Player Discussion Let's talk about Devin Cooley

[Rubi]

Have the Flames found a diamond in the rough here? This guy has been really good in every game I've watched him play this pre-season.

Per Devin Cooley:

"I didn’t have, really, any consistent goalie coaching until I went to the USHL at 18, 19 years old,” Cooley explained. I feel like my entire career, I’ve been trying to play catch-up."

“I always had this raw, athletic ability; I was mobile, I was quick, I was tall, so I had all the tools but I honestly had no idea what I was doing, for the longest time. In the USHL I finished like last in save percentage and goals-against average, so that wasn’t good at all, but I had all the tools, but like if you would have asked me ‘Hey, in this situation, what do you do here?’ I would be like ‘I dunno, I just figure it out.’ So that doesn’t work at the higher levels.”

“So now it’s like taking this raw talent and structuring it, and now being a lot more technical with things. Now I’m feeling a lot more confident, where it’s like if there’s a certain situation, I feel like ‘OK, I know exactly what to do here.’ Now it’s just continuing to build off that muscle memory, and get better and better.”

This summer, Cooley focused on staying taller in his net, along with little adjustments - ‘having my butt up,’ he says, for starters - along with a move away from ‘sitting back’ in his crease, and hand positioning.

His summer work was all about building the aforementioned muscle memory, rep after rep after rep.

“That’s been like a huge game-changer for me, just letting pucks come to me and using my body for them to hit me instead of feeling ‘I’ve got to get so low and track everything.’ It’s so hard to track, like it comes so fast sometimes.

“Having pucks hit me a lot more, it’s just made the game a lot easier for me.”

Click to read more...

 

[Rubi]

Credit where credit is due...

 

[Anglesmith]

Having pucks hit you is definitely good as a goalie.

 

[Some Other Flame]

Devin "I came here to show that I don’t suck that much” Cooley

 

[Lunatik]

I do believe he is AHL bound, but I think he could have a great year for the Wranglers

 

[Rubi]

I just saw this article. I think its a bit premature...

It’s time for the Calgary Flames to move on from Dan Vladar

The biggest storyline heading into Calgary Flames training camp was in...

flamesnation.ca

... it looks like it’s going to be a tight, three-way battle for two positions on the opening night roster.
But I don’t think it should be much of a battle. Wolf and Cooley should be in the NHL to start the season with Vladar as the odd man out.

 

[Lunatik]

I just saw this article. I think its a bit premature...

It’s time for the Calgary Flames to move on from Dan Vladar

The biggest storyline heading into Calgary Flames training camp was in...

flamesnation.ca

that writer is pretty terrible, why FN hired him is confounding. Maybe he got lots of clicks spamming his crap on reddit... but clicks mean more than being a good writer now

 

[JPeeper]

His numbers have never been that great in his career (he also hasn't played that much), he's in his late 20's so we'll see.

Would rather try him and Wolf and ship Vladar out. IMO we know what we have in Vladar, an average/above average backup.

I know no one likes it, but I'd rock the 3 headed goalie monster to start the season. Not like we're trying to be competitive so f*** it, just rotate guys until you find out which one is the weakest and put them on waivers.

 

[Lunatik]

His numbers have never been that great in his career (he also hasn't played that much), he's in his late 20's so we'll see.

Would rather try him and Wolf and ship Vladar out. IMO we know what we have in Vladar, an average/above average backup.

I know no one likes it, but I'd rock the 3 headed goalie monster to start the season. Not like we're trying to be competitive so f*** it, just rotate guys until you find out which one is the weakest and put them on waivers.

The issue w/ 3 goalies is it forces another defensive cut. If we sign Barrie that's likely Pachal or Solovyov getting waived instead of just Tinordi & Hanley

 

[Siignal]

Watching him slide across the net on that breakaway save vs Edmonton was so encouraging. Something about the poise and athleticism just made him look like a seasoned, high end goalie. I haven't seen him beyond that highlight so I can't speak to him in less eventful moments, but yeah I was incredibly impressed.

 

[Ledge And Dairy]

I just saw this article. I think its a bit premature...

It’s time for the Calgary Flames to move on from Dan Vladar

The biggest storyline heading into Calgary Flames training camp was in...

flamesnation.ca

I saw that too and the first thing I thought about was the fact we are only 3M above the cap floor, moving Vladar only makes staying above it harder

 

[Ledge And Dairy]

The issue w/ 3 goalies is it forces another defensive cut. If we sign Barrie that's likely Pachal or Solovyov getting waived instead of just Tinordi & Hanley

I'm not actually that worried about Solovyov getting claimed if he's waived. He's 24 now and only has 10 NHL games under his belt. Also being a former 7th rounder he doesn't have the pedigree that someone like Pelletier still carries. He's not expected to be much more than a bottom pairing defenseman too.

 

[Lunatik]

I'm not actually that worried about Solovyov getting claimed if he's waived. He's 24 now and only has 10 NHL games under his belt. Also being a former 7th rounder he doesn't have the pedigree that someone like Pelletier still carries. He's not expected to be much more than a bottom pairing defenseman too.

he may have been a 7th rounder, but he hasn't played like it in the AHL. He absolutely has top-4 shutdown potential

 

[Ledge And Dairy]

he may have been a 7th rounder, but he hasn't played like it in the AHL. He absolutely has top-4 shutdown potential

Maybe. I see his ceiling more as a #5. Also potential is just that, he's certainly not a anywhere near a top 4 defenseman and is at most a fringe NHLer at this point in time. I just don't see a lot of teams willingly claiming him to play on their NHL roster right now. No one looking to contend would take him and all the teams rebuilding generally have their own similar caliber prospects already. Calgary on paper has one of the shallowest d-cores in the league right now. If he's not outplaying someone on our blue line right now I have a very tough time seeing him do that elsewhere.

 

[Lunatik]

Maybe. I see his ceiling more as a #5. Also potential is just that, he's certainly not a anywhere near a top 4 defenseman and is at most a fringe NHLer at this point in time. I just don't see a lot of teams willingly claiming him to play on their NHL roster right now. No one looking to contend would take him and all the teams rebuilding generally have their own similar caliber prospects already. Calgary on paper has one of the shallowest d-cores in the league right now. If he's not outplaying someone on our blue line right now I have a very tough time seeing him do that elsewhere.

I don't think you're giving Solo enough credit. He's been our best defenseman on the farm the past 2 years. I've saying this for a while about him, Belarusian Tanev

 

[Ledge And Dairy]

I don't think you're giving Solo enough credit. He's been our best defenseman on the farm the past 2 years. I've saying this for a while about him, Belarusian Tanev

Best defenseman on the farm the last 2 years? That's pretty slim pickings, Poirier played his rookie season (and got 41 points) and then got injured for the majority of his 2nd year. The only other prospect on our blue line the last 2 years (until we traded for Grushnikov) was Kuznetsov.

Tanev was pretty special, rarely do defensemen with that little offense become anything more than a 3rd pair guy. He was top 3 in the league 3 seasons in a row in defensive WAR with Calgary. It's unrealistic to project anyone like that. If he does become that it would be awesome but it's not likely.

Regardless my point still stands, he still has a long way to go to reach that potential and I find it difficult to find a team that would take a claim on him right now.

 

[Figgy44]

His numbers have never been that great in his career (he also hasn't played that much), he's in his late 20's so we'll see.

Would rather try him and Wolf and ship Vladar out. IMO we know what we have in Vladar, an average/above average backup.

I know no one likes it, but I'd rock the 3 headed goalie monster to start the season. Not like we're trying to be competitive so f*** it, just rotate guys until you find out which one is the weakest and put them on waivers.

You want a goalie situation where we have Cooley (NHL 6 GP) + Wolf (NHL 18 GP) + Ignatjew (0 AHL GP) and ?? (AHL goalie) after moving Vladar (85 NHL GP)...

I mean, that leaves a total of 24 NHL GP experience... that's less than Devin Levi's career.

I mean, it depends if we pick up a goalie we don't expect... but in general, no thank you.

 

[Ace Rimmer]

Credit where credit is due...

View attachment 910120

I don't trust that guy.

 

[Bounces R Way]

Definitely a great interview and played amazing in Edmonton but I doubt there's much there at the NHL level. Really struggled tracking the puck in Abbotsford and was guessing on a lot of shots. He's 27 years old and has never put up even a .910 in the AHL.

Ignatjew is the more likely diamond in the rough.

 

[Figgy44]

Definitely a great interview and played amazing in Edmonton but I doubt there's much there at the NHL level. Really struggled tracking the puck in Abbotsford and was guessing on a lot of shots. He's 27 years old and has never put up even a .910 in the AHL.

Ignatjew is the more likely diamond in the rough.

Cooley is athletic, but also does a lot of face down starfishes. I mean, if our goalie coaches help him add more post to post repositioning, then he might suddenly be a very viable NHL option. His positioning is also a bit bizarre at times.

But as is, he's easily deked out by opposition players (ie: Sprong goal vs Vancouver). He's often also up to 16 inches away (guess) where I think would be a much more strategic positioning to cut off the shooting angles. If he had Vladar's positioning, I think he'd immediately be a solid 1B platoon option and easily on par if not better than Vladar. IIRC, he's about the same height as Vladar too.

Vladar is also a strange wild card. I swear his issue is confidence right now. When Vladar is on his game, he's a solid 1B borderline 1A platoon goalie. But when he's off (ie: Mental or injuries or whatever) he's a below average back up. But if he figures it out so that his dips aren't as bad and long, I think he's a totally viable option for many teams.

Ignatjew, I kinda see what you mean... but until he get a few more reps under him, I'm not sure yet. He's often in good positioning, but his reactions aren't as distinctively quick like Wolf's or Cooley's.

 

[Lunatik]

Cooley is also pretty raw for his age. He never had an actual goalie coach until pretty far into his career, I may be off by a year, but I think it was when he started in the NCAA. So I do feel there is room for improvement as fundamentals can improve at any age. But I expect him and Ignatjew to platoon with the Wranglers.

Also fun fact... Ignatjew and Jurmo used to be teammates in Jukurit in Liiga in 2021-22... I can't help but wonder if that is when each of them got on our radar

 

[JPeeper]

You want a goalie situation where we have Cooley (NHL 6 GP) + Wolf (NHL 18 GP) + Ignatjew (0 AHL GP) and ?? (AHL goalie) after moving Vladar (85 NHL GP)...

I mean, that leaves a total of 24 NHL GP experience... that's less than Devin Levi's career.

I mean, it depends if we pick up a goalie we don't expect... but in general, no thank you.

no...if we move Vladar there would be two goalies on the main roster.

 

[hockeyguy0022]

There going to play vladar 70% of the time until the deadline and get as much value for a trade. (unless something crazy happens like there in first place or something)

Vladar could easily look like a number 1 guy for a team who needs a goaltending for a cup push.

Teams are already looking for goalies and all the leftovers are on PTO's/AHL, Like Dell,Tokarski , Kaskisuo etc.. a big step down from even cooley/vladar. Those guys are NHL backups in a pinch.

Wolf and Cooley after the deadline, Wolf full time starter. Good/big return for Vladar to a contender.

 

[Lunatik]

There going to play vladar 70% of the time until the deadline and get as much value for a trade. (unless something crazy happens like there in first place or something)

Vladar could easily look like a number 1 guy for a team who needs a goaltending for a cup push.

Teams are already looking for goalies and all the leftovers are on PTO's/AHL, Like Dell,Tokarski , Kaskisuo etc.. a big step down from even cooley/vladar. Those guys are NHL backups in a pinch.

Wolf and Cooley after the deadline, Wolf full time starter. Good/big return for Vladar to a contender.

Vladar will never have much value because he's honestly not that good. The only way a team trades for him at the deadline is if they have injuries.

The split will be closer to 55-45 and I'm not sure Vladar gets 55%

 

[Rubi]

This upcoming season will be the closest Vladar gets to becoming a #1 goalie, with the Flames or any other team for that matter. He's had plenty of opportunity to prove that he's a capable #1 and he's always come up short of the mark. Maybe he'll prove me wrong but I just don't see it happening.
I predict he'll be gone by the TDL, unless some other team desperately needs a warm body for backup, but if not he'll be a UFA at the end of the season. I just can't see the Flames offering him another contract.
Hopefully Cooley keeps improving and makes his mark playing for the Wranglers this season and can fill a Vladar vacancy.
Love the interview Cooley gave and he's probably a great guy to have as a team mate.