Well, after the 8-2 ass-whomping of a tired Panthers team, the Flames finally ended the suspense and sent a bunch of guys back to their respective teams. Gone are 17 players, most of whom will be reporting to Quad Cities. That group includes:
Carpentier, Chucko, Van Der Gulik, Watt, Ryder and Irving.
The lone Junior aged player left (aside from Backlund) was Negrin and he was finally returned to Kootenay as well.
Most of the players cut didn't play too much this pre-season, including my favored prospect punching bag Kris Chucko. The former first rounder will be heading into his third pro season this year and only managed to appear in one exhibition game, playing just 8 minutes. Get out the "bust" tag.
More notably, there are actually some hopefuls still around with the pre-season winding down. That includes:
Adam Pardy, Matt Pelech, Kyle Greentree, Jamie Lundmark, John Armstrong, Matt Keetley, Brandon Prust and Mikael Backlund.
Of those guys, I'd have to say Pardy has quietly had the most successful training camp thus far, playing a major role in 3 of the 4 games. Matt Pelech has also been decent while word is Lundmark is doing everything in his power to stick with the big team. Mikael Backlund has been up-and-down, which is what can be expected from a 19 year old getting his first taste of the NHL. Brandon Prust hasn't done anything besides get in a fight...but, as we all know, he has a one-way contract, so...
Of that list, I would think that Pardy has the best chance of sticking with the team. Either as a 7th defenseman (once the Warrener/Eriksson/salary cap boondoggle is sorted) or as an injury call up once Aucoin goes down with some ailment. Pardy is now 24, was a stand-out at last summers camp, and has been a playing 20+ minute/night "top pairing" type role this September. The org is giving him a long look for a reason is what Im getting at I guess.
Perhaps the most surprising lingerer is 20 year old John Armstrong. Although still eligible to return to the OHL as an over-ager, it looks like Armstrong is headed to Quad Cities, and likely a prominent role there judging from his performance the last few weeks. He came in just under Hugo Carpentier by my NHL equivalence calculations earlier this summer, but certainly seems to have bumped himself up the depth chart by his impressive showing so far. It'll be interesting to see how he does in the last few games.
