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Now that we have the need and the money, who are the fading teams that can’t afford their vets and might be looking to offload some and rebuild on the fly? WC, PP, TML, TBL, DS, LAK, BB, EO, CA? Alternatively, what about rebuilding teams with draft “failures” that need a second chance?

Pesce is more of a shutdown guy of which we have one, In Bahl. Skeji is going to get paid yes and as he ages out will move down the roster. Never was a Brodie fan sorry there are far better options. Let's just say Anderson wants out next year, is Skeji not a better replacement for 6 years? If built correctly these guys transition down the roster, as the new ones earn their way up the ladder. Just spitballing but, Skeji and Edmunson are picked up it's a stretch I know, but work with me, Anderson says he wants out, well you have a similar if not better replacement. You gain a pick for Anderson and still have an equal if not better asset., You can still gain by removal.

I just hope we don't trade up to draft him. I think there are teams leaking false rumours to make Conroy trade up but at the end of the day, no one ahead of us is actually going to act on that. Lindstrom and Demidov are clearly better. Catton is a better player overall. Sennecke is about the same as Tij and he's bigger and RHS. Helenius is a RHS C. So I think Iginla will still be there at 9. Besides, we need a D more than a LW. One of Dickinson or Silayev could be there. They may not be true stud #1 but they are top pair guys. We need that in about 4-5 years.

Would we be waiting for Johnny Hockey's kid to start playing? JH was set to beat Iggy in a lot of franchise records, if only he had signed. There are for sure cases when the kid turns out to be better than the dad. But I think a lot of that is due to the kid playing in an easier league. You don't have head hunter D men near as much. A small player can actually score 40 goals. Anyway, I am just not as hung up on the player as a lot of fans. If some of the players ranked top 6 drop to us, I would seriously be looking at them. Iggy seems like the safe pick, and yes I know he's really good. But these are juniors. He is not his father.

I think the Flames fanbase is totally overvaluing Tij. he is really good and well-deserving of being picked. But if his name wasn’t Iginla, nobody in the fan base is pounding the table for him. If you compare him to Catton. Theres no question who the better player is, it’s Catton. He’s someone that played centre, both sides of special teams and had to provide all the offence for his team. Tij scored 47, Catton got 54. Not that I would be unhappy with Iginla, but there are better players available. It’s just that this fan base really loves the dad, they want the kid to be a Flame too. I get it. I just think the expectations will be insane. His dad is the best player in franchise history, chances are he won’t be as good as his dad. That will be a disappointment in the eyes of some. Getting long winded here, but yeah, I hope he’s gone before 9 and I think the Flames/Iginla’s hope so too.

And according to the GM, we were trying to get 3rd so we could get Tkachuk. It seems odd that we didn't try to trade with VAN if we wanted Tkachuk. We knew EDM was running to get Pooly. If we didn't know the name, there would be zero pressure to draft Iggy Jr. We never drafted the original. I think the fan expectations would be through the roof and he would have a tough time. This fanbase is like Toronto at times; we pick a player to weard the goat horns. I am quite happy to draft a guy nobody really knows. Hage has quite the story; tough breaks to the kid at a young age. SOunds like a great kid to draft at 28, LOL. Only way he makes it to the Flames is we trade up to get 21 or 10 of the first 15 players are well above their rankings. I could see 5, but not 10. Then again, what do the scouts know. LOL

I don't get the Kylington hate. The guy was off the ice for two seasons and came back looking like he had skated the entire time. I did find his balance a little off, but that's normal. Had no training camp. little actual practice with this team, and still played as a capable 5/6, if not that being just used to partner. I think the Flames are just in the mode of pricing out the D. Hanley was okay. Pachal was good. But they are 6/7 on good teams. They are cheap, but we probably want one of them to be a 7 and the other in the AHL. So that means a 4/5 so that we can align the pairs the best, assuming we sign Kylington. He's due a minor raise but we lost most of two years at current salary. He probably wants stability of a longer term salary but the Flames are nervous about it. You don't want to build out your D a certain way and lose the player to NHL PA again. 2 years may be all they are willing to do right now.

That's the funny thing about the draft. The Flames picked 6th and got the 2nd best player in the top ten. Puljujarvi was supposed to be a steal, falling to 4th. It was speculated the Flames were going to take Keller, before Tkachuk fell.

We were a Kadri pair away from one loss to ARI. We were a Kuzmenko hatty away from one loss to ANA. That would be 6th. And a pair from Kadri and Kuz from a loss to SJS. That gets us 5th. If we were drafting 5th, I wouldn't even want to hear Iggy's name. He would get taken 4th, but if he didn't then MTL could have had him at 6. Revisionist history. Like the year we drafted Tkachuk, we missed out on 2 and 3 because of wins or losses. The ild days of three lotto picks.

I don't disagree with your sentiments, however I would say you don't need the champion vets yet. By the time we need them, they will be readily available. And then we bring them on to win in the playoffs. Coleman and Kadri both know what it takes once you get there, but the D isn't hardened yet. And it's fine to instill that do what it takes ideas in the regular season, but we won't have what it takes for a bit of time. Why I am positioning it this way is that right now, to add the vets you mean, it would require 3-5 year deals and they would be needed in year 3-5. And the cost for those winners right now will be high. Pesce is already about to get paid and he is 29 and a RHS D. We have two of those. Skjei is coming off $5.4M and will get paid long term. Brodie is more my speed. He's 34 but has about 2 good years left. Toronto pegged him as the problem for their D, yet he was + 17 during the season. He's capable at LD or RD, so he could fill in. And he won't be making the $7.5M he got as the final year. 2 years @ $3M would probably do it. Or close. I wouldn't go beyond that for the D. For the F, we could look at Duclair if we could get him for 2 years. It's more expensive that way, but you aren't stuck long term. Arvidsson has been cheap but productive. Less than 5M and pots 20+ goals every season. That allows us to move Mangiapane. Plays either wing so could be a fit with Kadri or Huberdeau (or both). I would like to bring in another goalie to the AHL level this summer so we have some options. Vladar is coming off surgery and we can't expose Wolf to 40 games yet. We probably lose Dansk and the only guy we have is somebody named Ignatjew, who has not played in NA.

Conroy has said that the Hanifin deal, in particular, was very tough. Wasn't quite as simple as "take the best offer". Some fans don't acknowledge that though. Conroy also said the Lindholm deal was pretty straight forward. Of course, Lindholm didn't have an NTC. Calgary could deal him to wherever the best deal was. I think you could do that with Andersson. With Markstrom, he's right around the same age as Smith, when the Flames acquired him. The Flames gave up very little, a 3rd and a D prospect that never made it. If you compare Smith and Markstrom through age 33, you can argue the better goalie is Smith. It just puts into perspective that this is a good return for the Flames, because goalies don't usually get traded for much. Vegas traded Fleury, coming off a Vezina, for nothing.

I don't think the Markstrom and Hanifin deals were all that bad. I think media was pushing the get more train and guys like Seravelli were tempering the expectations. I was excited at the thought of more, but admit it was on the backs of fans expectations and the media, rumoured of Holtz and Mercer. Jersey wasn't doing it. I would have done Coronato and Markstrom for Mercer, myself, but who knows if jersey does that even....

Hard to see this as anything other than a rebuild. At some point this season, I think it's worth having the Rasmus Andersson conversation. Really like the player, not sure he's worth signing from age 30-38 though. If a team can get two playoff runs with him at 4.55, I think that would be highly coveted. Unlike Markstrom and Hanifin deals, I think Conroy could do quite well in an Andersson trade. There are only six teams Andersson can block a trade to. Conroy can essentially work with the entire league. Think it'd be smart to move him this year. If they wait until his walk year, you run the risk of a Hanifin situation, where the player can pick his spot, despite not having a NMC. Still think it's going to be a busy season for Conroy. Think there are Mangiapane and Kuzmenko deals to be made. Think they'll try to sign Sharangovich. If not, I think he could be sought after. The way out of this is going to be through the draft. They certainly have a lot of swings in 2024, with potentially more move this season, I think they'll have some opportunities in 2025 as well.

A couple more losses and we could've been drafting at #7. Good thing this draft is wide open and we should get a good player at 9. If Iginla is gone by 9 then that means someone good falls a spot to us.

IMHO I think he is gone before the 7th pick falls. ANA, CBJ, MTL, one of them will nab him. Really Demodov, Lindstrom, Iginla should fall before than

I try to remain optimistic on this, I want to be excited to watch a Flames game not tune in to thumping or the crap show as seen in SJ, ANA, CHI, CBJ. I am grateful we are collecting assets but this roster is still going to need to add. To think that we do not need to add is reckless, irresponsible, and frankly dangerous. We have vets here who have won and been through the battles of the war to get to the glory land, that crucial in the development of younger guys. Plus, it sounds like it's Vldar and Wolf who are going to require far better D man in front of them and better defensive structure. Having some more championship vets around is not a bad thing. Really the prospects we have are going to be 3-6 years away from being effective. I like the fact we are currently over-developing prospects. I know it goes against the narrative but Connie needs to acquire assets and utilize the cap space to show our current roster, league, and prospects the goal is always to win. IMHO a few tweaks to the current roster and they could have it as a system of as one moves out we have a similar or better option moving in.

It's funny, I think I was catching your optimism last week and made me think a bit on adding. I think it's not looking that horrible. I think Bahl is a decent add for depth, and is young. Who knows if he has some upside to tap into. Not saying he is Giordano, but how many thought Gio would turn out the way he did? I didn't, and thought he was ok when the rebuild started back in the day. It was after that I could see his value, which we should have tapped into then on the trade market.

As for the grocery list , we don't even have the ingredients to make soup and sandwiches right now. Bahl is a shutdown guy and most likely is hands down an upgrade of what we have in the system. Conroy most definitely will need to add a lot in to make this team even somewhat respectable. D UFAS- Sjeki, Pesce, Edmundson could be possible. If Anderson leaves then Sjeki will be a huge target IMHO Forwards- Debrusk( 47 points), Duclair(42 points), Stephenson ( 51 points). Someone mentioned Duclair and they are not wrong he does produce, I would be fine with Stephenson as well as a 2-3 Center, he puts up numbers as well. Could Conroy be lurking to make a trade for someone, that's possible as well. We may also lose Mags which is not going to hurt IMHO but that said we don't have anything in minors that's remotely close.

Early in the season, I didn't think the Flames would take Iginla. Given the season he's had, if he's available, there is a case to be made that he's the best player available. The caveat is if Jarome and Tij would rather he play somewhere else. I think the Flames and the Iginla family are hoping Tij is off the board before 9th.

Kylington is a big question mark. There really is no inside information on what he is looking for or things that the Flames organization are trying to determine with respect to him. Thinking logically about it, we can consider a few possibilities. From the Kylington perspective: Does he want to play in the NHL or does he want to sign in Europe? NHL likely pays more, but Europe would be closer to his family support. If the NHL is his intent, what price and term is he willing to sign for? Does he want a contract with term for stability? OR does he want a prove it contract to get paid more long term? What environment does he want to play in? Does he want a high stress, Canadian market team? Does he want to go somewhere out of the limelight (Utah, Anaheim etc.)? Does he want to be part of a rebuild (Calgary)? Does he want to play for a contender? As a UFA, it is up to him to make any and all of the decisions above. They may even be more options for him to consider, but those are some bug ones. From a Flames Organization perspective: Kylington missed a year and a half for mental health reasons and still got paid. Do they want to risk that possibility again on another contract with term / dollar value? Does Kylington move the team in the direction they want to go? Does he fit the style they want to play? What dollar value do they put on him as a player and what he brings to the team? Do they sign him to term or just a show me contract? All of these are valid reasons why there may be no contract coming from the Flames. Kylington simply may have different ideas for himself than what the team is looking for. There may not be any animosity between the 2, simply 2 entities moving in different directions. You likely don't see anything in the news as neither one likely feels betrayed by the other, or really wants to get a deal done, it simply is not fitting and both sides may agree. Honestly I am not sure if Kylington should be a long term plan for the Flames. Sure this leaves a gap in the D at the top end, but there are short term possibilities to fill in, or use this opportunity to let the young guys step in and earn their time. I wish Kylington only good things for his future, though that may not include playing another game for the Flames.

What even is Kylington? I think he came back from injury and hasn't been the same. He's 27 and it's probably better to give the ice time to Solovyov or Kuznetsov who are both younger.

What's the deal with Kylington? I'm really not up to date on that topic and thought his re-signing was all but safe. Especially after all the help he received from the Flames? IMO even with a re-signed Kylington we need another top4 D, Bahl ain't one as far as i know. And I also don't think that Miromanov is one, at least not right now.

We might not bring back Kylington so that means one of Solovyov or Kuznetsov could still graduate to the team next season. Maybe Bahl has to play 2nd pair.

Agree on Pelletier, after the injury he’s struggled with his game and has not been impressive. Hopefully he gets it together or he’ll be trade bait…