JTech780

I could see Florida coveting Hanifin, seems like he play the style they like. It would make sense for Calgary to target Duclair as part of the return, as they really want to get Huberdeau going. IMO Florida still has to add a pretty legit piece to this deal to make it work. I would love to get Anton Lundell, but I am not sure that that is something Florid would be willing to do. They just don’t have many other assets.

Can’t wait to listen to this at lunch while I play Diablo 4. Flames targeting Duclair is not surprising, put up 30 goals playing with Huberdeau. Good contract, but he is another guy that is a year away from UFA, though he might want to just stick somewhere for awhile. Backlund being offered the captaincy is not surprising, and signals that they would prefer to keep him, but it sounds like he feels like he might have a better chance to win elsewhere. I do like that Calgary is being tight on term, when you look at the player’s ages here that only makes sense.

I guess not a lot of surprises when you look at the exit interviews. Like I said before I can see Zadorov sticking around, and quite honestly you need guys like him that want to play here and will play hard here if they go through a rebuild or a retool.

And if you look at the last few coaches of Calgary’s AHL teams, Huska (Flames Head Coach), MacLean (Flames Assistant Coach), Love (Capitals Assistant Coach), they have all graduated to the NHL. So if you are looking to progress your career coaching Calgary’s AHL affiliate is a good place to take that next step.

Yikes, and if Lindholm doesn’t run and sign that deal right away, things must be really bad within the organization. Huberdeau, Kadri and Lindholm are all very good players, don’t get me wrong, but is that really the core of a Stanley Cup contender? I would say no. It might be the core of bubble playoff team, but not a contender.

If the reporting is accurate and Hanifin, Lindholm, Backlund and Toffoli all don’t plan on re-signing with the Flames, combined with the fact that Treliving turned a contract extension and he chose to walk away from the Flames, that makes me wonder about if there is something bigger at play with the Flames. Or it could be that players talk and if 1 or two of those guys have decided to not return than that makes the decision easier to not return for the others.

Cap is only going up $1m and then taking bigger jumps the following years. So if you are Hanifin and Lindholm you may as well wait till the cap takes the bump and cash in then.

Well I just listened to Servalli on 960, and he mentioned that Calgary would prefer players who can play now in return, as opposed to picks and prospects.

I would say all 3 of those guys are huge losses. Lindholm is a big loss for sure, but Hanifin is a 6’3” smooth skating defenseman who can play 23 mins a night, not a ton of those guys out there. Backlund is one of the best possession centers in the league, the possession and defensive numbers are going to take a massive hit without him and I would assume that the wingers on his line will take a step backwards. Now it all depends on the players that come back in the trades, and the type of returns that Conroy targets. My fear is that this doesn’t change anything and ownership and upper management force Conroy to roll this roster out again, go for a playoff run and deal with the fall out afterwards. Let’s be the proactive franchise for once and recoup some assets for guys who don’t want to be here long term, or shouldn’t be here long term.

And another one…

Not new news, but still… another decision coming.

Man Conroy is sure getting thrown into the deep end to start his tenure as GM. Even a seasoned GM would have difficulty navigating this offseason. On the plus side he really gets a chance to put his stamp on this team right away.

Hard to argue to with this take, and it is one of the reasons I am hesitant to give Lindholm an 8x$8m contract.

Disappointing for sure, but can’t blame Love for making that decision. It’s too bad we couldn’t keep him in the fold.

Corey Pronman did a full mock draft, all 7 rounds. This is who he has Calgary taking. 16. Colby Barlow LW 48. Juraj Pekarcik LW 112. Noel Nordh LW 176. Ryan Koering D 208. Rodwin Dionicio D

Except Weegar is a much better player than OEL is and was at the time of trade to the Canucks. I think Weegar is going to have a massive year next year under Huska.

Hanifin to Washington for a package including McMichael is a deal I can get behind. McMichael is a guy who can step into the lineup next year, and if we lose Lindholm or Backlund he can take a top 9 center job.

In the Athelic LeBrun mentions that Hanifin doesn't want to sign long term in Calgary and will most likely be traded. A couple of teams I could see having interest in Hanifin are: Washington: They took a step back last year, but still have Ovechkin, Backstrom and Kuznetsov. They could use a top 4 defenseman. Key assets: 1st (2023-2025) 2nd (2023, 2025x3), Hendrix Lapierre, Connor McMichael, Ivan Miroshnichenko. Minnesota: They have a hole in their top 4, Hanifin fits their age group. Key assets: 1st (2023-2025) 2nd (2023x2, 2024-2025), Liam Ohgren, Marco Rossi, Caedan Bankier, Carson Lambos, Brock Faber, Jesper Wallstedt, Daila Yurov, Jack Peart, Marat Khusnutdinov. Florida: Again they are short a LD for their top 4, Hanifin would be a good fit. Key assets: 2nd (2023, 2025), Mackie Samoskevich. Pittsburgh: Probably need more help up front then on the back end, but they could still use another top 4. Key assets: 1st (2023-2025), 2nd (2024-2025), P.O. Olivier, Samuel Poulin, Owen Pickering, Ty Smith. Detroit: Their defense is looking pretty shallow, they could use Hanifin to solidify their back end. Key assets: 1st (2023x2, 2024x2, 2025) 2nd (2023x3, 2024-2025), Filip Zadina, Joseph Veleno, William Wallinder, Simon Edvinsson, Antti Tuomisto, Donovan Sebrango, Sebastian Cossa, Shai Buium, Dmitri Buchelnikov,

The fans and media want changes to the core 4, but it sounds like management really has no appetite to move any of their core 4.

I mean I would rather spend big on Lindholm versus Kadri, but here we are. Have to move forward. The things we know are, one this ownership is always and forever going to be reluctant to do a rebuild, I don’t see that changing anytime soon, at least not a prolonged rebuild (longer than 3 years). Two Huberdeau, Kadri and Weegar are here for the foreseeable future, between their ages and contracts I just can’t see too many teams lining up to take them without us sending a sweetner or taking back another contract. Three, this organization won’t stand for another Gaudreau situation. I think the ownership were especially peeved about Gaudreau walking and Calgary getting nothing. So I think that’s a big reason Lindholm and Hanifin are going to be in the news a lot between now and the draft. Four, Conroy has made mention about getting younger a few times, but I do wonder if you will see him target NHL players or NHL ready players in their early 20’s not necessarily prospects and picks.

Of course he is going to say he is interested in staying, but what isn’t said is what price he is interested in staying at. I think you have to look at Zibenejad, Horvat and Hertl to get an idea what it is going to cost to keep Lindholm in Calgary. Lindholm is a fantastic player and he would be really hard to replace, but at what point does the organization have to stop giving out contracts that buy the back end of players careers. It really does put Conroy in between a rock and a hard place, because I am sure his mandate is to stay competitive, but at the same time this team has to stop taking short a term view on the team and look 5 years out. I also think there would be a number of teams that would have serious interest in Lindholm if he was available, (Boston, Columbus, Colorado, Dallas, Minnesota, Florida, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Rangers, Buffalo).

That was Jacques Tanguay not Alex Tanguay who is an Assistant Coach in Detroit.

I think Muller’s contract is up at the end of the month. Not sure if he sticks around or not. I am not sure about the status of Cail MacLean. I do wonder if Savard is interested to joining as an Assistant Coach to run the PP. Do they go all young coaches Huska, Love, MacLean, Savard?

One of the toughest things with todays athletes is being demanding and pushing them, but in a way that also encourages them and instills confidence. I see with coaching my sons hockey teams, just being a parent in general and being a manager at my job. There is a tendency for people to quit or lose confidence when things get hard. So you have to be able to connect with your players and show them that you are trying to get them to be their best because they are capable of it. I always remember Gulutzan (pause for eye rolls)…saying that he wanted to invest in the players emotional bank account so that when he needed to pull from that account to push them that there was something in the account to pull from. Basically you can be demanding without being an Hash Rate about it, these are grown men they’re not going to tolerate that for very long.