Calgary Flames Official Thread

[CalgaryTiger]

We lost Solovyev to waivers, he's by no means a star, but he's 25 and playing for the league leading Avalanche, we definitely could've used him.

Just after I read this, I see that Solovyov has been traded.

"Penguins Acquire Defenseman Ilya Solovyov from the Colorado Avalanche in Exchange for Valtteri Puustinen and a 2026 Seventh-Round Draft Pick"

Losing Solovyov was fine. The Flames have Bahl and Kuznetsov, two younger D who will only get better.

Beyond them, Pachal does bring a bit more of a physical element than almost any other flame so spotting him in every few games for BRZ is fine but BRZ should play 90% of the games. Hanley is also fine on a third pair of a bottom of the standings team. I don't watch any Wranglers hockey, but I don't hear of any defencemen that are ready for a callup, whoever is ready is already here (Kuznetsov and BRZ). Parekh playing in the AHL should be a confidence steppingstone before he comes back up but I still think he's not ready for the NHL as he still puts himself in bad spots to get physically outmatched.

The issue that is glaring is that there is very little to no forwards with a lot of talent, a lot of it could be coaching but now and in the years to come, it is going to be difficult for the Flames to manufacture offence. I don't think any of their recent picks come out of college this season, so we don't have that to look forward to this spring. Next season could be a rough one if Kadri and or Coleman are gone, at least they do a little something in the o-zone.

 

[trtcttc]

Just after I read this, I see that Solovyov has been traded.

"Penguins Acquire Defenseman Ilya Solovyov from the Colorado Avalanche in Exchange for Valtteri Puustinen and a 2026 Seventh-Round Draft Pick"

Losing Solovyov was fine. The Flames have Bahl and Kuznetsov, two younger D who will only get better.

Beyond them Pachal does bring a bit more of a physical element than almost any other flames so spotting him in every few games for BRZ is fine but BRZ should play 90% of the games. Hanley is also fine on a third pair of a bottom of the standings team. I don't watch any Wranglers hockey, but I don't hear of any defencemen that are ready for a callup, whoever is ready is already here (Kuznetsov and BRZ). Parekh playing in the AHL should be a confidence steppingstone before he comes back up but I still think he's not ready for the NHL.

The issue that is glaring is that there is very little to no forwards with a lot of talent, a lot of it could be coaching but now and, in the years, to come it is going to be difficult for the Flames to manufacture offence. I don't think any of their recent picks come out of college this season, so we don't have that to look forward to either. Next season could be a rough one if Kadri and or Coleman are gone, at least they do a little something in the o-zone.

They'll need a spot for Parekh, he can only go to the AHL for limited time and obviously no point in going back to junior.

It's a shame guys like Frost and Farabee hasn't taken a step with added opportunities. They'll need Coronoto to take a bigger step and hope the picks they're acquiring becomes something. Unfortunately, it's hard to get offence without drafting well, and they need more top 10/top 5 picks to do that.

 

[Mountain Man]

Parekh can't play in the AHL for more than a week or two, and that is just on a conditioning assignment. So if he isn't with the Flames, they need to send him back to the OHL. I think they are just worried about him getting hurt, so give him some time in the AHL until they have to bring him back. Playing in the OHL would be a massive boost for his confidence, but I have doubts his game would actually improve as he is beyond that level now. I think he plays 20 games for the Flames the rest of the season, then hopefully gets stronger this summer and is full time next year.

The Flames are building good depth with their recent picks, but we need a superstar. We should get a top 5 pick this year, hopefully we get a scoring forward, preferably at center!

 

[CalgaryTiger]

hopefully gets stronger this summer

See I don't think that's his issue. He doesn't have the type of body to ever add a lot of muscle. It would actually slow him down or make him lose what makes him special. What he needs to do is learn the areas of the ice he can play in and the areas of the ice he needs to spend less time in. In junior and even at the world juniors he's not a small guy so he can play in the physical areas of the ice, in the NHL he can't.

What he can do better than the average player is see the game in ways other players can't, in the NHL the game he sees changes quicker than in junior, but opportunities are still there. He knows how to use that vision in the offensive zone pretty well already, but he needs to learn how to use that vision in the defensive zone to anticipate plays opposing players like him make and kill cycles and take away sticks.

That's all very detailed but suffice it to say, he has a future, he just needs to be developed.