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The Flames fell 4-1 to the Carolina Hurricanes last night, and never really put together any kind of pushback after surrendering the lead in the game.

As I continue to watch this team, something is becoming more and more clear to me. The weakest links on this Flames team are obvious, and they’re not the rookies and call-ups.

Brad Treliving has made a handful of curious moves in his tenure as GM for the Calgary Flames, trading for Brandon Bollig and signing both Derek Engelland and Devin Setoguchi.
To my eye, those 3 players are absolutely the weakest links in the Flames lineup, and the sooner they’re out of the lineup the better.

Brandon Bollig was brought in to add toughness to the lineup in the same way that Brian McGrattan has done in seasons past. The idea was that Bollig would do that while bringing a higher overall skill level to the ice. So far this season, I’m not seeing it. Bollig is poor positionally, bad on his skates, ineffective on the cycle, and generally terrifying to see on the ice as a Flames fan. As soon as Michael Ferland heals from his concussion I want to see Bollig waived and demoted. Until that point, I’d rather see Big Ern on the ice for 8 minutes a night.

Devin Setoguchi was brought in solely due to the fact that the Flames were incredibly weak on the right side, and given the dollar figure involved it was virtually a no-risk signing for Treliving and the Flames. Well, I’m calling it. The experiment has failed. It’s time to pull the plug, there’s no lightning in this bottle. Setoguchi is simply taking ice time that could be better used developing one of the young players in our system.

Call up Emile Poirier, and send Seto back to Taber. He can drive a forklift at the McCain’s plant there as far as I’m concerned. Maybe there’s a team in Europe that would be interested in picking him up as a loaner… either way. I’m done with him. David Jones has earned his ice time on that right side of the ice. Devin has earned a one-way ticket to anywhere but here.

Derek Engelland is a disaster. I see now why he was a healthy scratch so often for the Penguins last year. He is simply not a competent hockey player. Ladislav Smid isn’t much better, but right now Smid is being forced to cover for Engelland’s mistakes and it’s actually making Smid worse than he was. Every time that Engelland is on the ice, the defensive coverage for the Flames turns into a dumpster fire.

Apparently Derek was brought in for his character and his leadership, but I haven’t seen any of that so far this season. Yes, he has dropped the gloves a couple of times, but it never seems to ignite his team. The character leaders on this club are evident: Mark Giordano, Lance Bouma, Paul Byron, Jonas Hiller.

These are the guys who pick this team up when they start to falter. Engelland disappears.

I’m ready to see Pat Sieloff and Tyler Wotherspoon in this lineup. I understand the thought that these guys might develop better playing big minutes in Glen Falls, but when the majority of your young team has busted their humps to get themselves into a potential playoff race situation, I believe you owe it to those players to fill out the roster with the players that will give you the best chance to win.

Engelland, Bollig, and Setoguchi don’t do that. They weaken this roster, and it’s time for them to go.

Thanks for reading!

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