Injury Report: Valimaki Torn ACL, Requires Surgery

[Ace Rimmer]

6-9 months according to google, with the timing of this injury he could potentially miss the entire season

Was thinking about Hyman's injury as a comparison, but doing my own "research" via Google University, it ultimately depends on the extent of the tear.

'IT'S TERRIBLE NEWS'

There is currently no timeline on when the 20-year-old will return to the ice and, eventually, game action. But with surgery needed to mend the muddled right ligament, months - not weeks - are typical. To confirm, Valimaki will soon arrive in Calgary and establish a game plan with the Flames' medical staff.

In the meantime, and with training camp opening one month from today, the Flames now have a hole on the blueline that the GM is actively looking to fill.

"We're going to be in the market," Treliving said of a possible trade or free-agent signing to help shore up the left side. "The good news is that we have some young guys that we think have taken some steps, but we're certainly going to be looking at potential options on our blueline."

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

The loss of development time is extremely concerning. I am a firm believer that missing his d+1 season is a big reason Bennett has never lived up to his potential

I agree with you about Bennett for sure.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

Hello Jake Gardiner.

 

[Fig]

Good thing we have reliable veteran Michael Stone to fill in for... oh.

Well, there's also Prout... hmm...
Fantenberg... right.

Kylington, step on up!

Our organizational depth outside the top 6 is scary... and not in a good way. A breeze of injuries makes this dcore AHL caliber.

Umm... that's still an embarrassment of riches. How many teams have remotely close to anything other than AHL tweeners if anyone in their top 6 if injuries arise? I'm guessing you could count it on one hand. We on the other hand have a full top quality top 4 (as opposed to some teams who only have 2-3 quality top 4 players and plug 5/6 into the top 4) and extra players who would step into the top 4 if needed.

Top 4 quality:
Gio
Brodie
Hanifin
Hamonic
Andersson
---------
Unproven long term, but likely top 4 quality:
- Valimaki
- Kylington
---------
Not top 4 quality but still reasonable as a 5/6 on the roster/pipeline:
- Stone/Prout/Fantenberg
- *Crickets...*
---------
Prospects who might be able to do spot duty:
- Valiev
- Yeselin
---------

Well, ok. After those 7 names, we got about the same amount of support as Justin Trudeau for Trans mountain pipeline... But who cares. We can always probably grab some AHL journeymen for future considerations for the 7th or as a 5/6. Like a Matt Bartkowski type of dude who you just have sitting on the bench doing barely anything. I'm not worried.

The loss of development time is extremely concerning. I am a firm believer that missing his d+1 season is a big reason Bennett has never lived up to his potential

He only missed a few months last season, wasn't it. This season however he's missing a much more significant chunk, but it's not a fully lost season I think. It's not like a Sam Bennett situation where he missed essentially the entire season.

 

[Foxtail]

Avs fan here in peace, that sucks for him and the Flames, I guess this will give Kylington more opportunity.

Can't see you guys trading Brodie, who might be on the block now in clearing cap space for Tkachuk?

 

[Lunatik]

Was thinking about Hyman's injury as a comparison, but doing my own "research" via Google University, it ultimately depends on the extent of the tear.

Fair point. So with what we know his timeline is somewhere between Xmas and next season.

 

[InfinityIggy]

Watch Valiev/Davidson get the call up and not Kylington.

 

[InfinityIggy]

Avs fan here in peace, that sucks for him and the Flames, I guess this will give Kylington more opportunity.

Can't see you guys trading Brodie, who might be on the block now in clearing cap space for Tkachuk?

I think they will try to find a deal for Frolik now if cap space is the holdup on signing Tkachuk.

 

[Scrantonicity 2]

I feel really bad for him, that's a terrible injury to deal with.
He was the Flame I was most looking forward to watching this season.

 

[Fig]

Avs fan here in peace, that sucks for him and the Flames, I guess this will give Kylington more opportunity.

Can't see you guys trading Brodie, who might be on the block now in clearing cap space for Tkachuk?

I think Brodie could still be moved. We'd just need someone decent as a 5/6. Whether that's part of the trade or via FA, not sure.

Frolik is another seemingly obvious answer though.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

Watch Valiev/Davidson get the call up and not Kylington.

I’d be really surprised if this happened. Peters likes to play fast and Oliver got a good amount of games last year and did quite well. This will be good for his development and will hopefully allow us to move on from Brodie next season.

 

[Fig]

I’d be really surprised if this happened. Peters likes to play fast and Oliver got a good amount of games last year and did quite well. This will be good for his development and will hopefully allow us to move on from Brodie next season.

Ollie ollie oxen free?

 

[Foxtail]

I think they will try to find a deal for Frolik now if cap space is the holdup on signing Tkachuk.

for some reason I keep forgetting about Frolik

 

[InfinityIggy]

I’d be really surprised if this happened. Peters likes to play fast and Oliver got a good amount of games last year and did quite well. This will be good for his development and will hopefully allow us to move on from Brodie next season.

I heard through a close friend's brother that Peters lost a dance off to Oliver so he might be in the dog house.

 

[Bounces R Way]

Awful. An ACL tear can really derail an athlete's career. This offseason has sucked big time.

Get well soon Jusso.

 

[Kranix]

Brutal!

 

[Lunatik]

Watch Valiev/Davidson get the call up and not Kylington.

I honestly think Davidson was penciled in at the #7 anyway in the Prout role from last year, so one of the kids could start in the AHL. Davidson missed alot of time with injury signing, he has been a solid 3rd pair defenseman in the past and could be again.

 

[Kranix]

Time to sign Dion.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

I heard through a close friend's brother that Peters lost a dance off to Oliver so he might be in the dog house.

 

[Brodeur]

That's awful. How well do players usually recover from that in the NHL?

I'll always remember what Michal Handzus said about his recovery. Way back when, Handzus played a few games for Chicago, tore his ACL, missed the rest of the season, then signed with LA as a free agent. He looked bad in his first year but returned to form for the duration of his contract. Later on, he mentioned how physically he could return within a year, but he didn't feel truly 100% until closer to 18 months after.

Although I vaguely recall Evgeni Malkin having a torn ACL and he returned without missing a beat and won the Art Ross. But based on Handzus' recovery, I'm always a little more patient with guys coming back off that injury.

 

[Kranix]

Unless you get a bionic cyborg knee like Selanne.

 

[inthe6ix]

Was thinking about Hyman's injury as a comparison, but doing my own "research" via Google University, it ultimately depends on the extent of the tear.

'IT'S TERRIBLE NEWS'

NBA'er Klay Thompson tore his ACL in the Finals against us - 5 to 7 month prognosis, but being conservative, figure 8/9 months recovery for a full tear.

 

[Rangediddy]

Even with a full recovery of the knee, I always worry about what it does to players mentally. The confidence is usually lower and they end up playing it safer. Especially for a young player, I really hope this doesn't affect his development too much.

 

[Calculon]

Wonder if he tries to trade Frolik for a cheaper defenseman.

 

[Rangediddy]

Trade board had a suggestion of Hickey & Ho-Sang for Frolik.

Solves a couple issues for us. Well, might not SOLVE our need for a #2RW, but Ho-Sang is someone we've always talked about taking a flyer on, also a right shot RW. If he signs for cheap, we'd save capspace (Hickey is 3 x $2.5m), get a serviceable D man and a chance for Ho-Sang to turn his career around.