cross16

FWIW, Seravalli is reporting that Muller is not expected to come back. Contract was up and he was a Sutter hire that the Flames want to move on from. Not expected to be a candidate for Huska's staff

Yes. Last year mind you not 2 as I originally stated https://www.hockeyfeed.com/nhl-news/bob-hartley-resigns-from-his-head-coaching-role-in-the-khl

Bob Hartley left the KHL last season.

I would only add that my desire to trade Hanifin stems from wanting to rebuild the blueline. I agree that in a vacuum, trading Hanifin is a mistake. You are not going to get replacement value, and you are not going to be able to fill that hole via FA. I'm skeptical you can fill it with Kylington. For me Hanifin should be traded as part of a plan to rebuild the d core. Use either other assets, or assets you get in the trade, to go target a younger dmen who you can give that opportunity to. Between Rasmus and Weegar, the Flames have their puck moving, push the puck but play well at both ends dman and they don't need a 3rd in Hanifin IMO. That and I just don't see Hanifin signing a good deal, but trading him absolutely needs to be part of a bigger plan.

I think of the coaches who interviewed and could be assistants, Vincent makes the most sense. Experienced, especially as a head coach, and is known for his PP work. I don't think Savard is coming here as an assistant. I also don't' think Detroit is going to let Tanguay leave. Wonder if Huska calls up Dan Lambert. They coached together for years in Kelowna and Lambert just got let go from Nashville. Good track record of developing talent but is more of an PP coach. Seems to be lots of choice for PP/offensive assistants but less on the D/PK side.

Obviously I would have preferred Love and I really question if Huska has what it takes to be a good head coach. I think alot of this was driven by budget and I think the budget was small on this one which is why you weren't going to see a bigger name. I have my reservations Huska can be good and for me this is going to hinge on what Love does from here. Did Conroy pick the right guy. But at the end of the day Huska is very loyal to this organization, is a good coach, a good person and I can always get behind hires like that so i'll be rooting for him. His PP/offensive coach is going to be a VERY key hire for him and likely will dictate whether this blows up, or is at least moderately successful

Official. Also confirmed that the rest of the staff won't be announced today.

Looks like it's only head coach according to Pike. Feel like there are going to be some story lines coming out of this decision and process. Has not been your typical clean hire from what I understand and see (from reading between the lines)

This could go down as Conroy's first hard decision of his tenure. I think he may have had to pick between Love and Huska

Appears to be happening

Not really no. Usually head coaches get to pick at least 1, maybe both, bench assistants but outside of that it's usually a collective effort.

That was a future considerations trade made after the trade deadline to bolster the Wranglers depth. It is highly unlikely there is a pick involved in that one.

While I agree that blaming that season on Playfair wasn't fair, I do think Jtech's comment around not being a fit as a head coach is fair. I don't think Playfair ever got that group to buy into what he wanted them to do and he really struggled holding players accountable. another example of he challenges you have going from being an assistant to being the head coach. Big reason why, if this is accurate, i'm not very excited about Huska. Good coach or not he's not walking into a good situation.

Shoulder. He tore his labrum. I think the 3OA is a totally pipe dream personally.

I have enough faith in Bean that he wouldn't' be going down to the front office and telling them to play or pay his son. But fair to ask what does it do to the room. Would guys shut him out a bit knowing he can share stuff with his dad. I'm not Jake Bean's biggest fan, but he does fill a need and he'd likely be cheap with potential for more upside. Don't think he replaces Hanifin but he gives you a potential PP QB.

Could you imagine the person who could get Conroy not to share? oh boy.... (sarcasm just to be clear) In fairness the Flames were fantastic when it came to keeping stuff in on players but they have long been subject to leaks on staff. Gulutzan and Peters were pretty well known before they were official

I agree with most of this but this isn't totally fair. Should look at the goalies they had during Huska's tenure.

With Columbus acquiring both Provorov and Severson they appear to have a log jam. Wonder if the Flames would be able to pry Adam Boqvist out, or Jake Bean. Bean definitely appears to be the odd man out here but I can't imagine the Jackets would be in a rush to move Boqvist.

They should be exploring trades to fix this, not giving out bad contracts. But yes this likely comes down to how we view Hanifin and why we'll likely agree to disagree. I find him a very avg player so not really interested in sinking a lot of money and term into that. Plus they need to change the mix in their top 4. Weegar, Rasmus and Hanifin are too similar.

3 years ago. Prices have gone up since then and will continue to do so as the escrow is paid back. Rasmus Dahlin is rumored to be close to an extension paying him 10 mill AAV. Even coming off ELC, it's very hard to get good top 4 dman for less than 5. Market has shifted quite a bit, especially for dman, since the COVID years.

That's not realistic, unless you are re signing home grown talent. The only way that number is realistic is paying someone coming off ELC. You are not going to be able to buy UFA years from a top 4 dman for less than 5 million. The number isn't the problem on Hanifin it's the term.

I think i'd prefer that to having another anchor contract like this on the books. But admittedly I am not a big Hanifin fan.

This is another good reason why i think the Flames should be weary of wanting to re sign Hanifin. I like Severson but that is a big contract for a player of his caliber and a very close to comp to what Hanifin is likely going to ask for and get. Pretty similar profiles.

Strindberg and Pinder have been mentioning Huska all week so this isn’t just Friedman. I think Huska is a very good coach but this is underwhelming for sure. As much as I like Huska he strikes me as more of a career assistant than the head coach type. I just haven’t seen that fire/attitude that can galvanize a group. But even my personal opinion aside I’m not sure I see/like the rationale of promoting an assistant (especially after a tough year) and also promoting someone who didn’t exactly knock it out of the park with coaching your farm team. this feels like a placeholder hire and a decision born more out of circumstance than him actually being the best candidate.

Not a big fan of this if true