cross16

From what i've read Seattle wants their coach in place by the end of the month. I'm a fan of Huska. I think he's done a good job here and despite some of the public opinion the Flames have been a good defending team for most of his tenure here as an assistant, things just went off the rails under Ward. Hard to know the working relationship of the staff but for me I don't think it makes sense to blame or give credit to the head coach as I think assistants play a key role. In the good and in the bad too, but like I said overall things have been good under Huska. But always a possibility that Sutter disagrees, or sees this as an opportunity to grab a high end coach or perhaps there is an angle that we aren't discussing and that's that Huska has another opportunity he is considering too. But again still have a hard time seeing the truth to this rumor.

Not 100% on this one but I don't think so. With him signing in Sweden I don't think the Flames will be able to qualify him and once they don't qualify him he'll be a UFA I'm skeptical of this one. Tocchet is a great coach and would be a tremendous get but it does sound like he'll get Seattle and even if he doesn't the Flames dont' have a spot. My guess is that the Flames spoke to him prior to hiring Muller and that's where this rumor stems from. The only scenario that is plausible to me is they move Huska back to coach the Heat and Tocchet takes his spot.

So far the Flames are losing: Nesterov Nordstrom Lerby Yelesin All have gone to KHL, or SHL in Lerby's case.

This could be relevant to Gio if the Flames want to keep him and Seattle is interested

Well important to note, the arena deal is done. At this point the only way the city could get out would be to breach a contract and I don't see how that decision would be influenced by how fans view the team. The issue would be filling said building once it's done and when tickets will increase. Are fans going to be willing to pay more of a premium once the shine of the new arena deal is off? I would be concerned about that if I were an owner, but at the same time that decision is 3-4 years down the road. While I understand and like the idea of rebuilding now it should be noted that there is no guarantee the results are any better 3-4 years from now so I can also appreciate what the logic i'm applying would not be applied by the owners.

Dahlin was pretty bad this year but I doubt it means the Sabres are open to dealing him. He was ok in his rookie year and from my reading it sounds like a lot of his struggles are due to Kruger and trying to force him into a role he is not suited for. Trading him at this point for anything less than a drastic overpay wouldn't really make sense. He and Power and very different dmen so if Power is the way they want to go I could see them being very excited about having both of them in the fold.

I agree that he would be an ideal add. He checks a lot of boxes and would really add multiple missing pieces to the forward core. I am a big fan of his game and think he's worth an AAV around 5 mill but agree term is the bigger risk here. He'll likely want his forever contract so asking 5 year or more and I just wouldn't do that at that AAV. If you can get him on a 4 year deal around 5 i'd be all for it but north of that it gets scary. but at the same time he is the type of player I could see the Flames doing that for just because he checks so many boxes and fits to a T what they are trying to do here. I'm not suggesting it's the right move, it just won't shock me if the Flames have him as their top UFA priority and do what it takes to get him in.

I don't see it that way either. If you don't want to be there why not just say you don't want to be there? I think Power should go back too. He plays the game with a lot of poise is smart on the ice, and has the physical capabilities to do it but I think he needs a lot of development on the offensive side of the game. Having played only 60 games the past 2 seasons he has more to learn and playing in a good program so this makes sense to me on multiple angles. If I were the Sabres I would want Power back to the NCAA.

Probably. Or based on the end of the season Tkachuk looked like a pretty quality RW himself..... Different options.

Both are modified NTC so some of it is in their court but not all of it. Gio submits 19 teams he could be traded to and Backlund 10. not that I necessarily disagree with the premise but there is more flexibility available.

Not really how it plays out though. Mang actually draws a higher % of his ice time against better competition than Gaudreau does. It's not drastically different but the only players the last 2 season who have consistently drawn tougher matchups than Mang are Lindhom and Tkachuk. Also, Mang's numbers are good no matter who he plays with and this past season, it was Mang who was brining up the numbers of his teammates and not the other way around. I'm not trying to argue Mang is better or should be played above Gaudreau. Gaudreau makes sense to play him where he does because were he excels is creating offence and he is still one of the best in the league at that. At the end of the day, the Flames have 3 very good LWers and need to find a way to get all of the more opportunities, IMO. Multiple ways you can accomplish that, be it in Calgary or somewhere else, and that is something management should be trying to do.

So he is in their top 6, leads the team at 5 on 5 this year, one of their most productive over the last 2 seasons and producing like a first line player but he’s a 3rd line player at best? that is quite the response

Bit lost in the announcement is Stockton is losing assistant coach Dominic Pittis who is leaving for another opportunity. With MacLean being promoted only Joe Cirella remains and Stockton needs almost a whole new coaching staff so more moves to follow.

Don't disagree, although I do think this roster is good enough but I can understand the counterpoint there too. I don't like the route the are going I just understand it. I would prefer building more along the lines of teams like Vegas, Colorado, Tampa, Carolina, Boston etc.

What are we defining as peak, as in this is the most he can produce? Some food for thought. Over the last 2 seasons, Mangiapane is 29th in the entire league in 5 on 5 goals for forwards. He's 67th for forwards in points at 5 on5. He's 52nd for First assists. He's the 6th highest forward in TOI/game. Barely deployed as a top 6 forward. Over the last 2 seasons his PP TOI/Game ranks him 11th at 33 seconds/game. The Flames have used Lucic, Czarnik, Bennett and Dube more on the PP than Mangiapange. Is this his peak in terms of his age, yup I would agree at that. Can he produce more if given more opportunity? No doubt in my mind.

And I think we knew was going to happen as soon as Sutter became the coach anyway. Right or wrong, Flames are hitched to this wagon. If is also working for the Habs and worked for the Stars last year too. It's not my preferred route but it's one that has decent rationale behind it.

I'm happy for MacLean. He's done some really good things in Stockton and while I know their record was awful last year that team looks awesome when it was healthy and Zary was down there. Their special teams were really impressive too so I think he's got a future. I'm a fan. Happy to see Gelinas and Edwards stick around in player development as I think both have been good for the Flames in that regard and their development has been pretty good (save for some exceptions for sure). I'm pretty meh on Muller though. He is well respected in league circles so maybe there is more there but for me i've never quite understood the hype. He's never really been part of great teams, results are up and down and he really didn't look good as a head coach in Carolina. As an associate coach I can understand it but certainly would not be happy if this is a succession plan.

They don't appear to. Across the board Tanev was better with Gio than without. That being said it follows the same path of the team that all of the improvement can at the defensive side of the puck. Small change offensively, but I don't think it's fair to say he suffered. He continued his high level of play and Gio got better as a result. Andersson had a really poor year so while I do think it's fair to question the value of a 6.75million dman needing a change in partner to get going, there is some fairness too it as well given how Rasmus played.

Once he was separated from Rasmus he played like a top pairing dman. Over the last 25 games of the season, looking at his ranking at 5 on 5 among Dmen in the league: 14th in Expected GF% 17th in CorsiF% 10th in Scoring ChanceF% 29th in Goals/60 I don't love his contract and I'm fine moving on but he' really isn't underperforming his contract by very much. You could argue he's actually still good value.

Under Sutter the Flames drafted 9 players who played 200 games or more in the NHL. It was 8 drafts with an avg of 7.4 picks/draft. Treliving already has 3 with another 3 that will hit that mark this season and 1 of them just got named a Norris Trophy finalist. 7 Drafts with an avg of 6.1 picks/draft. Hardly a moot point.

No, 04-2010 when the Flames were full of Sutter type prospects that produced very little.

No surprise but Wolf is the WHL goalie of the year. Really excited to see him turn pro next year and see how it goes for him. He was so impressive to me in his last 2 games for Stockton this year.

Good. We've seen how that movie plays out. In all seriousness though, Sutter deserves a bit more credit than this. I think he is fine with players who are talented but on the small side as long as they are in his top 6. Remember he acquired Huselius, Langkow and Tanguay as the GM. I thikn he, like amost everyone, will take the combination of size and skill if you can get it but I think in certain places he will sacrifice the size for the skill. The bottom 6 and on D is a different story.

Unless they were well out of it (which I don't suspect they will be) I would highly doubt it.

I'm not even sure that they would pick Gio either. I'm just saying that if the argument is the Kraken could have interest in Lucic because of his intangibles/leadership etc than why not take Gio who can bring the same but does tie up in a bad contract for the next 2 years and could probably net you something at the deadline? If Gio continues to play next season as well as he finished this one he's probably going to be worth a 1st round pick at the deadline, at worst a 2 and a body. But at the same time I could still see Kylington being the pick.