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LD Brandon Hickey (2014, 64th overall, CGY; Traded to ARZ; Traded to BUF)

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L13 said:
Your opinion of those prospects is not really relevant to the point I was making, which is that they are closer to making the NHL than Hickey and there is a limited number of spots (1 or 2) available for them next season as per Treliving himself.

Any Flames fan will tell you that Andersson and Kulak are by far the most likely D prospects to make the Flames next year, with Kylington at 3. If Hickey had signed with the Flames this summer and exceeded expectations in Stockton, he might have displaced Wotherspoon on the depth chart and/or competed with Kylington if Kylington stagnated, but he wouldn't have played in the NHL and Fox would have leapfrogged him the moment he turned pro. Your assertion that not being a better D prospect than Rasmus Andersson means Hickey should go play in Europe doesn't change the fact he's not a better D prospect than Rasmus Andersson.

Opportunities to make the NHL were definitely scarce for Hickey in Calgary. You seem resolved to believe otherwise for some reason, but maybe you should defer to people with more knowledge of the situation in this case.
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Ya that's pretty much the reality of it. Andersson and Kulak are a step above Hickey and Wotherspoon is on the same level and look how we treated him.

He was never going to get a fair shot in Calgary.
 
rt said:
Ah. Then we probably won't get anything out of this prospect. Unless he and Keller are very close and Keller pulls an epic sell job. I doubt it.
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He also knows Strome, Perlini and Crouse from the WJC.
 
L13 said:
Your opinion of those prospects is not really relevant to the point I was making, which is that they are closer to making the NHL than Hickey and there is a limited number of spots (1 or 2) available for them next season as per Treliving himself.

Opportunities to make the NHL were definitely scarce for Hickey in Calgary. You seem resolved to believe otherwise for some reason, but maybe you should defer to people with more knowledge of the situation in this case.
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You're missing the point.

Flames fans are kind of discounting the fact that other teams also have defensemen and prospects that Brandon Hickey will have to beat out, and their list of guys isn't inherently better just because it's their team.

In Arizona you have OEL, and Goligoski, and Murphy all of which look to be in Arizona's mid range plans. Then they also have two very young defencemen in Deangelo, and Chychrun that they are breaking into the NHL roster. That's 5 NHL roster spots locked up for the foreseeable future. 4 of those guys are 25 or under.

They have Kyle Wood who put up tonnes of points in the AHL last year waiting to break into the NHL as well, and I'm sure Phoenix fans have a list of other guys that they feel have good NHL upside as well.

Where is the room for Brandon Hickey on that roster?

Just because Calgary finished higher in the standings than Arizona, doesn't mean that the Coyotes defensive depth is weaker.
 
Bank Shot said:
You're missing the point.

Flames fans are kind of discounting the fact that other teams also have defensemen and prospects that Brandon Hickey will have to beat out, and their list of guys isn't inherently better just because it's their team.

In Arizona you have OEL, and Goligoski, and Murphy all of which look to be in Arizona's mid range plans. Then they also have two very young defencemen in Deangelo, and Chychrun that they are breaking into the NHL roster. That's 5 NHL roster spots locked up for the foreseeable future. 4 of those guys are 25 or under.

They have Kyle Wood who put up tonnes of points in the AHL last year waiting to break into the NHL as well, and I'm sure Phoenix fans have a list of other guys that they feel have good NHL upside as well.

Where is the room for Brandon Hickey on that roster?

Just because Calgary finished higher in the standings than Arizona, doesn't mean that the Coyotes defensive depth is weaker.
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No one is for sure saying he signs in Arizona, either. But I see that's not necessarily your point.
 
Bank Shot said:
You're missing the point.

Flames fans are kind of discounting the fact that other teams also have defensemen and prospects that Brandon Hickey will have to beat out, and their list of guys isn't inherently better just because it's their team.

In Arizona you have OEL, and Goligoski, and Murphy all of which look to be in Arizona's mid range plans. Then they also have two very young defencemen in Deangelo, and Chychrun that they are breaking into the NHL roster. That's 5 NHL roster spots locked up for the foreseeable future. 4 of those guys are 25 or under.

They have Kyle Wood who put up tonnes of points in the AHL last year waiting to break into the NHL as well, and I'm sure Phoenix fans have a list of other guys that they feel have good NHL upside as well.

Where is the room for Brandon Hickey on that roster?

Just because Calgary finished higher in the standings than Arizona, doesn't mean that the Coyotes defensive depth is weaker.
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We get it you have an extreme hatred for the Flames, even though every eye test and advanced stats show Calgary is the better defensive team by far. Sure Arizona has better depth, but that doesn't mean anything when you have actual defenseman better.
 
RainierBeat said:
We get it you have an extreme hatred for the Flames, even though every eye test and advanced stats show Calgary is the better defensive team by far. Sure Arizona has better depth, but that doesn't mean anything when you have actual defenseman better.
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Dude Brandon Hickey is a dime in dozen prospect. What he said isn't wrong. Literally every team has atleast one Hickey. If he becomes anything more than a #6 I'd be surprised. There's no hate in that lol. And their defense isn't that far off from ours OWL greater than whatever we have. Then well for them it drops off. They did allow about 40 more goals then us but that can also be attributed to their non existent offense.
 
RainierBeat said:
Sure Arizona has better depth, but that doesn't mean anything when you have actual defenseman better.
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Well if Hickey is only signing with the team that allows him the clearest shot to the NHL then that is all that matters.

My whole point is that we don't know what his motives are.
 
Bank Shot said:
Every team has prospects like Kulak, Andersson, Kylington, and Wotherspoon.
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Kulak and Wotherspoon? Sure. I don't think every team has two defensive prospects like Andersson and Kylington, though. And I don't think every team has four defensive prospects who are either NHL ready (Kulak), likely NHL ready (Wotherspoon) or may be ready as soon as this coming season.

I do agree that it's dumb to try to interpret Hickey's motives when we have zero information on the subject, though.
 
SmellOfVictory said:
Kulak and Wotherspoon? Sure. I don't think every team has two defensive prospects like Andersson and Kylington, though. And I don't think every team has four defensive prospects who are either NHL ready (Kulak), likely NHL ready (Wotherspoon) or may be ready as soon as this coming season.

I do agree that it's dumb to try to interpret Hickey's motives when we have zero information on the subject, though.
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Don't you understand.
Every team has a 19-20 year old playing as a #1D on their AHL affiliate (Andersson)

Kylington is a ridiculously interesting prospect to me. This guy's got an incredible ceiling to him, but man, he suffers from that 'do too much' syndrome. At the WJC this year, he was playing as Sweden's 1D (playing a ton of minutes) but it's much easier to remember the blunder he made early in the tournament. Just a boom or bust prospect; there are a number of these across the league, I don't think any have the ceiling of Kylington.

If someone told me in 5 years he'd be playing 21-24 minutes a night in the NHL, I'd be like, I could see that. If someone told me in 5 years he'd be playing 15 minutes a night in the NHL, as a PP specialist, I'd be like, I could see that. If someone told me in 5 years he'd be playing in the SHL, I'd also be like, I could see that. :laugh:
 
Seems like Wood (totally dominant in the AHL as a rookie out of juniors) and DeAngelo (super dynamic wildcard) are very bit the duo the Flames' two Swedes are. And that's said not to denegrate the skills of Andersson and Kylington who are outstanding prospects.
 
Foppa said:
Seems like Wood (totally dominant in the AHL as a rookie out of juniors) and DeAngelo (super dynamic wildcard) are very bit the duo the Flames' two Swedes are. And that's said not to denegrate the skills of Andersson and Kylington who are outstanding prospects.
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That's entirely likely. I'm not familiar with Wood, but he does have excellent numbers, and DeAngelo bears similiarities to Kylington (ignoring his hot temper, at least).
 
I don't think Hickey is a dime a dozen prospect. He has a real chance at being a good #4 dman and if Giordano had been traded I think treliving would not have moved Hickey out. With Giordano, brodie and Kulak/Wotherspoon/ Kylington on the left side there was a reason he might not sign with calgary. I don't see why someone like Kylington would be looked at as a far superior prospect.
 
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Hickeys good. He played on Canada's top pairing ahead of guys like Sanheim, Dermott, and so on. When are prospects that play in Canada's top pairing a dime a dozen? When they play for the Flames :laugh:
 
Bank Shot said:
Every team has prospects like Kulak, Andersson, Kylington, and Wotherspoon.

If he didn't sign in Calgary because he didn't think he could get past them, Hickey should just sign in Europe now.

Calgary's top 3 defenders are good. The rest of their defensive depth is not.

It's not like Hickey is trying to break into the Ducks or Predators roster.

Who knows the reason why he didn't want to sign in Calgary, but I think the "Too much competition" angle is a little far fetched.
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You nailed it. Andersson might have the most value out of those four. Kulak and Wotherspoon have zero value. You put them on waivers and they would pass. Kylington has potential but at least three years away from anything.
 
DJJones said:
Ya that's pretty much the reality of it. Andersson and Kulak are a step above Hickey and Wotherspoon is on the same level and look how we treated him.

He was never going to get a fair shot in Calgary.
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Sadly Kulak is more likely to be a Golden Knight than a Flame next year. But yeah both guys would be ahead of Hickey. Hickey kind of reminds me of Wotherspoon. Wotherspoon has been amazing in the AHL but for whatever reason hasn't done much with his NHL chances.
 
Bank Shot said:
Well if Hickey is only signing with the team that allows him the clearest shot to the NHL then that is all that matters.

My whole point is that we don't know what his motives are.
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To me his motive is he'll be a complete FA in a little more than a year. Then he can pick the team that offers him the clearest path to the NHL.
 
madmike77 said:
To me his motive is he'll be a complete FA in a little more than a year. Then he can pick the team that offers him the clearest path to the NHL.
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We can only assume, but this seems like the most likely at this point. A college FA often negotiates some NHL time. It has happened before to be sure, and often at that.

I do think Hickey is a solid prospect, and I will be shocked if he doesn't make the NHL. He is an elite skater and is good in all zones. Plays with bite too. Good first pass, and good ability to skate the puck out of the zone. I feel he is as safe as they come in terms of prospects, but he isn't top pairing material. His ceiling is probably that of a #4 defencemen. Nothing to sneeze at. Trick will be signing him. I know I will be following what he does the rest of the way in college and see if he opts to wait for FA, or if Arizona can do enough to convince him to sign.

Who knows, maybe all he wanted was to finish off his degree, and Arizona will have an easy time signing him.
 
So has there been anything more on if he's going to Arizona or is he exploring August 15th free agency?

Last I saw was this from SN:

15. Brandon Hickey, traded to Arizona as part of the Mike Smith deal, is playing for Boston University at the NCAA’s Northeast Regional this weekend. Sounds like the Coyotes will try and move him, not seeing a fit to sign. Hickey is finishing his senior season.
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Will be interesting to see where he lands. I see him as a future top 4 defencemen, and one of those 'can't miss' types. His skating is exceptional as is his brain out there.
 
Reinhart said:
Will be interesting to see where he lands. I see him as a future top 4 defencemen, and one of those 'can't miss' types. His skating is exceptional as is his brain out there.
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Yeah, I don't think he needs any AHL seasoning and can step into the NHL immediately as at least a #6.
 
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