Stralman a Flame!
July 27th, 2009 by mthompsonOh boy, are you kidding me? Darryl Sutter is literally making this offseason his bi-atch.
Somehow he convinced Brian Burke to accept Wayne Primeau and a 2nd round pick in 2011 for this guy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xMh0mTy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuY6ZZ-xlqE&feature=related
The Flames also receive Colin Stuart, a 27 year old forward who played 51 games for the Atlanta Thrashers over the last two seasons while being a PPG player for the AHL Chicago Wolves. It’s possible that he gets a bit of time on the 3rd/4th lines in the Sutterdome at some point this season, but its pretty crowded in front of him and its more likely that this is just another veteran acquisition for the Abbotsford Heat - who all of a sudden are looking pretty darn competitive.
I’ll miss Wayne Primeau. While he was overpaid at $1.4M per season and often injured, he was one of the better 4th line centers that I’ve ever seen in this league while healthy. His size and surprising speed made him a demon on the penalty kill and forecheck, and he should contribute some good minutes in Leafland.
A 7th round pick comes the Flames way to round out the trade, but that’s really neither here nor there. It sure would be nice to draft in the 2nd round sometime, but…. Anton Stralman!!
To be honest, I haven’t seen Stralman in action much since the Leafs are one of the few teams who I avoid on the tele-tube. That said, comments by Leafs fans are generally well into the outrage-zone and I know that the community over at dobberhockey.com was really high on this guy. Before Burke took hold of the Leafs, Stralman was regarded as one of the better under-the-radar, young defensive prospects to own in fantasy leagues.
It’s interesting that this is the second young former Toronto property hailing from Sweden that the Flames have acquired this summer. Together with Kronwall, Backlund, Sjostrom, and the newly drafted Erixon and Bjorklund, there is actually a bit of Swedish spice being added to the Western Canadian base in Flames country.
Whats more, the additions this summer of Bouwmeester, Seabrook, Kronwall, and now Stralman certainly signals a change in strategy by the Sutters; a shift from grizzled and slow to mobile and skilled on the back-end. Make no mistake: this is a team that coaches like Brent Sutter and Dave Lowry are clearly having input into building.
This should be fun.
Posted in Summer 09
10 Responses to “Stralman a Flame!”
By Rusty on Jul 27, 2009
Stralman and Kronwall are Leaf castoffs. If they couldn’t make the Leafs how good do you think they are.
Kronwall was cut by Washington as well.
Primeau will help Toronto not give up so many goals. Burke now nneds to find a top 6 forward.
By Steve on Jul 27, 2009
Stralman is a good prospect. I wanted the Leafs to develop him, but the depth on the Leafs blue line put them in a pinch. He was 8th on the Leafs blue line at best at this point… which is unfortunate.
Hope he makes headway with the Flames, and wish him good luck with cracking their line up this season. If he produces at the NHL level I honestly wouldn’t mind. He’s a solid kid and he’s performed very well internationally. Hopefully this one doesn’t bite my Leafs too badly in the behind down the line.
By Steve on Jul 27, 2009
Looking at the Flames blue line, he’s probably the 6th D man on your team right now. He’ll make a nice 3rd scoring D man behind Phaneuf and Bouwmeester, but since he’s a bit of a PP QB type, I’m not sure how he’ll deal with limited ice time.
A pairing of him and Kronwall would do quite well for the Flames though, they played together for the Marlies and Kronwall really improved this past season. I sincerely expect them to play well in Calgary together.
By Yuri Suderov on Jul 28, 2009
Stralman is a solid player with decent all-around potential, but dont use Leaf fan hype and YouTube videos as your only scouting on this guy. He is a great skater, and he is a pretty good puck handler, and showed flashes where he looked like a young Tomas Kaberle, but he is very prone to mistakes and tends to over handle the puck. All he has shown so far is flashes of being a decent 2nd pairing puck mover. A 2nd round pick is exactly what he is worth.
By scotty on Jul 28, 2009
Those youtube moments are anything but par for the course for Stralman. I guess they could become so, but for Stralman to stay in the league he’ll need to clean up his work in the defensive zone.
By mthompson on Jul 28, 2009
Haha… I think I’ve got this blogging thing down. Want comments? Talk Leafs!
You guys are partly right, I suppose. Stralman was way down your depth chart, especially since Burke arrived in town. Heck, its dubious whether he makes the starting roster in Calgary. But the puck-moving dimension he gives us as a 7th or 8th dman is something we’ve never really had.
Last season, when Giordano went down, the Flames’ powerplay and transition game really struggled. Bouwmeester obviously helps this, but now if he or Giordano goes down there is at least someone who can take his spot and assume that role. If Regehr/Sarich get hurt, then Pelech comes up. If Bouwme/Gio/Phaneuf get hurt, Stralman comes up.
Kronwall is surely an AHL guy for now, but thats not a bad thing. Remember, Flames farm teams have been generally horrible for the last several years and that does nothing for a “culture of winning” that so many teams say they want to develop. A solid AHL team in Abbotsford is in Calgary’s best interests.
I don’t base my opinions on youtube videos, but I can tell you that there is exactly one Flames defenseman that can go end-to-end and score like that… and he makes over $6M a year and makes plenty of mistakes too.
Good feedback guys.
By Robie Guns on Jul 28, 2009
Stralman couldn’t crack the lineup in Toronto, so I’m hoping he will in Calgary. The kid deserves a full season to see what he can do, and hopefully playing with Calgary’s superstar blueline will aid him in developing.
Burke had to move him or risk a team grabbing him on waivers should he not have cracked Toronto’s top 6. Furthermore it gives him a change of scenery and a new chance.
Win/win for both sides.
By mthompson on Jul 28, 2009
Yes Robie, win/win sounds about right to me.
By Homer on Jul 28, 2009
Burke has a history of giving guys that would be playing in the NHL in another organization a chance to go and do so. Good luck Anton
By poop on Jan 26, 2010
domebeers.com