cross16

I do hope, and quite frankly I expect it now, the Flames to get into the 8-10 range. outside the top 10 is not bad in this draft but I don't think it's as exciting. Yes the Iginla factor is cool but as a prospect it's not as exciting as some of the other names that should be going top 10.

Late first round picks are IMO the most overrated asset their is. It is, wrongfully IMO, assumed that a first is a first but when you get outside the top half of the draft the odds of you grabbing an impact NHLer drop quite a bit. As Brewcrew states, the odds aren't that drastically different from the end of the 1st to the end of the second. So value wise I don't think a 1 and a bad contract is better than a 2nd and a B/B- prospect. So I think the Flames were fine to pass on those offers but ultimately going to come down to Grushnikov. Said this at the time and still rings true that I do think it's fair to question if taking the prospect value was better than taking the draft pick value.

Felt like a typical afternoon game to me. Flames just not fully engaged in it. im sure there’s gonna be a few of these but I didn’t see alarming things. Just saw a team not there in terms of details and execution which happens in these afternoon games.

I don’t like Francis and I don’t like this style of reporting but unfortunately it’s what people want. I don’t think he’s inventing the idea of trading Kadri but many fans are asking it so he’s just doing his job i think and have heard Kadri is really happy here though and is excited about being part of this. Be surprised if went anywhere.

I'll give this team a lot of credit, they battle hard. I know they won't give up. But I have a hard time seeing that d core being able to get them into the playoffs. I don't think the bottom is going to drop out, but over 20 games I just don't think there is enough there for them to keep their heads above water night after night. I think they stumble and wind up playing slightly under .500 hockey from here out and wind up in the 10-13 range of the draft.

I don't think the price goes up the longer you wait, because you risk having teams fall out of the race, you risk teams not having cap space etc. Plus you also have the risk that if Markstrom doesn't play as well or you have the risk that he does and he plays you outside the top 10 and your giving up a mid first to Montreal. Actually it's built on the premise that the Flames should WANT to move him. We don't need to go back and forth on this again but I will say it is 100% a mistake if Markstrom is on this team next year. Makes no sense for me to not take the future assets. Yes, mentorship blah blah I get it.. but that isn't more valuable than the future assets they've been offered. this team is building for 3 years from now so keeping a 34 year old goalie is illogical to me.

Have to admit, the Oilers forwards are looking good. I think they are deep, well balanced, and now they have lines they can use outside of just McDavid/Draisitl. How they got them is questionable, but they are there. That d though.... I really like the Ekholm-Bouchard pairing but past that it's pretty yikes. Think in the playoffs that core is gonna get exposed and i'm still not a believer that Skinner is good enough to cover that up.

I agree, this is why I wonder if the Flames over played their hand. The assumption is the goalie market will get better but i'm not so sure I see it the same way. There are going to be options and if the Devils thought Calgary's price was too high yesterday, why would the suddenly pay it in the summer? I do think Ilya Sorokin is a pretty interesting free agent. 29, wasn't that long ago some thought he was amongst the better goalie in the league. Ullmark is really interesting. Sounds like there was a deal in place yesterday to go to LA and he said no Will he say no again in the summer or did he just not want to move at the deadline? What does Florida do with Knight? There were some suggestions they were open to moving him. Lots of moving parts to the goalie market. Flames might have more options to negotiate with but i'm not so sure it's going to lead to the type of deal they are after.

Why wait though?

To clarify, Montreal gets the option to take the pick. It's not automatic and 100% their call to make.

Are you able to add to that, or are you basing this off of "reporting"? Just curious if you do because IMO, this is not what happened so I don't think we should be speaking as if it's fact.

That is a pretty hilarious response. He continues to dig himself into quite a hole

Still such a weird approach to me....

That's a total cost of almost 5 million. That's poor value for a 3rd rounder IMO. Also think the GM might have been a bit busy to try and pull that off....

I agree. I don't think a 3rd is good value for a 4 mill cap hit next year and a really problematic player.

Cheap add. Probably a player they like. Book on him is physicality which I know is a skillset Conroy values. I thikn this is more about that than an upside play .

Can't say I saw this coming..

Depth dman. Big, physical. Build out some depth for sure and gives them some more toughness.

If that is what you are looking for.. oh boy. Sign up for ALOT of pain then.

Their D already isn't that mobile. 1 -2 years from now? I'm not sure the bottom will drop out, but I woudln't write down a 20s pick in pen.

I have no idea what the Sharks are doing. This is a steal IMO for Vegas. Long term cap pain mind you as I think Hertl has a bad contract but that isn' tmuch to give up for a really good player for the next few years.

Vegas cap next year really isn't a problem. Around 16 mill in space (assuming about an 88 mill cap) and that includes Lehner whose career is done so it's actually more like 20 mill in space. They had the room. Be curious to see what this means for Hanifin though. Maybe he is a rental.

This could be by LA never seemed to be linked to Markstrom.

So there it is. Flames will get an unprotected pick in 2026 now