The Elephant in the Room

[FLAMESFAN]

When are we going to address our biggest issue?

IMO our biggest need right now is developing NHL Dmen. Our depth there as it stands right now is not great, and unlike most on here I don't have faith in our cupboards. Tspoon while good, is not as good as most on here make him out to be. Outside of that we are lacking big time. Seiloff many have claimed to be a top 3guy, but he's struggling to stay in an AHL lineup - same as Ramage.

I suggested in the offseason a trade of Bart for Hagg from Philly, and most Flames fans laughed big time. I think we'd all do that trade now in a heartbeat.

So, when do we address our biggest issue?

Click to read more...

 

[herashak]

It's technically only the 2nd year of the rebuild. The flames have an elite top pairing, solid 2nd pairing and a lot of prospects who project to be bottom 3 defenders. Wotherspoon could be a good bottom pairing guy right now going off of what he showed last season.

 

[Steven]

Absolutely agreed. I think people are overrating our D prospects a bit, but sometimes it's hard to tell with defenceman. They traditionally develop slower than forwards and take a bit longer to make it to the NHL. And sometimes it's hard to tell just how good they can turn out to be once they do reach their full potential. Just consider Brodie -- I think a lot of fans felt we had a solid young D in him, but I don't think many felt he had this kind of upside.

But, as it stands now, I don't really see much more than future bottom-pairing guys in the system. Wotherspoon could end up being a top-4 D, but my guess is he tops out as a 5/6 at the NHL level. The one guy that intrigues me is Ryan Culkin. He's stepped into the ADK Flames lineup and had a pretty big impact as a rookie playing his first season pro. He actually reminds me of a younger Brodie. We'll just have to wait and see how the current crop of defencemen turn out. After seeing what our drafting and scouting has yielded in recent years upfront, I have a lot of confidence this team can develop some good young Ds as well. I also really hope we snag a couple at the 2015 draft, preferably some RHD.

 

[GetThePuckOut]

Culkin is underrated and IMO not far off from Sieloff and Wotherspoon.

These guys need to be given a shot to show what they've got. Wotherspoon looked really good last year.

We could already have the answer internally; but we won't know until we give them a try.

Also, no doubt that D-men will take precedence in the upcoming drafts.

 

[Calculon]

What's with the rush? There's nothing technical about it; it's still the second year of the rebuild. There's lots and lots and lots of time to address defense.

 

[Lunatik]

When are we going to address our biggest issue?

IMO our biggest need right now is developing NHL Dmen. Our depth there as it stands right now is not great, and unlike most on here I don't have faith in our cupboards. Tspoon while good, is not as good as most on here make him out to be. Outside of that we are lacking big time. Seiloff many have claimed to be a top 3guy, but he's struggling to stay in an AHL lineup - same as Ramage.

I suggested in the offseason a trade of Bart for Hagg from Philly, and most Flames fans laughed big time. I think we'd all do that trade now in a heartbeat.

So, when do we address our biggest issue?

IMO our biggest need is fans to be patient.

We have a plethora of defensemen developing in the AHL, CHL, EuroPro and NCAA ranks. We have Brodie, Russell & Giordano that should hopefully be here for several more years.

You underrate Wotherspoon and Seiloff (I mean christ the guy missed pretty much a year and a half, have you thoguht for a second that don't want to rush him into playing too much or that he might have missed time with injury on the farm? I'm guessing not), no one has claimed much at all about Ramage. But what about Kulak, Culkin, Roy, Hickey, Kanzig, Maatsson?

So when do we realize our rebuild is just beginning and hold off on the over the top panic stricken posts/threads worried about what we will do?

 

[GetThePuckOut]

Another thing is, a lot of us were annoyed by acquisitions like Seto and Bollig, because they took roster spots from developing prospects. So why do we want to do the exact same thing to someone like Wotherspoon? We can debate his upside all day long, but the fact remains that he is near-NHL ready, and should be given the chance to strengthen our bottom 6 before we acquire someone who's just gonna bury him for the foreseeable future.

 

[I Hate Blake Coleman]

I still laugh at Hagg for Bart. Such an overreaction thread.

 

[slappipappi]

IMO our biggest need is fans to be patient.

Best post I've read for some time.

 

[King In The North]

Wotherspoon could probably step into the bottom pairing right now. It's very hard to gauge defenseman potential.

Remember when Brodie stepped in we all thought he'd be a solid top 4

 

[FLAMES666]

Obviously the draft next year should have more emphasis on d man. But I don't think we need to make any major moves. Wouldnt mind moving one of our younger forwards for a younger D man though.

Something like Reinhart for Helgeson.

 

[Ace Rimmer]

To be more accurate, one of our biggest needs is a quality defensive prospect. We have a lot of guys who will likely slot in at #3-7 defensemen, but nothing blue chip. That said, in... 5 years we should still have Brodie as a #2, and a bunch of 3-7 guys.

I'd still take BPA next draft.

 

[tfong]

Wotherspoon looks fine for 2nd pairing.

 

[FLAMES666]

I'd still take BPA next draft.

For sure but there is actually quite a few D men spread through out this years rankings unlike last year there was very few.

 

[GetThePuckOut]

IMO once you get outta the top ten, BPA becomes less of a priority and teams start picking more on need. Unless there's someone who's BPA by a good margin.

 

[FLAMES666]

IMO once you get outta the top ten, BPA becomes less of a priority and teams start picking more on need. Unless there's someone who's BPA by a good margin.

BPA can be completely different from one team to another though. I would say the top 3 this year are pretty set in stone but after that there really isn't a clear BPA

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

IMO once you get outta the top ten, BPA becomes less of a priority and teams start picking more on need. Unless there's someone who's BPA by a good margin.

I just got your username. Like, you want to get the Puck out of your own end and you're a hockey fan. It's quite clever actually..

Kinda like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7-o1DogNDM

 

[MuffinMerc]

This is the second year of a rebuild. There is no need for a knee jerk reaction to rush Wotherspoon.

 

[Calculon]

IMO once you get outta the top ten, BPA becomes less of a priority and teams start picking more on need. Unless there's someone who's BPA by a good margin.

More often than not, teams regret doing that.

E.g. Rangers taking McIlrath because they wanted a physical defensemen over Fowler. Or the Flames trading down under D.Sutter and picking a much worse player.

 

[Anglesmith]

More often than not, teams regret doing that.

E.g. Rangers taking McIlrath because they wanted a physical defensemen over Fowler. Or the Flames trading down under D.Sutter and picking a much worse player.

Trading down isn't always an indication of picking for team need, though. Usually it's when a GM thinks that all of the available prospects are on a similar level and thus that getting quantity is more important than picking first.

 

[Razzdazzle*]

When are we going to address our biggest issue?

IMO our biggest need right now is developing NHL Dmen. Our depth there as it stands right now is not great, and unlike most on here I don't have faith in our cupboards. Tspoon while good, is not as good as most on here make him out to be. Outside of that we are lacking big time. Seiloff many have claimed to be a top 3guy, but he's struggling to stay in an AHL lineup - same as Ramage.

I suggested in the offseason a trade of Bart for Hagg from Philly, and most Flames fans laughed big time. I think we'd all do that trade now in a heartbeat.

So, when do we address our biggest issue?

You need to calm down. This isn't our biggest issue, it's one of the many issues.

 

[Calculon]

Trading down isn't always an indication of picking for team need, though. Usually it's when a GM thinks that all of the available prospects are on a similar level and thus that getting quantity is more important than picking first.

Sometimes, yes. And in those cases then, that statement can just be amended to Feaster trading down to take Jankowski.

 

[TheHudlinator]

Brodie proves we can develop defensemen but we just have to be patient with them. I would like to grab another D man to fix our 3rd pairing but nothing long term or at the cost of the future.

 

[Qubax]

All the Flames need are a Leopold or Lydman type to go with bringing up Wotherspoon and we'd be fine.

Our problem is simple, our 3rd pairing needs to be trusted to play 14-16 minutes rather then 6-8 minutes. Because of this Brodano and Russell/Wideman are tiring out.

If we had a decent minute eating 16-18, 3rd pairing we'd be fine every where else. Usually one of Ramo/Hiller is playing well and the forwards have been a rotating door all year.

If we can go get an over priced capable 3rd pairing defencemen or two we'd be in good shape. It's apparent that Engelland hasn't lived up to the contract. But that is a small complaint in an otherwise very well run organization and roster.

 

[WhereIsIt]

I don't think there's a fix for D-men this year. Prospects probably aren't ready. A lot of teams are stuggling with D depth so I don't know how favourable the market is going to be. This is going to have to be a free agent fix. Until then, buckle up.