I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you, but who's spot in top 9 is he going to take. Who is he playing better than?
Turcotte didn't seem to have an issue coming in on the 4th line and impressing enough to stick and now he's being moved up and down the lineup (in a good way).
Look, I like Kaliyev, I want him to succeed....but enough with the blame being placed on the coaches and the org. It's just f***ing stupid.
Yeah, the only guy I'd argue would be Laferriere. I also like Laferriere and think he has a really bright future but he's a waiver exempt rookie and makes the same mistakes Kaliyev does with no consequences - Turnovers, missed defensive assignments, penalties (at times)... And he doesn't have the offensive production to justify those things.
Might lose some people here, but I'd bet if they gave Kaliyev a consistent role in the top 9 you'd see him put up more points and give up less goals against than Laferriere. Then you have the fact that he's remained out of the lineup for long stretches while the team had been struggling to score goals yet Lewis, Grundstrom, and JAD remained consistently in the lineup. That's why people start to blame coaching / management. Coaching because they aren't deploying Kaliyev at all most nights and when they do they aren't using him in a way that sets him up for success. Management because they're essentially screwing up his development, shouldn't have drafted him in the first place if he wasn't going to fit their system, and now are probably going to have to trade him for an underwhelming return and we'll have to watch him explode for another team that DOES set him up for success and give him ice time.
where's the problem?
he played a fine game but he didn't score so time to talk about trades again? obviously that's not your argument but i'm speaking in generalities here
By "didn't have a great game" I just meant that he wasn't super noticeable / didn't show up on the scoresheet. I didn't think he had a bad game, just not a great one either. Like you said, he was fine.
Looking at his ice time over his last 5 games is an absolute joke. 9 mins 5 secs, 6 mins 32 secs, 8 mins 37 secs, 8 mins 54 secs, 7 mins 21 secs. And that 5th most recent game was all the way back in mid-January. Yikes.
I hope Kaliyev doesn't get traded - Just seems like the writing is on the walls here. Even with Arvidsson out he's been healthy scratched / slotted on the 4th line. I don't agree with it - I want to see him play. But if they aren't going to play him... Might as well explore trade options.
Edit: Also, re: Turcotte.. Very different players. Also, yes it seems Hiller has moved both players up/down the lineup at times but when you're getting less than 10 mins of ice time getting a shift or two in the top 6/9 is like giving someone a high 5 after you've taken a dump on their front porch... The high 5 is cool and all but the problem (the dump) still exists.