7wit

I agree with you about Weegar on the first pair with Anderson. It could be something special. Would love to see Konecny here. A heart and soul guy who can help offensively. I don’t believe Philly would move him though unless the price is right. He’s young with term. It seems that Hanifin and Dube come up all the time for obvious reasons. Hanifin, Dube, and 2023 first for Konecny and Provarov (50% retained) is what you’re suggesting. I wonder if Hanifin for Konecny would work or even Hanifin and Dube for Konecny and Sanheim though I would rather have Provarov. Philadelphia could afford Hanifin’s raise with Van Riemsdyk coming off after this year. I often wondered if Gaudreau told Calgary he wouldn’t be back earlier rather than just before free agency began we could have done a sign and trade with Philly for Konecny plus. Gaudreau really wanted to go there and I think the Flyers would have done it. It doesn’t matter now anyway.

I agree with this. I think if you move Hanifin then Kylington will be given every opportunity to fill in as he did last year to start the season. I’m actually glad we never gave him up in the Mark Stone offer a couple of years ago. They wanted Valimaki instead and BT said no. That might have solved some of our issues now though if we gave up Valimaki. In Hanifin’s case he may be too expensive in a couple of years and if we can sign Weegar long term there isn’t room for Hanifin so I see why Chychrun garners interest. You may get 2 more years for the same money. At what cost though? Dube is a wildcard and if he’s a little slower in development but then turns out like Backlund (solid reliable 2/3 liner) it could be beneficial down the road. Sometimes patience is the key and I believe each year he gets a little bit better. If he gets you an established reliable prolific player now though he may be worth trading. Speaking of disappearing in the playoffs our entire RW side kinda went quiet. That’s why we need a quality RW with playoff experience or at least someone who shows they are willing to put in the effort and be here. It shows on the ice when one foot is always out the door. If Dube gets you a good quality D man you need to explore that as well but you can’t give him away as he’s still young. Would we be better off?

Yep and so does BT when the eastern broadcasters/supporters were dumping on Calgary and how no one wants to play here. I hope he makes one more big move for a prime time winger. Don’t care if it’s Pasternak or Kane or whoever and we stick it to the doubters. Excited for the season to start and I think we moved one step closer already because we have players who want to be here. Players who want to be here don’t fade in the playoffs or when things get tough. Go Flames Go!!

If BT could swing this I would be on board. Chychrun has term making him somewhat expensive but also attractive. With Kane I would like to see another contract to make it worth while. I believe the flames need to move out 2-3 defensemen on one way contracts to bring in another good defenseman which means losing a top 4 guy plus 2 others. In addition, the loss of at least one forward prospect. Perhaps a 3 way deal could work. What may be best is to trade Hanifin for picks to another team and flip them to Arizona and Chicago along with prospects and a first round pick. What is Hanifin worth anyway? A first and a second?

These are great points. Weegar had a great year last year and many feel that currently he is a top 30 d man in the league. He is probably even better than Spurgeon and has more reach/size. I just have this thing about signing d men past 35 years old and what if he doesn’t perform as well as he did in FLA. There’s more wear and tear on them vs forwards. If they can move Hanifin out I would be ok with the higher pay. I just can’t see the flames paying them both in that range and Weegar is better than Hanifin. Maybe an 8 year deal at $6.75M for 6 years and then 2 years at $5.5M. I don’t even know if that’s possible. So maybe $6.75M for 6 years is where it’s at. Perhaps they are working on a couple of deals to move others out and then sign Weegar to a longer term contract. We definitely need to lock him up long term.

Is Chychrun an “actual defenseman” and is he > Hanifin?

$5.5M-6M x 6 years is good value if BT can do it. I know he’s good and several of you would pay more. He’s a late round late bloomer. From a business standpoint though I hope the numbers come in around there otherwise we may have to move out someone else who is much younger like Hanifin sooner or later. Of course if Hanifin is moved anyway for another forward piece sooner I could see the flames offer $750k-1M more per season. I still would hope he comes in at $5.5M-$6M per year because I would hate cap jail down the road...

I believe you are correct. Would there be something wrong with trying to get him now. Let’s try and swing for the fences? It may be true that CHI has already paid Kane his $4million signing bonus for this year in July so his cap hit is under $6 million. If someone can confirm this that would be great as I’m not 100% sure. I found it on an article from Oilers Nation. CHI no doubt wants good young players or draft picks in return. What would you offer? That $4 million dollar signing bonus may cost you a second rounder to start. Hanifin or Kylington with Valimaki, Lucic with another young forward, and a pick? Even without Lucic (CHI may not want him either) this could be done if using another player. Something else perhaps? This would give us an amazing top 6, still have solid D and potentially might reduce the cap hit for this year to go shopping at TDL in case the season goes well. I would go for this and Kane is still a good player and can play LW or RW. He could also sign a short term deal for another 1-2 years after this year if we could afford him keeping in mind his age and willingness to stay with a contender for less money. Would he be willing to come here? Could the summer be even wilder? Perhaps it’s not even feasible but I would sure try. Would you?

Kincaid from NJ may be a good acquisition for next year. He’s proven he can play in the league and won’t cost you as much as a Varlamov or Smith if he’s available.

Seems like he is playing more consistent. A clean hit on Pastrnak really shows he more focused this year and he’s working well with Neal. Let’s hope it continues.

? Way to go Rittich for restoring some faith between the pipes.

So I’m thinking Rittich will most likely play next game? St. Louis was motivated after dropping 2 straight at home and the Flames were not ready for the early pressure. It will give this team some motivation and Smith something to think about.

That’s funny! I’ve always thought sometimes what we hear on 960 comes from our posts!

And maybe he should change his jersey number. Doug Gilmour apparently he is not.

I agree. Why then do we keep signing other contracts that interfere with the growth and potential of our young players? Can we even keep Bennett for next year? Even if the cap goes up and you have $10 or $11 million to spend, Tkachuk is going to get 6-7 of that. I guess if Gillies is your guy in net you can keep him for $3 million or so...someone is going to have to get moved to accommodate. I really don’t like signing 30 year olds for 3 year/$3 million dollar deals. More often than not it doesn’t work out the way you want it and you get Stajan or Brouwer like players who rarely score for the money you give them (tough to move those contracts as well) and you end up cutting loose or stunting the St. Louis like players of the future because of misjudgment and mismanagement.

Listening to the radio on the way home, and Elliott Friedman was talking about Sam Bennett as a possible trade candidate and led listeners to believe he is wanted by other clubs. While he may be not used where he would be most successful here, I believe he has the right to request a trade. In his mind he’s got to be thinking that even with the new coaching staff, he’s not got what he wanted in this city. This is just my opinion, but I believe the signing of Derek Ryan and Austin Czarnik has sent a clear message to Sam. Be better or your not going to play here, however, we’re not going to put you in an offensive role. So really that means you’re not in the scoring mix. Realistically, his ceiling is higher than both of those players, and he is better than Ryan (some of you may disagree, but I feel the Ryan signing was a mistake from the get go. It’s just another contract to hold back the development of our youth - Bennett included. You can talk all you want about Ryan’s face offs and potential playmaking ability, however, he’s not going to get much in the way of top six minutes and will probably struggle to even get Frolik numbers from last year). The honeymoon for this player is coming to an end and I feel this contract will be tough to move when it doesn’t work out. Aside from that, if Bennett is not in the future plans, he should be packaged with a Frolik (or even better, Ryan) and we should be targeting a Michael Stone or Willy Nylander as a return. Overall, I’m disappointed with the way everything’s worked out. He should have been at least our #2 center. I really hope he shows what he can do, but I feel like the deck is stacked against him.

Well, 9 GA in the first 2 games. Let’s hope it improves. So far it looks wildly inconsistent, but you have new players, an injury, a new coach... takes time to put it all together. Do we expect to see Andersson and Rittich next game?

I thought Bennett was noticeable when he was on the ice. The team as a whole seemed like they were more interested in periphery. He was definitely not the worst player on the ice.

If he’s not coachable and it’s “my way or the highway” with the puck then BT should look at moving him. In the Vancouver game he made a nice pass before being taken to the ice in front of the net. His linemate, however, couldn’t finish. No surprise there. I don’t think he’s entirely a me only player, but still needs to find the right line mates.

I remember Bennett being like this when he first came into the league. Something happened since then. Any ideas like a concussion? Maybe the shoulder injury damaged him bad enough he’s no longer the impact player we all thought he would be.

You got that correct! Didn’t see the game today, but if Smith is now just hanging on...would Gillies then become our starter? Now what? He may get a lot more NHL action than we think and Rittich could play in Stockton. I know it’s preseason, but Smith doesn’t make me confident. If he’s 19th best in the league, we are not a deep playoff team.

He certainly has not shown what he’s capable of. In fact, he’s not much better than Michael Stone right now. He appears tired and slow like he’s had a concussion or a family tragedy is in his mind. I hope he figures it out soon or we’re in for a long season again. Neal looks tired and slow too.

In ‘88 some athletes and coaches were complaining that Nakiska and the Canmore Nordic Centre were too far away. I feel suggesting Edmonton for games is utter nonsense.

I hope you’re right. If it doesn’t work out this year though, then what? I guess you trade for a Bobrovsky?