it's Dalton Prout on a one way contract, who's a scrub. Total ****ing scrub.

I'm sure CFHF is stoked about this though, they seem to hate to see the Flames play good hockey.

Yeah, Paul Byron wouldn't have been the difference between the 2015-16 season being a failure and a success. It's not like he's moving Montreal into a the playoffs yearly or something.

It's not a matter of hanging onto scrubs, to be fair, this is a negotiating tactic. You have no clue about what's going on behind the scenes; I like Kulak a lot, I think he was a great Dman for us this past season and one that I'd rather keep... But what if his demand is simply not feasible? Like a 3 year 9 million dollar deal or something? What makes Kulak good, is that he's a cheap bottom option that doesn't hurt you.

I feel he'll clear. Every team picks up risk grabbing him off waivers. Is it worth souring your relationship with Calgary, then paying a #5/6 guy 2.5-3 million maybe?

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

what if his demand is simply not feasible? Like a 3 year 9 million dollar deal or something?

Then the arbitrator would favour the Flames' offer

 

[CraigsList]

I know Kulak may not seem much, but he was a pretty solid defenseman in the bottom pairing. With some more ice time added, he could have the potential to be a solid #4 on a team in the future.

I’m calling it now, if a team claims him, he’s going to be a Byron 2.0 to a certain extent. Free pick up that could potentially give you a great return. Hopefully he passed through waivers.

 

[Volica]

Then the arbitrator would favour the Flames' offer

I.E you know how an arbitrator would rule.
You, I, anyone who's pretending to know anything; simply knows nothing about what's going on behind the scenes at this time.

This is BT making sure he gets Kulak for 1.5 or under.

 

[Bounces R Way]

I really don't think there's all that much chance he's claimed. Whoever would claim him still has to go to arbitration with less than a week to prepare their case and that case is inherently weakened in that they wanted him bad enough to use a waiver claim on him in the first place.

Really his most positive attribute as a player is that he's cheap depth that won't hurt you, this is the Flames ensuring that if he stays with them that he continues to be just that.

 

[RedHot]

A fairly young, drafted and developed, cost-controlled defenseman who just broke into the NHL and did a pretty good job with the minutes given to him.

Kulak is decent, and he has (moderate) upside. Could be an # 4 in a year or two.

This is a bad move to try and save a few bucks. He has value. Not a ton, but some, and it might have just been thrown away.

 

[RedHot]

If they are assuming Valimaki is ready, this could turn into the whole "the boat is a boat, but we need to know whats in the mystery box. Could be a boat" kind of situation.

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

I.E you know how an arbitrator would rule.
You, I, anyone who's pretending to know anything; simply knows nothing about what's going on behind the scenes at this time.

This is BT making sure he gets Kulak for 1.5 or under.

I know that in arbitration negotiations and hearings, the use of contract comparables is common, and I'm not aware of any contract comparable for Kulak with similar

- Age
- GP
- RFA years remaining
- Ice time distribution
- Lack of high-end offensive production

Who is making anything close to 3x3 as you suggested. Such a demand would be flimsy at best.

I doubt the Flames are even 0.75M apart from Kulak's party in terms of demand, never mind the 1.5+ million you are pointing to.

The Flames are in a cap predictament, and the truth is that the margins are very, very small for what they can afford. The obvious answer is to get rid of the likes of Stone, Brouwer, Frolik who are not going to live up to their salary next year. Strongarming Kulak to take a penny less here and a quarter less there might work, but more likely will just cost the Flames a cost-controlled, effective on-ice player who could be a Dumoulin/Martinez type of steady top four defenseman sooner rather than later - the kind of player you would want on your third pair because depth means having players be better than where they are slotted rather than just-adequate.

 

[qwerty]

So how do you propose we get them into the NHL then? Alternate in solely in as the #7?

Our fanbase is so weird. Screams when we don't play young guys, and then screams when we might be playing young guys.

The young guys deserve a spot if they earn it. Similar to what Josh Jooris did in 2014 and what Jankowski somewhat did last fall, if you kick the doors down and beat a veteran player out of the spot, then you deserve to earn a spot. Teams start to fall off when they just open up roster spots for rookies who just aren't ready for the show. Treliving recently stated that it should be hard to make this team, but by just waiving a legit NHL, I'm pretty sure that's the opposite of what he's preaching.

Kulak is obviously just a bottom pairing defensemen at this point in his career and he might make it big or he might not. But to potentially give up another young, legit NHLer with some upside doesn't seem wise and it has certainly bit Treliving in the butt before.

 

[uncleben]

Kulak is scheduled for arbitration on Monday


This is a strategic move by Calgary, banking on him clearing waivers.
This is a public display to say "see nobody even wants him for free" to reduce the arbitration reward



Arbitrations can get bloody...

 

[Double Dion]

We just paid over 3 million dollars for a guy who is basically Paul Byron. Hopefully we don't have to do the same to replace Kulak next year. Seriously, why do we keep dumping useful youngish NHLers to sign Brouwers, Stones and Ryans between 3 and 4.5 million per?

 

[uncleben]

He's actually said in his blog that he does this on purpose. Same with WIN for WPG.

And MON instead of MTL, CLB instead of CBJ
And he uses two letter and four letter abbreviations too (SJ and ARIZ for example)

I've gotta say, it's tiny and pretty innocuous, but it annoys me in a way way stronger than it should
The teams have standardized and chosen abbreviations!

 

[Lunatik]

More or less, yeah. It’s a ‘we’re willing to risk losing you to prove our point that you’re not worth what you’re asking for’ power move.

A bit dickish but I bet the Flames think they’re fine replacing him with Andersson if he does get claimed.

or Valimaki or Kylington, we also have Dalton Prout who can fill in if a kid isn't ready.

Im pretty sure he is gonna get claimed..

Seems like a bad gamble to me. We will find out I guess.

I'm pretty sure every team has a prospect that can the #6 role that is softer than butter sitting in the hot sun.

I would pretend to be shocked but I am still traumatized from the time we pissed away the 2015-16 season by waiving Paul Byron. We love pissing away talent to hang onto scrubs. This year it's Dalton Prout on a one way contract, who's a scrub. Total ****ing scrub.

I'm sure CFHF is stoked about this though, they seem to hate to see the Flames play good hockey.

you never fail to disappoint

Andersson is right handed guys. Why would he take the left spot when you have kylington and valimaki who are just about ready as well?

Yes, Andersson is right handed. But Stone showed he can play the left side effectively when Brodie went down with injury.