cross16

Oilers would need some big season acquisitions for me to put them in the cup contender conversation. I just don't think their D or goaltending is good enough. Bouchard - Ekholm is getting them closer and if they can pick up another player like Ekholm and get a goalie it would change my mind but until that happens I just don't think you can win a cup with Nurse playing 20 mins a night and Campbell/Skinner in net. Bigger question is do they have 3 years? I think they've got 2 because Draistail is gonna be expensive and I think the odds of McDavid staying in Edm are miniscule. This year and next and then I think a tear down starts because you can't let McDavid walk for nothing.

Playoffs (Yes / NO)? Yes Pacific Division standings: 1. Vegas 5. Seattle 2. Edmonton 6. Vancouver 3. LA 7. Anaheim 4. Calgary 8. San Jose Goals: Assists: 1. Lindholm 1. Huberdeau 2. Mangiapane 2. Lindholm 3. Kadri 3. Andersson

I like what the Flames have started to do lately with drafting goalies later in the draft an in particular having a bit of a focus on the Russians and players heading the NCAA route. Afford you the chance to be more patient which I think is ultimately what you need with goalies.

A bit surprised Dube is off there so fast but at the same time Mang was excellent on Wednesday and they've been experimenting with him up there too. I prefer the idea of Dube because I think in order to thrive Hubie-Lindy need someone who likes to carry the puck. Mang's forecheck ability though, as seen on the GWG, is a boost too. So it's a bit of a dice roll to see what ends up happening and I won't be surprised to see it change from game to game.

A move that surprised me a little is Parker Bell being assigned to Tri City for his overage season. Had a really good year last year but was pretty quiet at the prospect tourney and camp. Wranglers do have both Ciona and Stromgren already needing some ice time so I can see the logic here.

Calgary Wranglers kick off their AHL season tonight. Quite a few changes to this year's group as the AHL coach of the year and their best forward are both in Washington now but they sill have Wolf which should make them competitive. Their D looks better and eyes will be on Porier and Kuznetsov to see if those players can start leading the core, Kuznetsov in particular. Hopefully players like Zary and Kerins can take a step forward while younger guys like Ciona and Stromgren make a difference

I too think the flames make the playoffs. I think this team is going to be fun to watch and score some goals. I think they wind up in the top 10 in goals for. They need to figure out some chemistry but this is the deepest and most balanced forward crop the Flames have had in a very, very long time. how are they going is going to depend on how they can execute defensively and what type of goaltending they get. If they can be good in that area I can make a case they should be a 100 pt team. but brewcrew is right does any of this matter if you have an asset in Lindholm that may be prepared to walk for nothing? Do you alter your course? I think I know the answer but will hold out some hope.

I don’t think it has to be honest. Sure McDonald over Demko looks bad in hindsight but it wasn’t that egregious at the time and I also believe it came done to injury. Demko had a hip surgery and it’s been reported that the flames didn’t think he’d be 100%. flames have traditionally been pretty conservative when it comes to injuries and prospects. Despite what some suggest or claim they’re really isn’t a person or organization in the NHL that has the position figured out. Every evolving strategy at the position.

Placing a player on waivers also does nothing in terms of their cap hit, you'd only lose the cap hit if another team claims him (which wasn't happening in the case of Monahan of Lucic) or your bury them in the minors. You can't do that with Lucic and even if you wanted to with Monahan you don't get full relief anymore and they would have been stuck with a 1.1 cap hit which again means they woudln't have been able to afford Kadri. I get he isn't everyone's favorite person or GM but Treliving worked extremely hard and diligently on his trades. I think it's a little foolish to think that he had other options to sign Kadri and just said "nah i'm gonna get rid of this 1st round pick". If you want to criticize or questions the need to sign Kadri that makes perfect sense (keep in mind the likely mandate though) but once the decision was made to sign him it played out how it needed to.

Weren't related. They wanted a defensive center which Lucic obviously isn't. They just got the player evaluation wrong. Also they would have had Rooney on their radar before they knew Gaudreau was leaving and they signed him before Tkachuk left.

Saying yes to a buyout would have cost Monahan over 2 million dollars. Why would he say yes to that and even if he did do you really think his agent and the PA would let him do it? It was not a good transaction but it's my understanding that BT was under a lot of pressure from ownership to do it. Basically once Gaudreau/Tkachuk left the message was we are not going backwards so they expected another 100 Pt season, so that was the mandate hockey ops was under. If you look at it within that lens Kadri made a lot of sense and the only way to sign Kadri was to move Monahan. Simple math on that one, as Lucic's cap hit simply wasn't enough to fit what Kadri would sign for. Is it an ideal situation, absolutely not, was it smart business, probably not. But it's the way this organization has worked for a while and I see no reason it's going to change in the future.

Well and that the player can say no. To a trade or to specific teams. that's a very relevant piece for a guy who just started a family and really complicates a trade because he isn't likely going to say yes to many places (even if there were interested suitors which I would suspect there would not be many of). The most important piece is the salary but the NMC is a big hurdle as well unless Markstrom really wants to leave, which he's given zero indication he wants to.

Personally I don't think we will. Nothing behind that other than my own opinion. I kind of wonder if he sits out this year becomes a FA and signs to play back home. Again 100% my own speculation on it and I really just hope he can get to a good place, even if that doesn't involve hockey. Patrick Berglund is the one that comes to mind for me. I know a few players have left the game for injuries or perhaps some mental health/assistance issues so your right it's not unprecedented.

He only has this year and next. He isn't going to be bought out. I think he scores 25-30 this year.

You are not, that is what CapFriendly has done but they are doing it using the same assumption I am because the move has not been confirmed by the Flames yet, that's all. Pelletier's cap hit is because he is on season opening IR. To make a long story short, Pelletier does not qualify for the same LTIR relief as others because of his games played and 2 way contract so about half of his contract counts against the cap. Based on how I see it I don't' think the Flames can get cap compliant if Kylington were to come back without a trade, which is why I suspect it may be a while before we see him. This is 100% my own speculation of course.

While not fully confirmed by the Flames the only way they can be cap compliant with their opening night roster is by placing Kylington on LTIR. Don't think we will hear anything there and that move suggests to me that they don't expect him back anytime soon.

The thing is, this is nothing like the Jankowski pick. The angst about that (and yes I went back and looked at the archived thread) was the trade down. As a prospect, as this has been proven out if you look at that draft and where Janko was picked, many liked him but the problem got magnified when you saw who they passed on to trade down, and then it really got hammered home when Seiloff (who was a bad pick to begin with) didn't pan out. But pretty different in terms of what went into drafting them, never mind the fact that the person who make the Janko pick isn't even in the organization anymore. Even still, these are human beings so to try and make the case that this resembles Jankowski so therefore the odds of them ending up the same is a massive stretch, not to mention just wrong. When it comes to drafting I totally get people get there guys that they want and it sucks not to get them, and of course your going to compare who your team picked to how you wanted. All of that is natural, it's the rush to try and say "I told you so" that is really foolish exercise. At the end of the day some of us are fine to let this play out because at the end of the day, we all really have no idea how this is going to go so let's see. Really as simple as that.

I'm not sure there is a more pointless debate out there than arguing prospects less than 4 months after they've been picked. I didn't love the Honzek pick but I certainly didn't hate it so false statements to rile people up or try and prove your point just feeds a pointless exercise. Maybe the Flames did get the pick wrong but for me 4 months is no where near enough time to make that case. I also really wish we can bury this idea of consensus drafting. It's such a pointless exercise.

The league has already confirmed with the teams the cap is going up as much as 5 million next season. John Bean said the other day that technically speaking the league revenues would support a 100million cap. your going to see some big and wild contracts in the next few years.

Penalties are going to be the concern for Greer but outside of that you’ve got a quality 4th liner

Nice this is a good move. I’ve liked Greer for a while. He’s your modern day 4th liner. Big, brings energy but can still be trusted at 5on 5. Limited upside but in that role he’s an upgrade to what they have. think fans will like him and Huskas gonna really like him. Could tell Conroy and Huska weren’t feeling great about their toughness level. This helps quite a bit

Shouldn’t put too much stock in the opening roster. With the cap, and especially given the cap over the last few years, most of the decisions are based on cap and flexibility and not what players deserve/don’t deserve. it’s a roster to meet a deadline and really not much more.

Spent all year last year hoping they’d try that top line. Took Huska one game. Refreshing.

I think they may have misunderstood the Honzek situation as flames have already assigned him to the WHL

Here is step 1 of the roster juggling that going to occur in the next 12-24 hrs. Klapka, Solvyov and Schwindt to the Wranglers. This is going to allow them to get an active roster that is compliant once they move Pelletier and Rooney to LTIR. They’ll likely recall 1-2 of those players