Personally I would rather not sign Virtanen. I just don't see him as a serviceable NHLer. At least in what Calgary needs. He's fast and big but that's it. He's not physical and has zero hockey sense. Basically worse Brett Ritchie

Virtanen >> Ritchie He's better than Pitlick, Klapka, Duehr or Schwindt too

Virtanen throws More Hits than Ritchie, had just as many Penalty Minutes, Scores More and can Play Centre

I'm sure Virtanen's Eager to Prove Himself and I'm confident will play hard to do so. It's a low cost low risk gamble AFAIC

I understand your POV I just don't think he is a fit. I feel he will very often be a healthy scratch if Pelletier makes the team

I do not see scracthing Lucic, he is the guy and I belive he has a shot at captain, and rooney has to be fourth line centre or else we signed him just to waste 1.3 in cap space, also why waste Tanev with Kyli where has to coach the guy on the ice when you could play him with weager and be able to somewhat shut down Mcdavid, also weager is a LD no, I love your mindset tho, the real question is do you want to put dube on the scoring second line or try and mold him into the next Backlund on the shutdown third line?

Lucic would make a good captain but at 34 years old and with only 1 year on his contract he won't be the next captain. I agree they didn't sign Rooney to sit him but he doesn't have to play center he can play wing too. Weegar can play both sides. IMO the Flames would be better off doing with their RD the same thing Tampa does with their LD and putting them on different pairings.

Hanifin - Andersson
Zadorov/Kylington - Weegar
Kylington/Zadorov - Tanev
Mackey/Stone/Meloche

Tanev gets his ice time reduced slightly to help keep him healthy. Weegar would slide over to LD on the first PK unit with Tanev (just like Gudbranson did last year) but plays RD with Zadorov or Kylington as his usual partner.

I don't think Lucic should be an everyday player any more. He should be inserted when needed to keep him strong & healthy = load management. His ice time should be shared with Pelletier & Rooney. Only need one of either Rooney or Lewis in the line-up for the PK, so Rooney-Ruzicka-Lewis/Virtanen or Lucic/Pelletier-Rooney-Ruzicka/Lewis/Virtanen. If Virtanen doesn't perform, any of Phillips, Schwindt, Delleandrea, Klapka, Duehr or Prospisil can be given a shot at 4RW

I've been making more/bigger changes recently, but was reminded that in the real world, they don't move players that were recently signed and we don't want to Break Up the Band & Team Chemistry too much, therefore Hanifin stays with Andersson and Kylington stays with Tanev, who's minutes get sheltered more now that Weegar was brought in. Both Kylington & Zadorov need strong Defense Partners, but if ever Weegar & Tanev need to be paired together for the reason you state, that's an option as well, would just be in special circumstances/situations

Yes, Dube deserves a shot in the Top-6. He's super offensively talented, has a great shot, plays well with Mang and it's time to see what he can do with a Play Making Centre. Virtanen adds more Size, Strength and Scoring to the 3rd Checking/Shut Down line and if not, Lewis or Pelletier can move up mid-game instead. Pelletier is both Physical & Defensive as well as Offensive, Very Good 2-Way Player, just a bit on the Small side

Thoughts on my Special Teams? Imagine a Cycle and Shift to the left on the PP, moving Toffoli & Hanifin Down to LW with Andersson & Weegar moving over to LD to either Bomb a Slap Shot from the Point or Slide Down for a One-Time and Huberdeau, Kadri &/or Virtanen behind the net saucer passing to either side for Toffoli, Mangiapane, Dube or Hanifin to net the setup. I put Zadorov on PK#2 to shelter Hanifin's minutes as well. I wonder if taking Lindholm off the PK might be a good idea too though

Possibly, all the more reason to invite him to camp on a PTO to find out

Dreaming here but what if Calgary pulls a mini Tampa Kucherov move with Lucic? It just oh so conveniently turns out Looch's shoulder is still bothering him so he goes on LTIR for the entire regular season then miraculously returns just in time for game one of the playoffs.

5.25 million over the cap plus the ~2 mil they have now means they could afford just about anyone they want who might be available. Vladimir Tarasenko for one.

Absolutely! My thoughts were the same, only use him when we need More Size, Physicality or some Enforcement otherwise, save him for the Playoffs, but this would work even better. When in Rome!?

Exactly! And in the meantime 6'6" 245 lb LW Adam Klapka gets a spot on the 4th line or as the extra forward. He's big, has a mean streak and he'll fight.

I agree with all of this but isn't Backs Lindy Kadri Dube Coleman maybe huberdeau all pk players so lewis would be a scratch fill in player, but heres a proposal what about this for Lucic to manage his minutes a kinda 5 line system to help manage minutes this idea sounds crazy but could work really well Sutter says you have to be able to play your spot to make the team so why not make a offense 4th line with rookies and Lucic because Lucic has played that role before a scoring line so say this line is lucic pelletier ruzicka they play a first line offense style game except they are agianst other teams fourth lines and getting played fourth line minutes so they can basically be a offense line and create a role for these young guys where they can axcel and earn pp time and get good numbers, and then have them basically play half the games as a fourth line then have another fourth line the is mostly scracthed when 1st fourth line is player or filling in other roles in middle six and vise versa, the 2nd fourth line would be a grinder line ruzicka lewis rooney even maybe lucic and you have that line together when your playing a rough team to fight fire with fire, is this a terrible idea? and sorry it was long and tell me if i missed anything? or if this even made sense?

Virtanen I heard is kinda a loser like a cancer a little not a nice person just a loser who happens to be good at hockey and would it be worth risking your locker room for him, I thought Edmonton signing Kane was stupid and still think it is, but why take a chance on a guy like that when you got people who could play his role already, why not buld a team the right way with a healthly locker room?
This is just what I heard he was a bad person I could be wrong, but I bet treliving knows

Thats a good idea deep D core could be the way to go

Stars don’t need LHD and I’m hoping Delly can stick this year in a system more suited to his play style

Yes, absolutely you're singing the same song in my head with regards to the 4th line. Sutter should use the entire 23 Man Roster and be inserting Scratch Players in & out all season if we have the depth, which I believe we do. Against Fast Teams, like the Oilers, go with Speed & Skill on the 4th/Energy Line and against Bigger Teams, like the Predators, go with Size & Strength for more of a Tight Checking Game.

Gotta be careful who we play with Lucic, as he's slow and a liability defensively. Ruzicka would be fine as he'd play C or RW, but both Lucic & Pelletier are LW's, so it would only be one of them on a line with Ruzicka, Lewis likely being the other, like last season (or maybe even Virtanen/Schwindt/Klapka/Duehr/Prospisil if they get called up or make the team). We ideally want 1 of Rooney or Lewis in for the PK and we want to reduce the amount of time our Top Players spend on the PK or Blocking Shots, as this increases the chance of injury. Better to shelter their minutes and keep them fresh for Offensive Duties

PK is part of Backs, Coleman, Lewis & Rooney's main jobs, but Lindy (plays too much PK imo), Dube, Mang, Toff are all decent Penalty Killers as well and from what I've seen so far, so is Jakob Pelletier, while Lucic & Kadri (very little) don't Kill Penalties really at all. Huberdeau hadn't typically been on FLA's PK till this past season, when he became a big part of it. Again, we really don't want our $10.5mil Star Blocking Slap Shots

Flames should invite Virtanen to a PTO to see & find out for themselves. Even if he gets signed, it won't be for much and if he's really a problem, worst case they can waive and/or bury him in the minors, with no Cap Hit or affecting us. I'm sure he's matured substantially over the last couple years. Besides people can change and deserve 2nd opportunities, especially when they're found to be innocent. A new start in CGY might be win-win for both. Low Risk/High Reward

I looked again and yes you do! Old Man Suter likely shouldn't be playing 24mins/night anymore. It'd be wise to shelter him at 37.5 Years Old

Suter-Heiskanen
Lindell-Miller
Valimaki-Hakanpaa
Hanley

Harley literally just turned 21, there's no need to rush his development and being waivers exempt can move up & down as needed

yeah

Suter isn’t ideal but he’s still solid. Harley needs consistent minutes. He doesn’t have anything else to prove at the AHL level. Putting another young defenseman in front of him doesn’t exactly send the right message

yeah, man you are a hockey genuis, I think I know alot but you know so much more

Ha, I wish! I just like analysing and discussing is all, but I appreciate the compliment

Way more knowledgeable hockey nuts around here. Glad you like the content and I appreciate the comments, likes and discussion!

Harley's still a kid. Would be better to bring in actual competition and to learn that this is a business; his position isn't just given, he needs to play well and produce every night if he wants to stay in the lineup. Beside's he's not Finnish, which is pretty much a prerequisite there in Dallas