Local boy Dube a fan of Treliving’s wheeling, dealing
Nonetheless, prospect knows his odds of making the Flames are ‘a lot tougher’
First and foremost, Dillon Dube is a Calgary Flames fan, having grown up in Cochrane and having spent his off-season in the area. So he was excited.
The moves GM Brad Treliving has made over the last few weeks have bolstered the forward depth of the Flames’ roster considerably.
He added coveted free-agent James Neal.
He traded for right-shot forward Elias Lindholm.
He picked up right-shot centre Derek Ryan and snagged rightwinger Austin Czarnik.
And, yes, it has decreased Dube’s chance of cracking the main camp roster. He knows that.
But according to the soon-tobe-20-year-old (his birthday is July 20) and soon-to-be-full-time professional hockey player, that’s a positive thing.
“From a team aspect, it’s a good thing that I’m thinking that it’s hard,” Dube said. “That means it’s a really good team to try and make with the additions they made. For myself, I was talking to my family and they see the trades and they ’re obviously huge Flames fans and so am I. Seeing James Neal and all the guys, it’s really cool.
“But I’m just on the outside looking in at this point.”
The thought process on Dube, however, is he won’t be on the outside for long.
Before Treliving’s wheeling, dealing and signing, it was thought the 56th overall pick from 2016 may crack the Flames lineup sooner rather than later. Now the likelihood of that happening seems far-fetched, at least for the start of the 2018-19 campaign.
Turning pro in the fall, Dube is likely bound for the Flames’ American Hockey League affiliate, the Stockton Heat, which isn’t a bad thing. The Flames are not about to rush his development and, at the very least, he may earn an extended tryout or a call-up during the season.
Still, he couldn’t help himself when Treliving was making moves to try to improve the team.
“It’s kind of cool just watching the process from a distance and seeing what’s going on,” Dube said. “But I was saying to myself, ‘You’re going to have to beat someone out at some point.’ That’s what I have to try and do now. I’m done junior and it’s time to try and move up and earn a spot. If it doesn’ t come this year maybe it’ll be in a year or a couple of years.
“Eventually I’ll take someone’s spot. They keep adding people and it obviously makes it difficult. It definitely makes it a lot tougher for me.”
Thursday at WinSport marked the sixth time Dube has been put through the paces on the Wingate bike test and third time at Flames prospects camp.
“It beat me up a little bit today ,” Dube said with a chuckle Thursday. “But obviously you look at it and there’s lots of guys here. This is just the process you have to go through to try and make the Flames. I’m comfortable with being here. I’m from here, it’s easy for me. It’s nice for my family even just to see me in that practice jersey, watching me at COP. It’s still special and I like it a lot.”
Having played six games in Stockton, Dube had his first taste of professional hockey this spring and after four years of playing in the Western Hockey League, he’s ready to move on.
In addition to scoring 38 goals and 46 assists in 53 games, Dube captained the Canadian world junior team.
It’s an important summer for the speedy left-shot centre, who pledged the need to get stronger on his stick.
“Working with RVA (strength and conditioning coach Ryan van Asten) and the guys, I think it’ll help me to see how much they’re lifting,” Dube said. “I lost a lot of battles with my stick and I feel like if I can do that, it’ll be a huge step that can help me make it.”
NOTES
All five of the Flames’ arbitration-eligible restricted free agents exercised their right to negotiate their contracts for the upcoming season. Among the group: Garnet Hathaway, Mark Jankowski, Brett Kulak, Lindholm and David Rittich all filed for salary arbitration Thursday … Here’s a gentle reminder this option is built into the collective bargaining agreement and typically most cases are settled before going through with a hearing … Of the 30 players that filed for salary arbitration last summer, only one followed through (Nate Schmidt of the Vegas Golden Knights) … Interestingly, the Flames will have a second buyout window open later this summer, three days after their final arbitration, for 48 hours.