FN Mailbag – January 24, 2016

Jiri Hudler has suddenly become an important topic amongst Flames fans. After scoring the most 5on5 points in the league last year he has completely fallen off a cliff this year, to the degree that the coach doesn’t seem to know where to put him in the lineup. 

Heading into the season the question surrounding Hulder was whether the club could afford to re-sign him or if they’d move him for a sizeable return at the deadline. Now, the question is whether they can get anything for him at all.

The situation is reminiscent of Mike Cammalleri’s final days as a Calgary Flame. With the organization staring a full tear down and rebuild in the face, Mike Cammalleri seemed like the last, best veteran asset in the cupboard in the wake of the Iginla and Bouwmeester selloffs.

Unfortunately, Cammalleri struggled through a concussion and was completely ineffective in the weeks leading up to the deadline. As a result, Burke only received lowball offers for the winger (third rounder or below) and the taciturn interim GM decided he’d rather keep the player than give him up for a nominal return (a decision I disagreed with). 

Ironically, Cammalleri’s game completely turned around after the deadline. He scored 13 goals and 24 points in the final 20 games, meaning he likely would have been one of the best deadline rentals of the season had the Flames traded him.

There’s no saying whether that’s what will happen with Hudler this year. All we know is he still has time to turn the ship around. Here’s hoping he does before the deadline.

If he keeps up this level play, then Hudler’s asking price is likely to take a big dive in the off-season. The question is if the Flames would even want him anymore.

Chances are, the answer is “no”. The coach doesn’t seem to have much time for the player at this point and given how Hudler has played it’s hard to blame him. The paradox here is that Hudler’s giant step back is the only reason he’d be affordable enough for the Flames to re-sign; but, of course, the step back means the team won’t have interest in re-signing him.

At this point, getting anything would be satisfactory. Unfortunately the time to move him was obviously this past off-season, but it’s easy to make that call now in hindsight. The club probably could have commanded a high level prospect or draft pick, but now you’re probably looking at a mid-round pick at best.

Seeing as the correlation of receiving the award and him suddenly being terrible is nearly perfect, I think we can safely say “all of it”.

I don’t know. Will it get Hudler back to 2014-15 form? If so, then maybe.

We have to keep in mind that coaches are often working with more information than we’re privy to. Sometimes lineup and ice time decisions are made based off other factors besides on-ice performance.

That said, this year I think Hartley is just struggling to manage the over abundance of bottom-six options available to him. I don’t think he’s making the optimal choice in frequently choosing to sit Jooris over guys like Colborne and Bollig, but we’re talking about players on the margins that aren’t going to meaningfully impact the game most nights.

I’m confident, or at least hopeful, that either injury or trade will make enough room to get Jooris back into the lineup on a permanent basis.

I don’t know we can say that for certain right now. Jones is the kind of guy who may not garner much interest at the deadline and Treliving may be tempted to retain him on a short, cheap deal due to the club’s lacklustre RW depth.