Calgary Flames Monday Roundtable: Draft and Expansion Recap

With the Expansion and the NHL Entry Draft happening last week, we have some things to discuss as Calgary Flames fans.

Hello Calgary Flames fans and welcome to another edition of Monday Roundtable! The segment that we here at Flame for Thought bring you every Monday. Basically, I ask the other writers here questions surrounding a specific topic each week and we have a virtual roundtable discussion about it. Last week, we talked about some possibilities happening on Draft Day. With the Draft and the Expansion draft happening last week, let’s have a discussion about those.

Last week was one of the most exciting weeks you can have as a hockey fan during the off-season. Let’s face it, there isn’t always a lot to talk about during the off-season unless there are exciting trades happening. Which has been happening with the Flames! But anyways, these questions will be surrounding the Expansion and the Entry Draft. I asked the other writers here some questions and here is all of our takes on what happened!

Question 1: How do you feel about Deryk Engelland going to Vegas over someone like Troy Brouwer?

Jonathan Boulanger

Bitter-Sweet. Gonna miss Engelland, a real character guy willing to put his body on the line day in and day out (plus he has some sweet hands since he used to play RW). On the other hand, the Flames get off scott-free in a way compared to other teams like Nashville who lost James Neal… Ouch.

Alex Hoegler

Brouwer is the better player, but the Flames could have used the cap space. Brouwer is a bigger impact player, though. I think it was best for the Flames to have Vegas choose Engelland. Now that they have Travis Hamonic, Engelland’s loss isn’t so bad.

Related Story: Expansion - Deryk Engelland is Going to Vegas

Dan Raicevich

I don’t mind the loss. Its a veteran player that we had a chance to re-up with, so that locker room presence will be lost. But the end of the day, it opens a slot up for a promising young prospect. So I wouldn’t lose sleep over Engelland heading to the desert.

Ramina Shlah

It’s a little bitter-sweet like Jonathan said because I had a soft spot for Engelland, but he was most likely leaving anyways. It is unfortunate that the Calgary Flames couldn’t free up some cap space by having Vegas choose Brouwer, but nonetheless, there could be some sort of trade happening with Brouwer. I really don’t know at this point, but I would have preferred Brouwer over Engelland.

Question 2: Engelland was going to be a free agent on July 1st and he’s made a point that he’d like to finish off his career in Vegas where he has a home and his family is. Do you think the Calgary Flames somewhat got away with a steal since they took a player that was most likely going to be going to Vegas anyways?

Jonathan Boulanger

If Lazar or Ferland were available, I would have been relieved for Vegas to take a guy like Engelland, but the options were scarce. I don’t really think it’s a bullet dodged considering their best options were Stajan, Brouwer, Bouma and Engelland.

Calgary Flames

Alex Hoegler

Yes they did. The Flames clearly were prepared to move on from Engelland, so they basically didn’t lose anything here. Seeing how guys like Jonathan Marchessault, Shea Theodore and Marc-Andre Fleury were lost by their respective teams, I’d say Calgary got away with a steal here.

Dan Raicevich

I think the Flames came away from the expansion draft unscathed. They kept all their young talent, and they improved at the NHL Draft. All in all, the Flames might of came away from this weekend better than all 31 teams.

Ramina Shlah

Like Alex said, seeing how Vegas got guys like Marchessault and Fleury, the Flames somewhat got away with a steal. None of the guys left exposed were quite Fleury or Marchessault steals though, but nonetheless, Engelland was most likely signing with Vegas when he officially became a free agent anyways. So I guess the Flames didn’t really lose anybody in the Expansion if we look at it like that. But at the same time, a loss was not freeing up any cap space. Which I’m somewhat alright with right now.

Question 3: Have you had a chance to look at the player the Flames picked up at that 16th overall pick? (Juuso Valimaki) If you have, how do you feel about this choice?

Jonathan Boulanger

I am neutral about it. I won’t get my hopes up for him because D-men are harder to develop than forwards, but it has happened. I think the Flames have better defensive prospects in the system that will get a shot before him unless he blows management away at camp. He seems to be a big boy who can be sound defensively, but that seems to be all he is.

Alex Hoegler

I think this is a safe pick for Calgary. They have too many forwards and with T.J. Brodie, Mark Giordano, Dougie Hamilton and the aforementioned Hamonic on defence, there’s no rush nor pressure to get Valimaki ready. He’s easily two or three years away from the NHL. But his good size (6-foot-2, 212 pounds), should help Valimaki succeed as a second-pairing blueliner in the future.

Related Story: Flames Select Juuso Valimaki With the 16th Overall Pick

Dan Raicevich

I think its a good choice, you can never have enough high end defensive prospects. But I would have liked Timothy Liljegren instead. His offensive skill could be better than Valimaki’s down the line here. But overall, still a good choice by Brad Treliving and Co.

Ramina Shlah

Yeah I’m somewhat neutral about it too, but it is a safe pick. I wrote about Valimaki and I talked about how I would have preferred a guy like Liljegren since he was still available and the Toronto Maple Leafs selected him right after the Flames selected Valimaki. But nonetheless, some good things about him is that he’s big and had a solid season last season with the Tri-City Americans. He isn’t flashy, but is a smart shooter and knows when to go to the net. Like Jonathan said, it takes a few years for d’s to develop, but the Flames are doing quite well with defence prospects right now.

Right now, it’s a safe pick.