Training Camp Battles: The Defenders

Yesterday we took a look at the battle going on in the Flames crease. Today we are going to continue to look at the Flames camp battles by working out way from the net outwards.

The Flames defensive corps got a huge upgrade in both the top end, with the addition of Dougie Hamilton, as well as with the depth with the signing of a number of players and the development of their own young players.

The Flames have sent top prospect Rasmus Andersson back to his junior team and have sent Oliver Kylington and several other players down to Stockton. Ladislav Smid hasn't played hockey in almost a full season and doesn't look like he will be ready until probably a month into the season. The Flames have also just put T.J. Brodie on the IR with a broken hand that will take 3-6 weeks to heal, so the Flames are looking for a couple of replacement players to start the NHL season and the battle seems to have come down to 4 players.

Ryan Wilson, Brett Kulak, Tyler Wotherspoon and Jakub Nakladal are the 4 “extra” defensemen who remain in camp and 2 of the 4 of them are most likely to start the season in the NHL.

Ryan Wilson is in Flames camp on a PTO. Once considered a solid NHL defender, Wilson has had some troubles staying healthy lately, playing only 3 games for the Avalanche last season. The veteran defender has come into camp and been a steadying presence on the Flames blueline. The Flames have had some success with defenders on PTO’s, with Raphael Diaz playing very well for the Flames down the stretch last season. I would not be surprised to see him handed a contract with the camp he has had. You can never have too much defensive depth.

Tyler Wortherspoon was the Flames top defensive prospect last season and was able to get himself into some NHL game action last season. However, the Flames coaches did not seem to have a lot of trust in Wotherspoon as he only averaged 6:51 minutes in his 6 playoff games last season. That is not as un-expected as you might think for someone rated as the organizations top defensive prospect though, as the Flames system demands a lot from their defensemen and Wotherspoon is entering this season at a very young 22 years old. He has had a strong camp but he doesn't have to clear waivers so while he may start the season in Calgary, he will have to be playing out of his mind or rely on other injuries to stay at the NHL level once Brodie and Smid return.

Jakub Nakladal is billed as a steadying force from the back end with a big shot. The Flames signed the big Czech defender as a free agent this off-season and, while many thought he would need some time in the AHL to adjust his game, he has seemingly slid right in and not looked out of place at all. Like Wotherspoon he doesn’t need to clear waivers so he would be a likely candidate to head to Stockton once the injured players return. Nakladal suffered an injury in a pre-season game against Colorado but was seen back on the ice practising today so not a lot of time was missed.

Last, but not least, we have Brett Kulak. The young unheralded defender has mostly slipped under the radar since being drafted in the 4^th round of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. Last season was his first as a pro and he had some troubles adjusting to the pro game early on. Inconsistent play and minor league depth at the defensive position lead to Kulak being shipped to the ECHL so he could log more ice time. It was the right move for him as he scored 30 points in 39 games while playing for the Colorado Eagles. He was brought back to the AHL and played 26 games while establishing himself as one of Adirondack’s top defenders towards the end of the season.

Kulak has carried that momentum into this training camp. The youngest of the defensemen left in camp, he is, in my opinion, also have the best camp of the 4 listed. He is a quick skater who can cover a lot of ground, he has the smarts to know when to jump into the rush, and has a strong first pass out of the zone. While he may start the season with the Flames, he would be in tough to stay at the NHL level, especially if the Flames do sign Ryan Wilson. No matter how the defensive battle shakes down one thing is for certain. Brett Kulak is no longer flying under the radar.

Out of the blue: I don’t really see an out of the blue option here. 3 of the players I mentioned have the ability to go to the AHL without passing through waivers and the other is on a PTO. Flames management has been preaching the need for defensive depth for quite a while and the team is finally starting the bare the fruits of management’s labour. The ONLY thing I could see is the team looking to add another defenseman if they don’t plan on signing Ryan Wilson, but Wilson has had a pretty good camp so I don’t know if that would be the best use of assets unless it was for a player the management really believed in.

Tomorrow we will wrap up the Flames Camp Battles by looking at the Flames forward group, 

Training Camp Battles: Goaltending Edition

The Flames have started to make a number of cuts to their training camp roster and despite the fact they have had a few injuries happen the Flames appear to have a problem on their hands.

A very good problem.

The Flames are suffering from depth at all positions as it appears they have too many capable bodies and not enough roster spots for them. The real issue is some of these NHL ready bodies have to be exposed to waivers before being sent down and, as such, Brad Treliving and co. have some very difficult decisions to make over the next week.

Over the next few days I am going to attempt to break down Calgary’s glut of NHL players, what their options are, and the possible outcomes.

So, what are Calgary’s options?

Today I am going to look at the Flames goaltending situation.

Goalies

The Flames have a 3 headed monster crowding their crease at the moment. Jonas Hiller and Kari Ramo are both NHL calibre goaltenders who patrolled Calgary’s crease last season in a 1A/1B fashion. The 2 goaltenders had pretty good years, helping the Flames get all the way to the second round of the play-off's. 

Both goaltenders have their faults and I am not sure  either one of them is a true #1 goaltender, but they both seemed to feed off of the competition last year and any time one hit a slump the other was there to take the ball and run with it for a bit. It worked out well, but if the Flames are looking to be a better team this year they will need to improve on this.

Enter Joni Ortio.

The young Finnish goaltender, who was seemingly hand picked by Miika Kiprussoff in the 2009 entry draft, has taken a while to develop within the Flames system. Chosen in the 6^th, round, Ortio came over to North America in the 2010-2011 season, only to get off to a rough start and decide to head back to Finland for the rest of the season. He did the same in the 2011-2012 season, this time not returning to North America until the 2013-2014 season when he took over the starting goaltender role for the Baby Flames. 

The young goaltender has seen some NHL action over the last 2 seasons while being one of the top goaltenders in the AHL. Most recently Ortio had a 5 game run in January for the Flames where he won the first 4 games, posting a .949 Sv% and a 1.25 GAA including a shut-out in his first game against the Vancouver Canucks before having a tough outing and being sent back to the AHL due to a number of players coming back from the IR.

Joni Ortio finds himself waiver eligible this season and while it isn't a certainty that he would be claimed off waivers, it wouldn't be a risk I imagine Flames brass would be willing to make considering that Ramo and Hiller have expiring contracts and the Flames top goalie prospect, Jon Gillies,  is playing his first pro season this year and is probably still a few years away.

So who goes?

It’s a tough call. My gut says that Ramo has a higher upside than Hiller but the Flames will probably move whoever has the higher value at the moment. Having to go into the season with a Hiller/Ortio combo isn't a bad thing, especially if Ortio can live up to the good run that he had last year and push Hiller for starts.

Another reason I would be surprised to see Ortio and his 600K contract put on waivers is that moving one of Jonas Hiller (4.5 million) or Kari Ramo (3.8 million) would free up some cap space for the Flames. Even if they end up having to eat ½ of their salary for the season it would be worth it for Calgary. If the Flames find themselves in the middle of a play-off push like they did last season they will almost undoubtedly look to bolster their roster at the trade deadline. Having cap space will give them more options.

The question is, will they be able to find a taker?

Out of the blue: Brad Treliving and co. aren't happy with the goaltending options they have, or find themselves a more long term solution in net and make a trade. All 3 goalies have looked pretty good this training camp, so that probably rules out the former. I also don’t think there are many, if any, long term solutions out there at this time so I don’t see this one happening. I do however bring it up because there is a chance, even if it is a miniscule one.

Tomorrow I will be breaking down the Flames battle on the blueline.

No wins in 6? No Worries

The Flames, who had gotten off to a surprisingly strong start to begin the year, have cooled off in a big way having lost 6 games in a row. This has left management, coaches, and fan’s scratching their collective heads, searching for answers. 

No one wants to lose, especially 6 in a row, but it is how they’ve lost these games that’s really puzzling. They have played some of their best hockey of the season during this stretch and probably deserved to win 3 or 4 of those 6 games, but what’s deserved and what happens are 2 different beasts.

So why are the Flames losing? Well, it’s a combination of many reasons. Firstly their insanely high shooting % that they had through the great start has evened itself out in a real hurry. The Flames are struggling to score goals, but are doing a good job at creating chances still. The problem is they get the chance, turn the puck over, and have an odd man rush come back the other way. It’ll be the one mistake that they make in the period, and it’ll be in the back of their net. Bad luck? Sure, but that’s no excuse. You make your own luck.

The other thing I’ve noticed is with the Flames top 4 defensemen. The biggest reasons for the Flames early successes have started making uncharacteristic mental mistakes, which is also leading to more turn overs. So what’s the reason for players, who have shown a high hockey IQ in the past, starting making bad plays? Surely they don’t just wake up stupid one day. Well I have a theory, so stick with me.

During the Flames hot start, a lot has been made of the Flames top 4 defencemen and how good they were, and they are that good. Really we have been watching Mark Giordano, T.J. Brodie, and Kris Russell play extremely well for almost a calendar year. Giordano has emerged as a legit Norris threat, and T.J. Brodie has developed into an incredibly strong top pairing defenceman. Kris Russell, the unheralded 3^rd defenseman, brings a lot of the characteristics the 2 defensemen in front of him posses in a smaller package. Add in Dennis Wideman, the wily big body defender with a booming shot and you get a very solid top 4. 

All 4 guys can make cross ice tape to tape passes, jump up into the rush, and have big time shots that can get through traffic. Their outstanding play was really the catalyst for the Flames offense, and teams have clued in on them. They’re pressuring down on them, giving them less time to think, less space to work with, and so we’re starting to see a few mistakes.

How can the Flames fix this? It’s simple, but what is simple is often easier said than done. 

Firstly the Flames forwards need to start getting the puck deep and try and get a cycle going down below the goal line. This will do a couple things. It will keep defenders honest and open up shooting and passing lanes for their defenders, but it will also help stop them from turning the puck over at the blue-line. The Flames defenders have been given the green light to go when they see the opportunity, and when they join the rush and the puck gets turned over at the blue-line it’s easy for the other team to create an odd man rush the other way and right now that odd man rush is going into the back of the Flames net. I’m not saying they need to cycle for days, this is a team with a lot of speed and skill too but they also need to start winning the battles on the boards, start working the puck down low, and adapt to the way other teams are defending against them.

The next thing is something that cannot be fixed right away, but will become more and more important as the season wears on. The Flames bottom pairing has been basically hot garbage for most of the season. Ladislav Smid has been pretty OK for the most part I guess, but Deryk Engelland has been awful for most of the saeason, slow, bad passes and not physical enough. Rafi Diaz is a complete spaz at the best of times, albeit a spaz who plays hard, I can admire that I guess but the team needs something steadier back there.

Smid is injured now and by the sounds of it, will be out for a while, so auditions for the bottom pairing defense can begin. Flames coaching staff and management will need to find a way to get more out of their bottom pairing so they can eat some more minutes and take some pressure off their top guys. While exhaustion may be part of the reason the Flames top defenders are making poorer decisions lately, the longer the season goes the more wear and tear your players will get. You can’t ask guys to leave it all on the ice to 25-30 minutes a night unless you’re prepared to deal with the injuries that will probably accumulate. 

I suspect that management will ride this out for a bit. They will see if Engelland and Diaz can find their games (Engelland has been a bit better the last few games) and they will do their due diligence and see if there is maybe an answer within the organization (Corey Potter, who is up with the Flames at the moment but has yet to see action, Mark Cundari, and Tyler Wortherspoon being the likely candidates). If an answer doesn’t lie within this organization than you can expect Flames GM Brad Treliving to make a deal and probably move some of his forward depth out for some defensive help.

In the meantime the Flames will just have to keep giving it their all and start finding ways to win.