Trevor Neufeld: Valimaki Frustrated With Situation — Siri, Give Me Synonyms for “Sadness”

Thanks Trevor for the blog.

You’re welcome! Thanks for reading! Sorry it’s a long one. Interesting subject though.

Not sure anyone thought Kylington would come in and make himself indispensable like he has. Gudbranson has also exceeded expectations. I'm sure an injury will elevate Juuso into the lineup at some point. But no doubt, the Flames can't like the idea of a healthy young dman not playing for this long. I wonder if they shouldn't put him down in Stockton for a few games.

Not sure anyone thought Kylington would come in and make himself indispensable like he has. Gudbranson has also exceeded expectations. I'm sure an injury will elevate Juuso into the lineup at some point. But no doubt, the Flames can't like the idea of a healthy young dman not playing for this long. I wonder if they shouldn't put him down in Stockton for a few games.
- tincup

Very interesting story. Thanks for the blog Trevor, also I agree with tincup. We have 3 locks on this team (Anderson, hanifin, tanev) which leaves 3 spots. Kylington has been playing like a man possessed and goes to show that you put the work in you’ll earn a spot. Gudbranson and Zadorov have shown to be a lot more stable than valamaki. Zadorov was healthy scratched and came back with a renewed effort. Valamaki hasn’t earned a spot above any of these guys yet. Dube, kylington, Zadorov etc…all were called out, kept their mouth shut, worked on their craft and came back better. In the games valamaki has played he hasn’t looked solid. He’s prone to bad give aways and being out of position. He has upside too but until he commits to playing team first game he shouldn’t be in the lineup

I remember valimaki coming out of junior and looking like he had the talent to take the reigns from gio (to the point that I wasn’t upset when we didn’t trade him for stone) but injuries have definitely taken their toll.

I can’t say what the next best step for him is but even now I still question why zadorov is in the lineup. Physical or not he looks like he belongs in beer league when he has the puck on his stick.

Thanks for the Blog!

Can Vali be sent down without clearing waivers? I believe he needs to pass through and someone would take him.

Will be interesting to see if Vali can rebound.

Great blog! Helps me deal with the deja vu feeling I've had since the Leafs scored. Thanks!

On a side note we should really consider using pipe shelf as a new name for the press box

Thank you for the cool read on the blog Trev!

I can’t say what the next best step for him is but even now I still question why zadorov is in the lineup. Physical or not he looks like he belongs in beer league when he has the puck on his stick.
- RedC21

Zadorov is similar to Lucic. They have hands of stone and not really any skill with the puck, but at least they're aware of that and keep it simple. They both also usually make the right decision with the puck.

Valimaki's decision-making is atrocious, and he also forgets what he's supposed to be doing in his own end far too often. The offensive upside also hasn't been there. It's tough to keep him in the lineup when he's not creating offence and is lost on defence. At least Zadorov is solid.

I don't know how accurate the article is, but if it's mostly accurate, the Flames need to try and move Valimaki while he still has some value. Development pains are fine, but cockily saying he's playing much better and has no idea why he's not in the lineup is absurd. There's zero chance that the coaching staff hasn't told him why he's sitting and what needs to improve. If he's choosing to ignore them, get rid of him.

Valimaki really doesn't have any trade value right now, but I agree with what's true in that article and he thinks he has being playing well right now then he should work on things that the coaching staff has probably preached time and time again. It seems it worked for Kylington, not long ago he was watching from the press box area.

Not sure anyone thought Kylington would come in and make himself indispensable like he has. Gudbranson has also exceeded expectations. I'm sure an injury will elevate Juuso into the lineup at some point. But no doubt, the Flames can't like the idea of a healthy young dman not playing for this long. I wonder if they shouldn't put him down in Stockton for a few games.
- tincup

Vali needs to clear waivers to go down to Stockton and even as poorly as he has played the last 2 seasons he would be claimed.

Zadorov is similar to Lucic. They have hands of stone and not really any skill with the puck, but at least they're aware of that and keep it simple. They both also usually make the right decision with the puck.

Valimaki's decision-making is atrocious, and he also forgets what he's supposed to be doing in his own end far too often. The offensive upside also hasn't been there. It's tough to keep him in the lineup when he's not creating offence and is lost on defence. At least Zadorov is solid.

I don't know how accurate the article is, but if it's mostly accurate, the Flames need to try and move Valimaki while he still has some value. Development pains are fine, but cockily saying he's playing much better and has no idea why he's not in the lineup is absurd. There's zero chance that the coaching staff hasn't told him why he's sitting and what needs to improve. If he's choosing to ignore them, get rid of him.
- Squeaky

Perhaps Valamaki & a 3rd for Kravtsov? Might help both teams salvage value & give a couple of potential good prospects fresh starts.

Perhaps Valamaki & a 3rd for Kravtsov? Might help both teams salvage value & give a couple of potential good prospects fresh starts.
- Kevin R

Tempting. But not sure if I am ready to give up on Valí just yet.

Tempting. But not sure if I am ready to give up on Valí just yet.
- DuranDuran

If his attitude is I'm playing great and no one's told me why I've been scratched for the past seven games, it's time to give up on him.

Tempting. But not sure if I am ready to give up on Valí just yet.
- DuranDuran

Agree, he's got all the tools to be a top 4 as soon as next year. I think they probably have to make room for him.

If his attitude is I'm playing great and no one's told me why I've been scratched for the past seven games, it's time to give up on him.
- Squeaky

Google translate has a long ways to go. Kind of want to wait and see what he really said before I jump to a conclusion.